In retrospect, this article should have been named "HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR RIFLE WHILE ON THE RUN" as this is not a thorough cleaning tutorial, but a real quick "make sure the gun is lubed" guide. Firearms maintenance is vital to the operation and reliability of your "zombie-gun" and or sporting equipment. There are easy steps to keep that firearm working properly. This is not written to be an all inclusive guide to firearms maintenance but it will definitely point you in the right direction.

Only clean your firearms in a zombie free environment, that is secured by another armed individual. Never strip more than one of your firearms at the time (ie zombie bursts in while you've got your handgun on the floor disassembled, use your rifle to take them down. If both your rifle and pistol are disassembled, you had best have a knife or you're fodder.) and make sure that where you are cleaning is completely secured, and where you will not lose any parts of the gun. My grandfather served in WWII, and he said that it was surprising how quickly you could lose a major component of your equipment.

First and foremost, purchase a cleaning kit for your selected firearm. There are several major companies that cater to firearms enthusiasts, namingly "Hoppe's," "Birchwood-Casey," "Break-free" and others. Purchase an appropriate kit for the caliber and type (pistol, rifle or shotgun). The kit should include a cleaning rod with handle, jags for cleaning sheets, a nylon brush (like a toothbrush) and a bore brush, which is round and threaded to be placed on the cleaning rod.

Second, choose a multi-purpose firearm oil such as Break-free CLP, Rem-oil, Outer's oil. I prefer to use aerosol spray types as application is much easier, and you do not have to "reach" as far with them. Use this liberally, and let the metal absorb some of the oil. Make sure to remove any excess as it can congeal over time, and will actually inhibit the firearms proper functioning

You will be in need of alot of scrap cloth and/or paper towels. Just a warning, as you'll soon find out.

MAKE SURE YOUR RIFLE IS NOT LOADED. KEEP BARREL POINTED IN SAFE DIRECTION.

I have this ordered into one word steps:

STRIP - OIL - BORE - ACTION - BORE2 - REASSEMBLE

Now by no means am I discrediting anyone else's methods of cleaning, but I will tell you how I clean a rifle. First and foremost, I bring the firearm into what is known as "Field Stripped" condition, which for most rifles is when the bolt is removed from the receiver, and the barrelled action is removed from the stock. This condition depends on the rifle and your time; If you're on the go and zombies abound, you will not want to remove the barrelled action from the stock as this is a mostly unnecessary step to preserve the finish on a wood stock.

I begin by coating all surfaces of the rifle and inside of the receiver with whatever general purpose gun oil I have at hand (for me, CLP almost all the way). I will leave this to soak into the metal and protect it while I'm using the bore cleaner. Next I assemble the cleaning rod and put a sheet runner jag on the cleaning rod, and run a bore solvent soaked (kleenbore is my personal favorite) through the barrel from the breech end of the rifle, sheet exiting like the bullets, out of the muzzle. If the rifle is particularly dirty (like the old surplus rifles) I will run several wet sheets. Do not immediately run a dry sheet through the bore as the solvent takes some time to do its job and remove any copper/lead fouling from the barrel.

I then wipe as much of the excess oil off of the barrel and receiver, to where there is only the lightest coat of oil on them. I begin to wipe with a paper towel the receiver where the bolt lays and magazine well (action), removing any carbon from the action of the gun. I like to wipe this until the area is both visibly and feels clean. After any and all carbon is removed, I will spray a light coat into the action again, and begin cleaning the bolt. The bolt (depending upon rifle) tends to not get very dirty on the inside and therefore rarely needs to be taken apart unless you are shooting corrosive ammunition. For this article, lets say you are not shooting corrosive ammo, as the routine changes just a little bit if you are. I like to apply a very small amount of CLP to the bolt, wiping off the entirely and especially any extractor/firing pin area, and putting a light coat back on. Reinsert the bolt and cycle several times, mostly to ensure that the excess oil left on the action and bolt is worked into the high stress regions requiring the oil. Wipe off the excess lightly, and remove the bolt again, setting it onto a clean surface.

Remember the bore of the rifle? Its still got the solvent in it, and by now has been sitting for a few minutes (up to ten if you work slowly) and has had ample time to do its magic. Again, if you're shooting an old surplus gun or one particularly filthy, you may need more cleaning on the bore. I like to run another wet sheet after this time, followed by dry sheets until they come out with no fluid on them.

Replace bolt, reload, put safety on and you're good to go.

For a handgun, the steps are essentially the same, but I have noticed that handguns seem to get far dirtier than their long barreled cousins. The same steps apply for them, but make sure that you are proficient at quickly and correctly disassembling and reassembling your chosen firearms before carrying them in the field.