Any guys boil their clips?

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Over the years, the guys I hunt with in Maine (10 or 12 of my friends/relatives have 740/742/7400’s) have developed this practice. Many years ago, when I was just a little shaver, my Dad’s 742 jammed on a follow up shot on a deer. Hunters of the day wore wool for the most part and they carried their clips in their pockets. Needless to say, after several seasons, the pocket lint, etc. would get stuck in the clips, especially since every oiled their clips up so they “wouldn’t stick”. Anyway, my Dad’s gun jambs and later that night at camp, an old lobsterman who used to hunt with us (now deceased) told my Dad “I’ll fix that gun for ya.” He took both of my Dad’s clips (unloaded of course) and dropped them into a pot of boiling water. After about 10 minutes you couldn’t see the clips in the pot, as the water was so dirty. Lint, pine needles, etc. came out of those clips. After the boiling treatment they went into the oven for half an hour to dry out. Once dry, no oil was applied and the old lobsterman (a little tipsy after having a few drinks during the process) took the clip, loaded it up, slapped it into the rifle, opened the door to the camp, worked the action, placed the gun on his hip pointing out the door and towards the sky (camp was miles from anyone) and squeezed off four rounds as fast as he could pull the trigger! “Ya won’t have any more problems with that rifle again,” he said. Since then, the standard practice is to boil out the clips every other season or so. I’ve even done it with my 7600 clips. I keep my spare in a leather pouch on my belt but you’d be surprised at the amount of crap that will still get in there. Just figured I’d share…

[smoji]

However accomplished, the key is to keep the mags clean, dry and undamaged.

[Dave in WV]

It seems a bit harsh but like you said it works. I remember a fellow telling me how they stripped the grease off of M1 rifles by breaking them out of the stock and boiling them. He claimed if you used boiling water and allowed them to air dry they wouldn't rust if you took care of them properly. It would seem using Gun Scrubber or carb cleaner to wash them out would work ok too.

[High Brass]

When I was in the Marines and we'd go in the mud and muck, we'd using scalding hot water to get the sand,dirt, grime,  and everything else that is in North Carolina off of it.  Once dried, all moving parts were lubed with CLP(cleaner, lubricant, protectant,) or know in the civilian world as break free.