The Gun Counter

Trying to make my model 94 run smoother

A long time ago, I was talking to a guy involved in cowboy action shooting. This was back in the early days before all the custom guns were being built. The consensus at the time was you had to take your rifle, pack the action with a fine abrasive paste, then work the action a few hundred times to polish the guide rails. The popular paste to use at the time was pearl drops toothpaste. I don't know if they still make the abrasive toothpaste.

I've actually done that on an SKS with powdered brick. You have to pound it pretty fine. I'd guess you could do it with some jeweler's rouge or the polishing compound from a Dremel kit, too.

Steve's Guns has a video available for slicking up a Rossi R92. I imagine the principles are the same.

Uhh guys ever heard JB compound?

No. Tell us about it.

I need more words. That appears to be a fantastic bore cleaner. How do you use it to slick up an action?

I sat as a kid and watched the gunsmith next door many times slicking up actions by cycling with fine valve grinding compound. He always cautioned not to go too far. That you could get them too polished and then have the parts start sticking together.

I believe JB Bore Cleaner (invented by Jim Brobst) is finely ground "diatomaceous earth" or similar and oil(s).It is indeed a great bore-fouling remover, and does certainly slick up actions but must be renewed often during the process and thoroughly removed at the end. I've used it for over 30 years.

It's a non embedding ultra fine abrasive. Besides being used as a bore cleaner, its also popular for lapping lugs on bolt action rifles.