I always scrubbed rifle barrels hard with a brass brush first. On a precision rimfire, this just pushed fouling down the tube. I tried a solvent soak followed by light patches, and the carbon came right out. Now I start soft and only brush if needed.
Honestly, I tried that trendy oil-based stain on an old Mauser stock and it soaked in way too fast. Ngl, I had to sand it back and start over, so test on scrap first.
Polished all the contact points but it's still gritty... Is there a common oversight with these?
I was trying out a used rifle when the bolt got stuck bad. A veteran shooter nearby saw me and walked over. He said to lightly hit the bolt handle with a soft hammer while holding the lugs down. It came loose instantly, which saved me a lot of trouble. I tell that to anyone with a sticky bolt now.