1. Completely unload your rifle after every single hunt. 

(And hopefully your “unloading” looks like THAT which means meat in the freezer.)
First and foremost unloading is for safety reasons. But unloading your ammo every single time eliminates anything that might affect your action or your bottom metal like rust corrosion; and ultimately your barrel. It takes two minutes tops to do this, but I promise it’s worth those two minutes.   

2. Keep a towel with you if you are expecting rain.
Or be ready to take a layer of clothes off to protect your barrel and your action. Dry off your rifle as soon as possible if it gets wet. 

3. Travel with a good gun case. 
The primary purpose of a rifle case is to actually protect your gun. Unless you are flying with it, you don’t need to fuss with hard vs soft cases and such, but a few extra bucks on a decent rifle case is worth it. You want a case that has sufficient padding and tightly fits your rifle to keep it immobile. This keeps your rifle from shifting inside the case and possibly altering your zero.

4. Store your rifle in a humidity-controlled gun safe. 
I know you may be coming back to hunt next weekend and you’re tired. But DO NOT “store” your rifle in your gun case. At the very least, open the case so your rifle can breathe, but make sure it is in a secure location in your home. Also, remove your bolt and store it in a felt bag. If you don’t have a humidity-controlled safe, my best advice is to use a “Damp-Rid” type moisture control product in whatever type of cabinet or storage situation you have.

5. Give your rifle a good external wipe-down between professional cleanings.
And keep it lubricated. Leave the internal barrel solvents to me.
Shoot me an email at [email protected] to schedule a cleaning.

Because every shot counts,
Larry