1) A high quality coated cleaning rod such as Dewey or Bore Tech. As cleaning rods flex, the coated rods protect the barrel from metal to metal.
2) A high quality cleaning rod guide will prevent the rod from flexing and damaging the throat area. As always, never clean from the muzzle unless you have no choice.
3) There are many good cleaning products such as Butch's Bore Shine, JB Bore Paste, Montana Xtreme, Shooters Choice, Kroil, Sweet's 7.62, etc. The products are many and varied. Find a combination of cleaning, fouling etc that fits your needs. I used Hoppes since being a kid and still love the small but prefer the results of other products on the market now.
4) Fiber brushes or bronze brushes will help with stubborn issues. Many use stainless brushes but I personally have nightmares about stainless brushess scraping my match barrels! I use WD40 to soak the barrel before cleaning, though Butch's Shooters Choice works well. I usually finish with a patch soaked in Kroil to store the rifle. As Colorado weather is very dry, humidity issues are pretty much non-existant. Sinclair is a good source for cleaning products.
5) A handful of old t-shirts cut up work well in cleaning. You can buy cotton patches but old t-shirts work well. 0000 steel wool is handy to cut copper fouling and won't harm the barrel (wrap around a brush).
6) Chamber/bore mops clean blow back the bore brush will not catch. Always clean the action, bolt and everywhere you can. You'd be surprised where gunk can accumulate.
7) I recommend never leaving a dirty barrel if you can help it. At least run a soaked patch through the barrel till you
can get back to a proper cleaning.