Is this bore clean?? (maybe I'm over thinking this ...)

[ugh457]

My first rifle, and my first attempt at cleaning a firearm....looking for an opinion as to how tidy the bore looks before shooting.

I used Hoppe's 9 solvent to patch the cosmoline from the bore, then a Hoppe's copper wash on a bore brush followed by patches until clean (light grey). Finally a patch with Hoppe's oil.

Thanks for any help, or suggestions.

[Canadian_Zuk]

Can't tell from the pic. Your patches will tell you if it's clean, when the patches come out clean the bore is clean. Hoppe's is the most common but not the best cleaning solvent and don't hesitate to let it sit and soak for a little before scrubbing it.

[Ganderite]

You have two good cleaners. Not the best, but good enough.

There are two kinds of barrel fouling - powder residue and jacket material. The Hoppes #9 will take out the powder residue. You have already done that.

In the future, when you come home from the range, use the brush and the Hoppes#9 to scrub the bore. Then run a wet patch through to take out the crud and anoint the bore. If you think the barrel is badly fouled, leave the gun overnight, muzzle down, so the crap does not drain into the action, bedding and trigger. then wipe clean.

The next step is the metal fouling. Copper solvents do that job. Some are faster than others. Wet the bore and then leave the gun overnight, muzzle down on a pad of paper towel. the stain the next morning will tell you if the barrel is clean. A big blue stain means "not yet". Wipe the barrel again with a wet patch of copper solvent and leave it muzzle down again. When you stop getting the blue stain, it is clean.

Here is a paper towel example. You can see that one gun was clean after two sleep overs. the other took 4.

Being lazy, I like the overnight method. If you can find a can of Wipeout foam, a single overnight would do the trick with most guns.

[tsaktuo]

Nice write-up Ganderite. Haven't tried it, but I hear great things about WipeOut foam.

[kgb81]

thanks ganderite! gonna try the wipeout

[ugh457]

Thanks for the replies, seems I may have indeed over thought what I was doing...

don't hesitate to let it sit and soak for a little before scrubbing it.

I'll give that a try to see if any more dirty comes out.

If you can find a can of Wipeout foam, a single overnight would do the trick with most guns.

I'll keep an eye out for the Wipeout as well.

[sunray]

Take the oil out before shooting, but when the patches come out clean, you're done. Best to soak a patch with solvent, run it through the barrel and leave it for 10 to 20 minutes or so. Over night is for a first time cleaning or a really dirty barrel. Endlessly running patches through just uses 'em up. Giving the solvent time to work makes the whole process faster.

[StoneHorse]

I'm also a fan of WipeOut. Leaving it in the barrel overnight with the rifle laying on its side but in a slight muzzle down position.