Cleaning Barrel

Purple2

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I am cleaning my SAM commander stainless for the first time and there is fouling in the barrel near the chamber that is taking forever to remove. The entire bore is spotless except for this area.

I have soaked it in Hoppe's 9 many times and scrubbed it with a bronze brush. I have soaked it in Mpro7 gun cleaner a few times too. After each attempt, the first patch comes out dark. But at the rate it is being removed, I will be scrubbing for a while...

I had to scrub the barrel lugs and rear sight with a nylon brush to remove hardened preservative. Maybe this is a combination of the preservative and carbon fouling. Is there a more aggressive cleaner that I should use? Should I shoot it?

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You might try "J-B Bore Bright". It's a two step product - the first one for "scrubbing" and the second for polishing. I've cleaned up quite a few bores with this stuff. Good luck.
 
I started with WD40 soak for 30 mins, not bad
Tried Otis Bore cleaner, soak for 30 mins, not bad
Tried Ballistol soak for 30 mins, better than the above 2
Tried Copperzilla soak for 30 mins, definitely better than the 3 above
Longer soaking time will shorten your brush time.

After soaking and few bronze brush passes, make sure the barrel is cleaned with a clean patch lightly soaked with your favorite CLP.
 
Barnes cr-10 works good for me. I only use it every once in awhile. It always removes more gunk when I use it right after any other kind of cleaner.
 
I like the idea of shooting it out with fmj's. Beware, heard horror stories of rusty barrels because of being soaked overnight in hoppes elite(not the original).

RM
 
Let it soak overnight with Hoppes 9 Copper Solvent. You might have to do this for a couple nights (scrub and soak in between). JB Bore Cleaning Compound and JB Bore Brite as an extra step would have it out with 30-50 strokes!

For stubborn fouling, I do all of the above before putting it in my Ultrasonic.
 
Being a cheap Bas$%ard I shoot a lot of lead and sometimes I experience a significant amount of leading, especially in my hot 357 loads.

I use a bore solvent to loosen the lead and then I rap some copper strands around a bore brush, the lead usually comes out in pieces. I use a product called "Chore Boy", it is 100% pure copper and will not hurt the barrel.

I hope this helps.
 
+1 on the Chore Boy method for lead buildup. Just be careful 'cause some copper looking scrubbers from the $ store etc are actually made of steel.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. The Chore Boy method is interesting.

Is there any risk in attempting to clear it out using FMJ rounds before cleaning again? I would assume that the buildup would have to be extremely heavy for there to be an issue with excess pressure in the barrel, right?
 
Chore boy on a copper/brass brush works with sufficient elbow grease. It is possible for lead build up to increase pressure but .45 is a low pressure round to start with.
If you are reloading I'd consider reducing the powder charge on the lead loads to prevent or at least delay the problem in the future.
Thank you for the suggestions. The Chore Boy method is interesting.

Is there any risk in attempting to clear it out using FMJ rounds before cleaning again? I would assume that the buildup would have to be extremely heavy for there to be an issue with excess pressure in the barrel, right?
 
I may be wrong but I do believe this is a bit of an old wive's tale.

M

Yeah, it might be. I just did some reading on other forums and some people say that it just irons out the lead at best. Others say that the increase in pressure might make it too risky to shoot jacketed bullets after shooting lead. I guess that they are not shooting jacketed bullets when they test fire these guns in the Philippines.

I was just reading the MPro7 instructions here and they suggest wrapping the brush in stainless steel scouring pad. They claim that it will not scratch the bore. I would rather use copper. Where can I find Chore Boy in Alberta?
 
I have never tried the Chore Boy solution, but you would be amazed at what a Lewis Lead Remover will accomplish.

M
 
Is Lewis Lead Remover sold in Canada?

Maybe? Got mine from Brownells. Check out ebay perhaps?

brownells.com/gun-cleaning-chemicals/patches-mops/lead-remover/lewis-lead-remover-prod21587.aspx

M
 
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I'll likely take some flak for this, but it looks just like the polished powder buildup I was getting in the cylinders of my .38 S&W revolver, and nothing was working to remove it. Hoppes, Wipeout, copper pads, various scrubbers- nothing. It got to the point where just ejecting the brass was very difficult.

Then I grabbed the steel dental pick I bought from London Drugs years back, and gently, patiently, began working at the edges of those blotches. And where everything else failed, this worked, and did NOT scratch up the steel underneath. Fair warning- the business end of my pick is NOT sharp, though it looks that way at first. It's really more of a tiny ball shape.

ps- I have a Lewis Lead Remover. It wasn't even touching this stuff.
 
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