Breaking in my .35 Whelen

Slooshark1

Slooshark1

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I've been trying to break in my new rifle and I'm not sure what the best way to clean the bore is. I've used J.B. Bore cleaner and I've also used a metal polish called Autosol but there seems to always be more copper left in the barrel. I've always cleaned it with Hoppes Number 9 after using the other cleaners and then oil it to keep it from rusting. I've heard a couple of people say they've used toothpaste but I love my rifle and I thought I'd ask around before I start testing all kinds of stuff on it. Has anyone ever had any success at cleaning a bore with toothpaste? I've been cleaning it after every shot at the range. The rifle shot really well when I first got it but now the group seems to have opened up and I suspect it's because I don't have the barrel clean enough. It looks clean when you look through the bore but when I push a real tight patch through with Hoppes Number 9 on it, I can see traces of copper in the part of the patch that went through the grooves.

Any suggestions?
 
Are you using a brush :?: ... I really likes the Hoppes Gel... let it sit a bit then brush it well then run patches until they are clean. :|
Try cleaning it after each six rounds to avoid the copper buildup :wink:
 
Try using Wipe out or a good copper remover such as Butches Bore shine, Sweets 7.62, etc. No. 9 removes powder fouling and some copper but is not real good at copper.

44Bore
 
Slooshark1 said:
I've been trying to break in my new rifle and I'm not sure what the best way to clean the bore is. ...Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Are you breaking it in, or have you detecting a fouling problem that you're trying to deal with?

The jury is still out on barrel break in even among the most technically oriented shooters - some say it makes a difference, some say it doesn't. I do it on the premise it can't hurt. The only way I think you could make a subjective test of it would be to make two barrels from the same barrel blank, chamber them as identically as possible with the same reamer, and then see if any differences are detected between the one that was broken in and the one that wasn't. Anyways, I break in.

I don't do anything special - Ed's Red for solvent, some JB's, fire a shot, clean, yadda, yadda, pick an interval that seems right for you. My "magic number" is 50 shots - that's my patience limit.

Fouling is something else again. I have tried all kinds of stuff over the years and as a cast bullet guy I am probably more worried about fouling than most jacketed bullet shooters - and I mix jacketed with cast in my rifles to various degrees.

My current - and I think ultimate - approach to fouling is problems is to refer it back to the gunsmith if it was a custom barrel and really shouldn't foul to the degree it is a problem. Factory barrels... I don't screw around with various arcane formulas and cleaning procedures, I just make a lead lap and lap the barrel out to about 400 grit Clover compound. Takes maybe two hours to do. I DON'T fire-lap as I think there is little control over the results and it doesn't address tight/loose spots in the barrel.

I have never handlapped a problematic barrel without seeing at least some improvement. And it is not rocket science.
 
Pick up a Barnes Loading Manual ... good break-in procedure there which, as I recall, takes about 30 rounds ... clean after each shot for 10 singles, after each two for five sets then after 5 for two sets. From that point on, somewhere between every 20 and 50.

Foremost ... use a good AMMONIA - based Copper Solvent, like Barnes CR-15 or Sweet's 7.62. Follow directions and scrub with a good brush on a good rod. When the patches stop coming out blue, you'll know you're gettingh there. Like to follow-up with a JB Bore paste treatment, and finally , a light oiling ( removed before shooting again) Buy the best rod, bore guide and brushes/attachments you can get your hands on. Well worth it, and they'll last for years.

Love Hoppes No. 9 and have used it for years... it's a great powder solvent, and not a bad light protectant, but not worth a pinch on copper fouling. ( And it sure as hell wont touch plastic wad fouling in shotgun choke tubes ! )
 
I never have broken a rifle in, purposefully that is... I just shoot them when I head to the range and clean them when I'm done. A buddy had a similar rifel as mine and he did a very complex, time consuming and costly break-in. His rifle did not shoot any better than mine, he just spent more money on it... :roll:

Troutseeker
 
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