Can't get bore clean
- Thread starter OldSavage
- Start date
Got to love the bore snakes! I bought one for every caliber I have and for my shotgun. When the bore snakes start getting dirty just wait for wifey to leave the house and through them in the clothes washer.
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If you are using copper fouling remover make sure you don't run it through with a brass brush because brass has copper in it! The cleaner is actually removing the copper from your brush and leaving it in the already cleaned barrel.
I use a de-lead cleaner with my brass brush only, and a copper removal solvent with my nylon brush. Total patches run through my rifles is about 10 total now that I do it that way. Start with the copper one and finish with the nylon one.
I also don't subscribe to the idea that barrels have to have every single bit of dirt/fouling removed from them to be accurate. Overcleaning is just as bad as under cleaning IMO.
I use a de-lead cleaner with my brass brush only, and a copper removal solvent with my nylon brush. Total patches run through my rifles is about 10 total now that I do it that way. Start with the copper one and finish with the nylon one.
I also don't subscribe to the idea that barrels have to have every single bit of dirt/fouling removed from them to be accurate. Overcleaning is just as bad as under cleaning IMO.
Does anyone think it's bad to push the cleaning rod in from either side of the barrel? For example when cleaning a pistol and the barrel is easily accessed from both sides with the gun disassembled. It bugs me not following the same path the bullet travels when I push a brush into a barrel. I know the cleaning brushes are made of materials that are softer than the barrel metal but somehow I feel it could ruin the accuracy. Am I just paranoid?
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Try a foam-based cleaner like Wipe Out. It should lift all the scheiße out of the barrel and then it will come out nicely with a few patches. If it's really filthy then it may need two treatments with a long soak on the second (think overnight).
At the risk of hijacking....has any one ever tried Gunzilla?
http://www.topduckproducts.com/products.aspx?Product=Gunzilla
http://www.topduckproducts.com/products.aspx?Product=Gunzilla
For occasional use, bore snakes "might be OK", if you're very careful to pull it out of the bore absolutely straight. If it's pulled off square to the bore, it "will" wear the muzzle and deteriorate accuracy.
The armies of the world found this out the hard way after issuing pullthroughs to the troops. The "bore snake" is nothing more than a fancy pull through.
Now, if you're only using the snake occasionally, it shouldn't have a lot of effect. If you're serious about accuracy, get a bore guide that fits snugly into your chamber, if it's a bolt action. If it's a lever or semi auto, get a good muzzle guide that attaches firmly or the same wear will occur from the rod dragging on the muzzle. Another thing as mentioned above, cleanliness is everything. Grit, and carbon can be extremely hard and sharp, they will become embedded in the rod and can be very difficult to remove. They will act like very fine abrasive and will cause damage quite quickly.
Good bore cleaners are a must as well, Hoppes no 9 will only remove carbon and not much else. I've cleaned far to many rifles for friends that shot hundreds of rounds downrange and only cleaned with Hoppes no 9.
This can be a real chore and sometimes it's close to impossible to get accuracy back. I can understand shooters on a budget, trying to get by on limited funds. Maybe lack of space as well. Whatever the reason, boresnakes just can't get clean enough after use, not even in the clothes washing machine. There is always some damaging residue left.
For most shooters, bore cleaning isn't nearly the priority it should be and many a decent rifle has been made barely acceptable or unacceptable by infrequent or improper methods.
I once knew a fellow that would take a wire clothes hanger, unwrap the hook and use the the straight curled end to wrap whatever type of cloth he could get his hands on, soak the whole thing with either gasoline or diesel fuel and vigorously scrub the bore of his sportered 303 Brit. He jammed the whole thing in it once and rammed it out with apiece of 1/4 inch drill rod. He swore it cleaned the bore as well as anything he could buy in the store and drifting out the rod or using the coat hanger never damaged the bore or effected accuracy. His main targets for practise, once a year, were plastic gallon jugs. If he hit them 2 out of 3 shots at 100 yards, he was happy.
bearhunter
The armies of the world found this out the hard way after issuing pullthroughs to the troops. The "bore snake" is nothing more than a fancy pull through.
Now, if you're only using the snake occasionally, it shouldn't have a lot of effect. If you're serious about accuracy, get a bore guide that fits snugly into your chamber, if it's a bolt action. If it's a lever or semi auto, get a good muzzle guide that attaches firmly or the same wear will occur from the rod dragging on the muzzle. Another thing as mentioned above, cleanliness is everything. Grit, and carbon can be extremely hard and sharp, they will become embedded in the rod and can be very difficult to remove. They will act like very fine abrasive and will cause damage quite quickly.
Good bore cleaners are a must as well, Hoppes no 9 will only remove carbon and not much else. I've cleaned far to many rifles for friends that shot hundreds of rounds downrange and only cleaned with Hoppes no 9.
This can be a real chore and sometimes it's close to impossible to get accuracy back. I can understand shooters on a budget, trying to get by on limited funds. Maybe lack of space as well. Whatever the reason, boresnakes just can't get clean enough after use, not even in the clothes washing machine. There is always some damaging residue left.
For most shooters, bore cleaning isn't nearly the priority it should be and many a decent rifle has been made barely acceptable or unacceptable by infrequent or improper methods.
I once knew a fellow that would take a wire clothes hanger, unwrap the hook and use the the straight curled end to wrap whatever type of cloth he could get his hands on, soak the whole thing with either gasoline or diesel fuel and vigorously scrub the bore of his sportered 303 Brit. He jammed the whole thing in it once and rammed it out with apiece of 1/4 inch drill rod. He swore it cleaned the bore as well as anything he could buy in the store and drifting out the rod or using the coat hanger never damaged the bore or effected accuracy. His main targets for practise, once a year, were plastic gallon jugs. If he hit them 2 out of 3 shots at 100 yards, he was happy.
bearhunter
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- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I wouldn't allow a bore snake on the property. I can't remember the last time I used a bore brush in a rifle barrel, although I do use them for cleaning shotgun barrels. Hoppes #9 is for cleaning shotguns and rimfires, and it smells nice so I always have a bottle around. WipeOut is the cleaner I use for my hunting rifles. If an overnight application doesn't get the bore perfectly clean, I can still use the rifle the next day. If I want to get the barrel perfectly clean, I'll follow up with Sweets to see if I get any color on the patches. What I don't like about WipeOut is that it leaves a sticky residue, so I follow cleaning with a good grade of gun oil or Microlon, especially on the bolt rails. Sweets is my choice of solvent for my target rifle. This stuff gets rid of fouling in a good barrel very quickly.
Regardless of which solvent you choose, you should always use a bore guide, never use stainless bore brushes, and avoid using bronze bore brushes. You can use a nylon bore brush to apply a copper cutting chemical like Sweets, but a patch works as well. Get rid of the slotted patch holders and use a proper sized jag with cotton patches of the correct size for the bore. Use a bore guide. Use a decent cleaning rod, one piece is best, but a jointed steel rod is acceptable if you use it carefully.
When applying a solvent with a patch, work the rod back and forth in the bore advancing an inch or so at a time. When removing the chemical from the bore push it out towards the muzzle if possible, but in either case do not drag a contaminated patch back through a clean bore. I found that it is useful to use a wet patch to plug the muzzle and the bore guide to limit air movement through the bore when chemically removing copper fouling. Damage to the bore occurs when the chemical evaporates and dries on the bore surface resulting in rust and pitting. Plugging the bore helps to ensure that the bore stays wet up to 20 minutes by which time it should be patched out. When you no longer see any discoloration on the patch, run an additional patch through the bore to ensure it is dry, then follow with a patch with a good grade of gun oil or Microlon to protect the bore, and follow with a single dry patch.
The way that fouling is deposited in rifle barrels, every layer of copper fouling is covered with a layer of carbon. It is not unusual to be left with carbon fouling in a copper free barrel. This can be removed with Break Clean, but don't let this stuff come in contact with the stock. WipeOut works better/faster if the bore is sprayed with Break Clean prior to using the WipeOut.
While cleaning is not without effect on the life of the barrel, incorrect cleaning methods can reduce barrel life rapidly. I prefer to clean more often than some folks, to minimize the number of times the cleaning rod has to pass through the bore, and I no longer get particularly adventurous with using chemicals that are not designed for firearm use, despite the fact that some people say that cleaning time is reduced greatly with the use of commercial grade ammonia. I do use Break Clean and I do use Lubriplate grease on my bolt lugs that have been lapped.
Regardless of which solvent you choose, you should always use a bore guide, never use stainless bore brushes, and avoid using bronze bore brushes. You can use a nylon bore brush to apply a copper cutting chemical like Sweets, but a patch works as well. Get rid of the slotted patch holders and use a proper sized jag with cotton patches of the correct size for the bore. Use a bore guide. Use a decent cleaning rod, one piece is best, but a jointed steel rod is acceptable if you use it carefully.
When applying a solvent with a patch, work the rod back and forth in the bore advancing an inch or so at a time. When removing the chemical from the bore push it out towards the muzzle if possible, but in either case do not drag a contaminated patch back through a clean bore. I found that it is useful to use a wet patch to plug the muzzle and the bore guide to limit air movement through the bore when chemically removing copper fouling. Damage to the bore occurs when the chemical evaporates and dries on the bore surface resulting in rust and pitting. Plugging the bore helps to ensure that the bore stays wet up to 20 minutes by which time it should be patched out. When you no longer see any discoloration on the patch, run an additional patch through the bore to ensure it is dry, then follow with a patch with a good grade of gun oil or Microlon to protect the bore, and follow with a single dry patch.
The way that fouling is deposited in rifle barrels, every layer of copper fouling is covered with a layer of carbon. It is not unusual to be left with carbon fouling in a copper free barrel. This can be removed with Break Clean, but don't let this stuff come in contact with the stock. WipeOut works better/faster if the bore is sprayed with Break Clean prior to using the WipeOut.
While cleaning is not without effect on the life of the barrel, incorrect cleaning methods can reduce barrel life rapidly. I prefer to clean more often than some folks, to minimize the number of times the cleaning rod has to pass through the bore, and I no longer get particularly adventurous with using chemicals that are not designed for firearm use, despite the fact that some people say that cleaning time is reduced greatly with the use of commercial grade ammonia. I do use Break Clean and I do use Lubriplate grease on my bolt lugs that have been lapped.
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Rather than using patches on my target rifles I use VFG felt pellets. The pellets come in specific caliber sizes and are a snug fit down the bore. The pellets require a special jag, which you can get from Dewey`s. Although the pellets are expensive I haven't looked back since using them and would say it is the most efficient cleaning system on the market today.
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- Location
- Stony Plain, Alberta
The slickest way I have found, is the foaming bore cleaner stuff from gunslick. Use dewey rods bore guides, and you will not go back to strings in your barrel.
stickhunter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria, B.C.
Andy,
Were you able to find the Gunzilla in Canada, and if so, where?
I've always used the Gunslick foaming bore cleaner and have been very happy with it, but I also keep a bottle of Butches Bore Shine around for odd jobs... I like how it works, but can't stand the ammonia smell.
Quote: "After running a wet patch (hoppes no. 9) he is getting nothing at all as well as the dry patch but after running the bore brush through the patches look disgusting..."
Sure sounds like the brush is the source of the contaminant. If its not, then the solvent is doing FA, and the mechanical action of the brush is loosening something. How else can you explain the clean patches?
Sure sounds like the brush is the source of the contaminant. If its not, then the solvent is doing FA, and the mechanical action of the brush is loosening something. How else can you explain the clean patches?
I bought it last weekend at our Milshoot, but wasn't smart enough to get a card from the guy. I'm looking into it and will provide the info when I get it.
The black is just the solvent interacting with the metal in the brush. The bore could be spotless and the brush will still bring out black. Go to a stiff Nylon brush.
