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Cocked&Locked

Cocked&Locked

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Well, i recently aquirred a #1 Mk3 and bayonet that had seen service but was in good shape, dated 1917. barrel was dark with lots of strong rifleing. Ran a few patches thru her, and shot her a bit, all the bullets grouped well and went thru point first so i decided to scrub her out well.....

WELL, a full can of wipe out used with the accelerator later, i'm still taking out deep purple patches! I've never removed this much copper from all the other guns i've owned in my life! I'm thinking i may have to figure out how to get an excavator into the bore, what with copper prices being what they are....

10 cycles in, scrub with copper brush 10-15 strokes, patch out clean, run in the wipe out and let sit an hour.....

at least when i scrub now it doesn't run out the muzzle like mud...eww....more rust in there then previous inspection had indicated...but i am getting some shine, and the rifling is still strong....not sure how long cleaning her right out will take, or if it's worth continuing...I think the previous old owner had sprayed her down regular like with WD40, some light wiping with a rag and bore cleaner removed a yellowish patina/build up off all the action and magazine exposed surfaces. Hate that stuff......

any suggestions? She wont be a regular shooting, but will likely see the range one or twice a year.
 
Oh, bud - I know your frustration. The Wipe-Out wouldn't be reacting with the leftover copper in your bronze brush, would it?

Dosed the apparently spotlessly clean Mosin over the weekend with some more Wipe-Out. Ended up with a catch basin full of the same old blue juice. I like to think I'm more patient/stubborn than a Russian rifle barrel, but this may be too much of a challenge...
 
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I find most of my rifles, especially milsurps like it better a little dirty. There may be such a thing as too clean! Is it worth it? See how it's shooting. You may find after 5 or 6 rounds and a little fouling that your groups actually tighten up.
 
I once read a long post either here or on some other forum discussing 'Bore Seasoning' with the main thrust of the post being that allowing some copper and lead to remain in the bore to fill in 'voids' (read as 'pores' if you prefer). Basically you're supposed to shoot a few rounds, clean it out, shoot a few more, clean it out and keep going until you reach some magical point where all the voids are full, at that point you lube the bore, making it less likely for those deposits to build up.

The main point of my post WAS the I agree with boltonscouter, it seems like there IS such a thing as too clean of a barrel.
 
x2 on all valid points...
-I have wasted time removing stains from a bronze bore brush
-Some fouling (I prefer "seasoning") will help groups

Some insights too...a dark bore doesn't mean a "bad" bore. Pits are bad and, mangled crowns are bad. Rifling you can't see would be bad. Your rifle is 100 years old... You shot it before cleaning, and it shot well. Being clean isn't bad, but attacking a dark bore with too much enthusiasm can cause a bad day! Some of these gems just won't let out a clean patch...save yourself some headaches, and just love it.
 
If she groups good, I wouldn't worry to much about getting the bore in "pristine" condition. Too much scrubbing with a bore brush isn't the best thing for the rifling either....
 
The "let her be's" have it. The worst is out, i'll shoot her and see how it goes. At the current rate of cleaning I suspect i'd have a 8mm enfield by the time is was clean, and no rifling .
 
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