call me nuts ,but aluminum is way softer than steel and regardless of carbon build up on the rod how dose it wreck the crown? it is softer than the steel . I can grab a chunk of sharp aluminum and rub it on an old barrel for 15 min and cannot scratch it ,so I do not understand
rough / pitted bbl - polishing?
- Thread starter farshot
- Start date
- Location
- NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
An Alumiun rod will pick up grit which is harder than your rifling and damage the rifling.I have used 0000 steel wool to clean up burrs on bad rifling.Just a few strokes and check it.
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In the training manuals for the Swiss straight-pull bolt actions, the use of the cleaning rod is discouraged while the pull-through is recommended for regular cleaning. That said, the guide mentions and shows diagrams of "ovalling" of the muzzle/crown which can happen to a barrel if the pull through is not pulled directly away from the muzzle. Great caution is urged not to risk damaging the crown through improper use of the pull through, though the overall accuracy of these milsurps suggests that when properly used that they should not adversely (if at all) effect accuracy.
Many, many years ago, I got an 8X57 Mauser from Globe Firearms. Bought it for the action. The barrel was just as you have described in your original post. Tried to clean it up, but it was still a mess.
The barrel was going to be coming off the action anyway, and I had nothing to lose, so rolled some steel wool onto an old bronze bristle brush and went at the bore. Can't remember what grade wool it was, but am pretty sure it was not really fine. Might have been medium.
I used Hoppe's #9 to soak the bore and the steel wool. Gobs of dark stuff started coming out of the bore on the wool. Took it off, cleaned with a patch and went at it again with the wool and #9. Did this about five or six times, putting new wool on somewhere along the process. In total, I probably pushed steel wool back and forth through the bore about 100 times.
Finished off with a new round of wool, that was really tight in the bore and I think was extra fine, and went at it maybe twenty more passes with oil of some kind, and then finished with a few clean flannel patches.
It was amazing. That barrel was actually shining! Even the grooves were bright. Took the rifle to the range and it shot as good as any military Mauser I had ever used.
Since that time, I have used steel wool a few more times on badly rusted/pitted barrels, although I have always used fine, or very fine, after that first barrel.
They have all cleaned up the same.
Ted
The barrel was going to be coming off the action anyway, and I had nothing to lose, so rolled some steel wool onto an old bronze bristle brush and went at the bore. Can't remember what grade wool it was, but am pretty sure it was not really fine. Might have been medium.
I used Hoppe's #9 to soak the bore and the steel wool. Gobs of dark stuff started coming out of the bore on the wool. Took it off, cleaned with a patch and went at it again with the wool and #9. Did this about five or six times, putting new wool on somewhere along the process. In total, I probably pushed steel wool back and forth through the bore about 100 times.
Finished off with a new round of wool, that was really tight in the bore and I think was extra fine, and went at it maybe twenty more passes with oil of some kind, and then finished with a few clean flannel patches.
It was amazing. That barrel was actually shining! Even the grooves were bright. Took the rifle to the range and it shot as good as any military Mauser I had ever used.
Since that time, I have used steel wool a few more times on badly rusted/pitted barrels, although I have always used fine, or very fine, after that first barrel.
They have all cleaned up the same.Ted
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