SMLE barrel cleaning

R

RichardSlinger

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Calgary
Hi guys I have a 1912 BSA No 1 Mark 3
I have started to clean the barrel with nitro solvent and patch out for the copper fouling.

I am pretty sure I have all of the copper removed no more blue patches.

Problem is after over a hundred patches the patches still come out black!
My process is to scrub the barrel with a 30 cal bore brush about 5 to 10 times then a few patches with nitro solvent.

Any suggestions?
 
Shoot the old rifle! Black patch likely means a bit of corrosion from 50 years ago. Shoot and enjoy. :)
 
Fill the bore with foaming bore cleaner and let it soak muzzle down overnight with something to catch the drips. That will get it as clean as it's ever going to get. With some barrels, patches never do come out perfectly clean. Ultimately, all that matters is how it shoots.
 
kjohn said:
Shoot the old rifle! Black patch likely means a bit of corrosion from 50 years ago. Shoot and enjoy. :)
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This is how I would deal with it .

Most of my oldies have Shiney bores that look clean to the eye but yet the patches still come out gray or even black.

More often then not with a new gun in my collection I'll clean out the fluff and crud and then shoot it. Often after the bore looks clean.

I don't ever remove copper fouling in my rifles cause I find the copper fills in the little imperfections and makes then shoot better.

If I do scrub the bore and get the copper out I find it takes 50 or even 100 rounds before the barrel settles down and the rifle shoots well again. I think it's because I've reinstalled the copper.

I find clean barrels don't shoot well in any of my guns but your mileage may vary.
 
Tinman204 said:
This is how I would deal with it .

Most of my oldies have Shiney bores that look clean to the eye but yet the patches still come out gray or even black.

More often then not with a new gun in my collection I'll clean out the fluff and crud and then shoot it. Often after the bore looks clean.

I don't ever remove copper fouling in my rifles cause I find the copper fills in the little imperfections and makes then shoot better.

If I do scrub the bore and get the copper out I find it takes 50 or even 100 rounds before the barrel settles down and the rifle shoots well again. I think it's because I've reinstalled the copper.

I find clean barrels don't shoot well in any of my guns but your mileage may vary.
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What you mention is referred to as copper equilibrium. Many guns do not shoot their best until they have some amount of copper built up. Eventually you'll get too much copper and your accuracy will decrease, but when that happens is gun dependant.
 
For my old milsurps I plug the bore with a rubber stopper and fill the bore with ED's red and leave it for a day or two. Drain, clean and resoak if needed. Eventually it will come clean. I have tried lots of different cleaner and homemade Eds red works good and it's cheap to make
 
tjhaile said:
Fill the bore with foaming bore cleaner and let it soak muzzle down overnight with something to catch the drips. That will get it as clean as it's ever going to get. With some barrels, patches never do come out perfectly clean. Ultimately, all that matters is how it shoots.
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You must be almost as smart, good looking and modest as I am. :evil:

foamclean_zpse279b70b.jpg


Bottom line, give the old rifle one shot of foam bore cleaner, run one or two dry patches down the bore and then lightly oil the bore and your done.
 
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