Surprise - surprise - surprise

Varmint Hunter

Varmint Hunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2001
Messages
7,184
Location
Long Island, New York
I'm one of those clean freaks who just has to clean his rifle bores after every session. I'll typically run 30-40 rounds in each rifle while working up loads. I use BoreTech Eliminator, Carbon Out and CU+2. I let the solvents work in the bore as I do other chores. It's not unusual to have the rifles in the cleaning racks for 2 days as I run wet patches and bore brushes down intermittently. My routine helps to prevent fouling build-up of any kind.

The other day, I was shooting a heavy bench rifle in 6.5x284. It was shooting under 2" at 400yds, but this rifle is (was) capable of shooting groups 1/2 that size. I was wondering if the bore hadn't just seen a better day. The rifle was built for shooting groundhogs out past 1,000yds.

Even though I own a Tesla bore scope, I rarely take it out. Mostly, I just rely on my cleaning routine to ensure that the bore is clean. When patches can't produce any more blue/green/black, it's clean. However, yesterday I decided to take out the ol' Tesla and have a look. SURPRISE - there was a black carbon ring right up front and black streaks that ran down the bore. Carbon was visible on the lands and in-between. If that wasn't bad enough, copper was visible for nearly half the length of the barrel!

I was absolutely shocked to see how fouled the bore was considering that it was thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis and that the resulting patches were essentially white as they left the muzzle. I'll be using the Tesla a lot more after my cleaning sessions.

It took nothing short of a Herculean effort to get all the fouling off the steel. I used a trio of methods; Carbon Out soaks, Flitz and a stiff bronze brush, to actually get 98% of the junk out.
 
I read this and smiled as I experienced the same thing.
I thought my Leupold scope went south until I used the borescope and found what you found.I too use C4 and other Bore Tech products and kept searching.KG products were quicker but an old stand by product helped me out the most,Free All spray.I used to use it for loosening stuck bolts and nuts and saw a video on youtube about it so I tried it and lo and behold it worked great and a lot quicker!Just a light spray on a patch and run it down the bore and let it sit for a while.Scrub and out it came.If you have some try it.
I have heard folks say don't clean until accuracy degrades but if I do that it takes days to clean that rifle so like you I scrub!
 
Varmint Hunter said:
I'm one of those clean freaks who just has to clean his rifle bores after every session. I'll typically run 30-40 rounds in each rifle while working up loads. I use BoreTech Eliminator, Carbon Out and CU+2. I let the solvents work in the bore as I do other chores. It's not unusual to have the rifles in the cleaning racks for 2 days as I run wet patches and bore brushes down intermittently. My routine helps to prevent fouling build-up of any kind.

The other day, I was shooting a heavy bench rifle in 6.5x284. It was shooting under 2" at 400yds, but this rifle is (was) capable of shooting groups 1/2 that size. I was wondering if the bore hadn't just seen a better day. The rifle was built for shooting groundhogs out past 1,000yds.

Even though I own a Tesla bore scope, I rarely take it out. Mostly, I just rely on my cleaning routine to ensure that the bore is clean. When patches can't produce any more blue/green/black, it's clean. However, yesterday I decided to take out the ol' Tesla and have a look. SURPRISE - there was a black carbon ring right up front and black streaks that ran down the bore. Carbon was visible on the lands and in-between. If that wasn't bad enough, copper was visible for nearly half the length of the barrel!

I was absolutely shocked to see how fouled the bore was considering that it was thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis and that the resulting patches were essentially white as they left the muzzle. I'll be using the Tesla a lot more after my cleaning sessions.

It took nothing short of a Herculean effort to get all the fouling off the steel. I used a trio of methods; Carbon Out soaks, Flitz and a stiff bronze brush, to actually get 98% of the junk out.
Click to expand...

I use the same philosophy pertaining to rifle bores as to washing my wife's vehicle. I explained to her that a nice layer of dirt protects the paint from small rocks and sand blasting from other vehicles! 🙀

Bore fouling should help protect the bore….well, shouldn't it! 🤔 😉 😂

On a more serious note, quite painful for me…… different rifles are affected differently by fouling! I have some, generally small-bore rifles, that must be fouled by several shots to achieve best groups…..often significantly better groups. The larger bore .…..30's and up seem to be less affected. Though, I still foul them with a shot or two prior to attempting qualitative group ascertainment!

While on this topic, I'm going to do load development for a rifle this summer…. I guess that I'll give it a good cleaning before starting load work.

It's been quite some time since it's last cleaning, it can't hurt it any…..can it? 😉

Maybe this could be another thread…. Can we clean our barrels too much, too often? 🤔😂 memtb
 
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Bore scopes can bring to light many things. I only recently bought one. I haven't noticed any significant fouling yet, but now I have tool to exercise my OCD. I had a close friend (RIP) that never cleaned his rifles or shotguns. He could shoot a fly off of deers back. Occasionally he would drop them off with a gunsmith to clean them if he was going on a big hunt (Africa or Alaska). It would drive me crazy, but I couldn't argue with his results.
 
On the flip side; I have a hunting buddy that only shoots a few times each year. Recently, he asked me if I would clean his .308 rifle. Since I've got rifles on the cleaning racks every week, it seemed like no big deal. Looking down the bore I could see an accumulation of junk. It looked like a motorcross track. I asked him when he cleaned the bore last and he replied, "never, I don't have a cleaning kit". I asked him how long he owned the rifle and he said, "over 20 years". :eek:

It took me about two weeks of soaking, scrubbing and brushing to actually get down to the steel but it eventually happened. Group size immediately shrank. Go figure. 😁
 
victor3ranger said:
What does everyone use to remove copper fouling????
Click to expand...
338 dude said:
Boretech
Click to expand...
I'll admit that my rifle cleaning schedule is usually a once a year event. I was shooting my elk rifle regularly this spring in anticipation for this year's trip. Accuracy started to fade and then I realized how many rounds I had been shooting.
I broke out the boretech and 4 days later I had a clean barrel. I would patch and brush every evening and leave it work until the next day. I couldn't believe the crud coming out!
 
Hunting rifles get cleaned after the season is over...unless it gets wet.

Everything else gets cleaned after 75-100 rounds....preferably while the gun is still hot. Butche's...Bore Tech Eliminator and CU+2 are my main go too's....The Chameleon Gel works well also.

ThorroClean works great if the barrel hasn't been neglected terribly long.....it will still work but just require a lot more effort.
 
Beluebow said:
Hunting rifles get cleaned after the season is over...unless it gets wet.

Everything else gets cleaned after 75-100 rounds....preferably while the gun is still hot. Butche's...Bore Tech Eliminator and CU+2 are my main go too's....The Chameleon Gel works well also.

ThorroClean works great if the barrel hasn't been neglected terribly long.....it will still work but just require a lot more effort.
Click to expand...
Even if you only shot 3 rounds ?
 

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