barrel cleaning ........................your way

[Greg Duerr]

So what procedure do you use in cleaning your barrels? Do you use a brush or just a jag, solvent, and Patch. Plus how many rounds would you fire between cleaning....................I have heard so many different ideas .
What sovent to you use.....................................

 

[Barrelnut]

Poll thread below was a good one for how often to clean.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/how-often-do-you-clean-your-barrel-129423/

 

[The Oregonian]

I use KG cleaners. I may not do it as regularly as others, but I do a full run thru with KG assortment (powder and carbon removal, copper removal, etc). I use a copper brush, nylon brush, and follow it up with jags / cloth.

 

[Greg Duerr]

The Smith who just finished my Rifle told me that with a Broughton barrel you really only need to clean your rifle about every 300-500 rounds or if your barrel received any outside contaminates like dirt or snow and or when you start to see a loss in accuracy................just a jag and three wet patches followed by two dry and your done.

He shoots a .338 Edge and usually cleans about every 700 rounds..............

 

[FearNoWind]

I used to clean my rifle after every use. That meant about once every 25 - 50 rounds with a brush and patch combination until the patch came out with only minor evidence of color. Then I bought a bore scope and learned that the shiney interior of the barrel didn't mean it was clean, it meant the carbon deposits had been polished by the projectile and the thicker deposits looked like alligator hide. Now I clean it after every shoot and make every effort to never leave it without cleaning for more than 50 total rounds; the number I fire at any regular match.
I concentrate on the throat/lead area of the chamber and bore and I clean it until the bore offers a rainbow colored reflection in the bore scope. That's commonly a hundred through strokes with a good quality bronze brush and a couple dozen patches on the jag.
The type of solvent I use depends on whether I'm working on carbon removal, copper fouling or a combination of those. My collection of solvents includes Hoppe's No. 9, Butches Bore Shine, Isso, Sweets, Wipe Out, Top End Engine Cleaner and a few others from which I choose one that works on the particular cleaning issue I'm faced with.
Perhaps the best advice is to clean as you like and don't buy a bore scope. Out sight, out of mind. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[benchracer]

I use Wipeout/Patchout with a jag and patches. I have boresnakes for all of my rifles, which I use to help dislodge occasional stubborn fouling. When I finish a shooting session at the range (or after a match), I run a wet patch down the bore and clean thoroughly when I get home. If there is heavy fouling, I will do an initial cleaning, wet the bore down again with a patch, and let it sit overnight. Final cleanup is normally pretty easy the next day.

In the case of my hunting rifles, I foul the bore while checking zero before hunting season begins. The rifle isn't cleaned again until after hunting season.

How often a given rifle should be cleaned is highly dependent on what kind of ammo you are shooting, barrel quality, and barrel condition. Environmental factors may also come into play as well. I don't believe in cleaning intervals based on a set round count.

I generally clean if one of the following conditions is met:

1. The rifle tells me to clean it (indicated by a drop off in accuracy).

2. I am testing loads with different bullets and powders. In that case, I clean the rifle before switching to the next bullet/powder combination and foul the bore with the new combination before testing is resumed.

3. At the end of a shooting session, match, or hunting season.

 

[Mikecr]

I put away guns cleaner than I pulled them.
As cleaned often, it takes nearly nothing for effort to keep them this way(better than new).
Standard cleaning -copper -carbon, then an alcohol wash and dry pre-fouling. Wipe the whole gun down, lube the bolt lugs, etc, put it in the safe.
With this, my first shot down the road will be as good as any.

 

[memtb]

I always end a shooting session with a bullet dipped in Dawn dish washing soap!!
JUST KIDDING!! I'm not nearly as particular as I once was. Maybe I had more time when I was younger, maybe I was more paranoid about carbon steel barrels and the high humidity area that I grew-up in.
Technique is rather boring - a solvent (Hoppe"s) to loosen carbon, remove loose powder particulate. Remove all traces of solvent, then a dose of copper solvent ( Sweets, Barnes, ect.), then follow-up with a light coating of Hoppe"s. I don"t clean often, as I don't shoot often, "life" is interfering with shooting! memtb

 

[barnesuser28]

I just push a dry patch through my 284 win after each range session to grab any extremely loose fouling, and only clean that gun when i change bullets or it starts throwing shots. For another gun, i push one patch with 2 drops of kroil after each range session to get my cold bore shot in with the others, again, i only clean when changing bullets or it starts to throw shots.

Riley

 

[justgoto]

I clean about every 200 shots or so; usually when I get the bore extra wet... like on this day.

Since I usually take one shot a day, I clean the bore when I suspect the bore to corrode if I don't, or when precision suffers, (which hasn't happened yet.)

 

[gohring3006]

I clean after every range session, 20 to 60 rounds. I have used many different cleaning products and found that gunslick bore foam worked the best for that many rounds. For extremely fouled bores I use Remington 40x bore cleaner for about 100 -150 strokes followed by clean patches and some CLP Break free over night, then I swab it out till patches are clean. Then I light coat of more CLP its usually good after that....

 

[hybridfiat]

After each shoot or after 30 rounds.
Sweet's 7.62 solvent till the patch is clean and then a light oil with Ballistol.
Some rifles take longer than others, my .243 had an old barrel on it when I bought it and I haven't changed it so after only 5-10 shots copper fouling is visible in the bore at the muzzle.
Ive mostly had new barrels on my rifles so the usual run-in is 1 shot and clean x 5, 5 shots clean x 20, 15 shots and clean till I get sick of it.
My .223R has had about 3000 rounds through it in 20 years and started shooting a 0.35 and now does 0.6-0.7. That might be me though

 

[Dosh]

WipeOut and IOSSO bore cream if the bore scope shows I need it. The first thing in the chamber is a Lucas bore guide, WipeOut then a nylon brush with a patch wrapped around it. Just a caliber size brush for the IOSSO. Used to scrub the crap out of a barrel, just doesn't work for me anymore. Consider the number of shooters and hunters that run 50-100 rounds through a new barrel without even owning a cleaning rod. What ever your regime you are light years ahead of those guys.

 

[frankinaustin]

I clean after every trip to the range - and thats with 50 - 100 rds fired. There are 3 "categories" of cleaning:

1.) Carbon cleanout - Run Hoppe's No. 9 be wrapping a patch around a nylyon brush and run it thru the barrel back and forth about 10 strokes. I save my nasty ole patch. I might do two cycles of this depending on how hot it is in the garage. After the Hoppes I then run a patch wrapped around the nylon brush with a good squirt of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool. It's basicly tolulene and Methyl alchohol. And this is mostly done to clean out the hoppes.

2.) Copper fouling - I run a patch on a jag thru the barrel well drenched in Sweets 7.62. I may chnage the patch about 3 or 4 times. I stroke one way - just pushing it thru the barrel, taking off the jag, and then reattaching when I push it thru again. It's less about how many times you push it thru, and more about how long (time duration) I do this process. I let this activity occupy me for about 15 min. Again I save all the used patches. It's worth noting that when I complete step 1, the last patch is very "clean." Howeve, when I start remving the copper fouling, MAN do you find some crud!! That sweets will dirty up a patch as if you had pulled off a fifth wheel.

3.) After I've worked the sweets for 15 min, then I clean up my rod and jag and bore guide (more about that next) with the Berrymans and then work the barrel with Break Free CLP. That stuff is an amazing product for cleaning crap out of the rifling. With the break free CLP, I wrap a patch around the nylon brush and stroke it thru about 10 times. I will go thru two cycles of this. (you will be amazed at what it picks up). I then finish by pushing thru dry patches on a jag - probably 10. Lastly I will run a single patch with a little squirt of Berrymans to wipe out any of the CLP. (CLP is an amazing penetrating oil. If you put a drop in the middle of Los Angeles, it will spread to every corner of the City). (That was hyperbole, btw).

Note on equipment: I have a plastic bore guide that I bought from sinclairs. Get one. It will lower your misery level 75% when cleaning. Makes the job a lot better. I also use a cleaning rod that is made of carbon fiber. It was expensive but all they had. It's perfectly rigid and makes it easy to manuver when pushing thru that bore guide. It's just an awesome tool... I think it was made by gunslick.

Most important issue on cleaning is just to do it. IT's like exercise - no right or wrong way for the most part, just do it.