Cleaning barrels...

[65WSM]

I handload from .17 Fireball for ground squirrels to .35 Whelen for my Alaska "fishing" rifle. Cleaning really matters for .17 and .20 caliber rifles. I love my .204 Ruger Shilen barreled AR-15 for the first 35 rounds. I believe that the .20 PPC is the most accurate Twenty cartridge. I have two .20 BRs (one just got a 17-4 PH stainless Bartlein 7 twist replacement that is out for nitrocarburizing).

I have just proved to myself again that nitrocarburized barrels need a lot less brushing and patches than naked stainless barrels. I also shoot only HBN coated bullets. You have to monitor your cleaning with a bore scope. Speaking with a 90 year old retired riflesmith, he told me that fewer than one in ten of the shooters with custom barreled rifles actually shoots clean barrels.

Carbon cleaning: It is important to clean as soon as possible after shooting. Keeping the carbon layer in the barrel soft makes it easier to remove than hardened carbon days later. Carbon cleaners with "aromatic" solvents like tolulene and xylene are the most agressive. For years the carburator cleaners from Mercury Outboards and GM were the best carbon removers. Sinclair (now part of Brownells) used to carry the Mercury cleaner. These chemicals have mostly gone away. Walmart still carries "carburator and air intake cleaner" aerosol at $2 a can. Well worth the money. I have just started using Free All and it seems promising. Hoppes has a pump spray called "Elite High Performance" with a four ingredient alcohol blend that is very handy for squirting patches speared on the jag. I am still testing it. It also is available at Walmart for $8 a bottle.

Copper cleaning. "Sweets" has the highest concentration of ammonia and converts the copper metal to the slightly soluble blue cupric ion that you see on your patches. With HBN coated bullets, I can use Patch Out Wipe Out Shooters Choice and it is adequate as a cleaner, even in .17 caliber. Your needs might be greater.
I use Opossum Hollow Delrin plastic bore guides.

 

[hudgic]

Bore tech products both brushes and a guide for me

 

[V7750212K]

Wipe out. Best darn stuff I have seen in years! Cleaning is sorta a personal preference thing, LOTS of good advice and products

 

[Laelkhunter]

I have tried most, and found the Bore Tech products work best for me. Some copper removing products could be harmful to the bore if you let it sit too long. Bore Tech Eliminator is safe, plus the instructions tell you to leave some in the bore for storage to prevent rust.
Make sure you don't use any brass attachments, or you will get "false positive" on your cleaning patch, blue coming from the attachments, not the bore. Bore Tech nylon brushes and fail safe jags are what I use.

edited to add: As ShtrRdy pointed out in post #20, the "rust prevention" provided by Bore Tech is a short term issue. A product specifically designed for rust prevention should be used for longterm storage. I think the main property of the Bore Tech Eliminator is that it will safely remove copper but not harm the bore if left too long.

 

[PatriotHenry]

Hi all! I've been digging into research about barrel cleaning and barrel products. I'd like to know the consensus of the great shooters here.
1. Products you prefer.
2. Bore guide use.
3. Bronze brush or nylon.

1. Boretech
2. PMA Tool (formerly Lucas) https://www.pmatool.com/cleaning-rod-guides/?sort=bestselling&page=2&mode=6. Spendy but worth it.
3. Both depending on how heavy fouling is.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I have tried most, and found the Bore Tech products work best for me. Some copper removing products could be harmful to the bore if you let it sit too long. Bore Tech Eliminator is safe, plus the instructions tell you to leave some in the bore for storage to prevent rust.
Make sure you don't use any brass attachments, or you will get "false positive" on your cleaning patch, blue coming from the attachments, not the bore. Bore Tech nylon brushes and fail safe jags are what I use.

I learned the hard way that Bore Tech's "prevents rust" applies for very short term amount of time. Bore Tech newer packaging now says "short term " prevention.

 

[sodakota]

There's a couple foaming cleaners that remove copper and other fowling.
I use a bore guide - several manufacturers - all work.
When I need a brush I'll also need JB bore cleaner. Then I use a brass brush wrapped with a cleaning patch and plenty of JB bore cleaner. Normally I only use this method on terribly dirty bores such as a military Mauser I just bought -

 

[griz375]

Years back there was a bore cleaner called Hunters Extreme Copper Melt, when used per the instructions worked like magic and was surely destined to make all other bore cleaners obsolete. You could literally clean your barrel in a matter of minutes. All powder fouling would be gone with the first two patches, and any copper would be gone buy the 5th patch. Even rough bores that normally took an hour to clean were spotless in 2-5 minutes.

I bought a couple bottles in 2003 that lasted me till about 2006, but when I tried to get more the stuff had absolutely vanished. I couldn't even find old articles on the internet about it.

My guess is either Hope's or one of the other big boys secretly bought them up and mothballed the formula. Or got the epa or the state of California to ban the ingredients.

 

[vancewalker007]

Hi all! I've been digging into research about barrel cleaning and barrel products. I'd like to know the consensus of the great shooters here.
1. Products you prefer.
2. Bore guide use.
3. Bronze brush or nylon.

Bore Tech Carbon and Copper when I want to deep clean
Bore Tech Eliminator when I want to quick clean
Possum Hollow bore guide, always use them on all my rifles

I prefer bronze brushes with Carbon Clearer
I use nylon with Copper or the combo Eliminator cleaner as they both melt copper
I use a bore mop for throat cleaning and a fresh one to dry out the chamber

Bore Tech coated Proof-Positive rods and Bore Tech Proof-Positive Rifle Patch Jags

Edgewood Stock Protector Leather to keep the cleaning fluid off the stock

Gun Cleaning Vise, I have a very old one that has a Midway tag on it but I noticed Tipton is making the exact one now. I like to tip the rifle some so the fluid lends to run towards the Barrel Crown end and not into the action. A vise is handy for all sorts of rifle maintenance.

 

[65WSM]

Years back there was a bore cleaner called Hunters Extreme Copper Melt, when used per the instructions worked like magic and was surely destined to make all other bore cleaners obsolete. You could literally clean your barrel in a matter of minutes. All powder fouling would be gone with the first two patches, and any copper would be gone buy the 5th patch. Even rough bores that normally took an hour to clean were spotless in 2-5 minutes.

I bought a couple bottles in 2003 that lasted me till about 2006, but when I tried to get more the stuff had absolutely vanished. I couldn't even find old articles on the internet about it.

My guess is either Hope's or one of the other big boys secretly bought them up and mothballed the formula. Or got the epa or the state of California to ban the ingredients.

Did your patches come out Blue? If so, it was an ammonia based formula, which is not banned by anyone anywhere in the world. As I recall, the Hunters Extreme Copper melt had some abrasive along with the ammonia. Abrasives are not banned either.

 

[Mike Matteson]

Years back there was a bore cleaner called Hunters Extreme Copper Melt, when used per the instructions worked like magic and was surely destined to make all other bore cleaners obsolete. You could literally clean your barrel in a matter of minutes. All powder fouling would be gone with the first two patches, and any copper would be gone buy the 5th patch. Even rough bores that normally took an hour to clean were spotless in 2-5 minutes.

I bought a couple bottles in 2003 that lasted me till about 2006, but when I tried to get more the stuff had absolutely vanished. I couldn't even find old articles on the internet about it.

My guess is either Hope's or one of the other big boys secretly bought them up and mothballed the formula. Or got the epa or the state of California to ban the ingredients.

That the trouble in Mexico-North (aka Calif.) They even screwed up the gas cans.

 

[Beluebow]

Your best cleaning tool will be a borescope.

 

[Shawn Carverelli]

I handload from .17 Fireball for ground squirrels to .35 Whelen for my Alaska "fishing" rifle. Cleaning really matters for .17 and .20 caliber rifles. I love my .204 Ruger Shilen barreled AR-15 for the first 35 rounds. I believe that the .20 PPC is the most accurate Twenty cartridge. I have two .20 BRs (one just got a 17-4 PH stainless Bartlein 7 twist replacement that is out for nitrocarburizing).

I have just proved to myself again that nitrocarburized barrels need a lot less brushing and patches than naked stainless barrels. I also shoot only HBN coated bullets. You have to monitor your cleaning with a bore scope. Speaking with a 90 year old retired riflesmith, he told me that fewer than one in ten of the shooters with custom barreled rifles actually shoots clean barrels.

Carbon cleaning: It is important to clean as soon as possible after shooting. Keeping the carbon layer in the barrel soft makes it easier to remove than hardened carbon days later. Carbon cleaners with "aromatic" solvents like tolulene and xylene are the most agressive. For years the carburator cleaners from Mercury Outboards and GM were the best carbon removers. Sinclair (now part of Brownells) used to carry the Mercury cleaner. These chemicals have mostly gone away. Walmart still carries "carburator and air intake cleaner" aerosol at $2 a can. Well worth the money. I have just started using Free All and it seems promising. Hoppes has a pump spray called "Elite High Performance" with a four ingredient alcohol blend that is very handy for squirting patches speared on the jag. I am still testing it. It also is available at Walmart for $8 a bottle.

Copper cleaning. "Sweets" has the highest concentration of ammonia and converts the copper metal to the slightly soluble blue cupric ion that you see on your patches. With HBN coated bullets, I can use Patch Out Wipe Out Shooters Choice and it is adequate as a cleaner, even in .17 caliber. Your needs might be greater.
I use Opossum Hollow Delrin plastic bore guides.

what exactly is HBN ? never heard of it. I still use moly for volume shooting aka prairie dogs especially for those 200 rounds plus days in a target-rich environment

 

[65WSM]

Coated bullets are all good. Prehaps the best coating I have used is the proprietary coating that Winchester Olin came up for their black "Lubaloy" bullets and Nosler coats in their "Combined Technology" bullets. Hexagonal Boron Nitride is another dry lubricant. It is not quite as slippery (coefficient of friction) as "Moly". HBN does not attract water and form sulfuric acid like Molybdenum Disulfide. HBN is applied like "moly", in a tumbler with steel shotgun shot. I shoot some factory applied moly bullets and Combined Technology ballistic tip bullets. Redding uses HBN in their neck lube set. I use a 35mm film canister with ceramic beads and HBN for my own dry neck lube applicator. I recently had a Pacific Tool and Gauge custom Remington bolt coated with NP3 to provide rust protection. It turns out that NP3 is a paint that contains HBN to make it slippery. You can buy HBN on Amazon. I am currently using one micron size. Half micron is available and costs more. I am not convinced it is better. I shot my best ever group at 540 yards (back of the range) with 80 gr Sierra MKs that had been trimmed and pointed in on of my 22 BRs. Coated with HBN, of course. No naked bullets!