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Surprise - surprise - surprise

I thought M2 was always Full Auto. I used to clean the Lee Enfield and the MG 42/43 with 00 steel wool, foloowed with vaseline on steel wool. Always shiny barrel at inspection.

You're probably correct…..I know near nut'n about military firearms! memtb
 
I cringe whenever I hear of someone using this method of cleaning on a rifle bore. In general it's not a good idea to use stainless steel on a drill to clean a rifle barrel. While stainless steel is somewhat softer than carbon steel the rotary motion of it moving down the barrel has a tendency to eventually knock the sharp edges off of the rifling which will degrade accuracy. Stainless steel brushes, which are stiffer than bronze seem to work well when used in a conventional method to help break up carbon and copper fouling, on the end of a cleaning rod and pushed back and forth through the barrel.
And every time you pull the trigger that bullet and heat and pressure don't do anything? Am I supposed to believe that the same barrel that takes bullet swaged into the grooves with a controlled explosion and forced the length of the barrel under high velocity without lubrication is somehow less damaging to a barrel in general? I get that people are worried about their accuracy, but barrels are expendables. You put a new one on. There are guys that shoot way more than I do and at regional and national levels that use this method so I'd say they are on to something. I'm sure Frank will pop up soon to tell us that aluminum cleaning rods have ruined more barrels than shooting them out. And I'm just going to say that I'm shocked with your last statement. So a brush works great if you go with the bore, just not if you spin it faster?
 
I thought M2 was always Full Auto. I used to clean the Lee Enfield and the MG 42/43 with 00 steel wool, foloowed with vaseline on steel wool. Always shiny barrel at inspection.

I have a friend, many years in the military that used Simple Green (not military approved) to clean his rifle after drills and back at home. Soak, scrub, rinse with hot water. He had squeaky clean rifle …..that smelled good too! 😂 memtb
 
Getting a borescope just provided something else to obsess about. And I lost sleep over it. I was and still am a Hoppes #9 guy. I shot my first rifle in 1968. My old model 700 in 30-06 never knew what a borescope was until one day. The bore looked like the dirt floor of a wild-west saloon. A lot of work getting rid of the carbon. I never was able to get a clean patch out of it using Butch's. I decided I'd rather shoot it than clean it to death. Off to the range with known 0.5" capable ammo and began producing 1.5" groups. I logged all my results and in the end, found that at about every 10 shots the group tightened up until after 55 rounds I was back to consistent 0.5" groups. After that session, I ran several Hoppes #9 patches through it and fired on the next range visit, still 0.5". So that rifle likes to be fouled. After hunting season I clean it and put it in the safe. A month before the next season I take it out, run a dry patch through it and fire a 3-shot group to make sure it is still good then off to the woods. I have a Rem model 7 in .243win that used to foul horribly. After a range session, or groundhog session I nearly had to take it in the shower with me. But it stayed accurate enough to dispatch groundhogs at 300 yards. I loaded with IMR3031. Apparently at some point after Hercules sold out the formulation was changed. That's when the fouling started. The Model 7 has a short barrel. Accuracy became inconsistent. A reader on this forum advised trying I4350 35gr and that cured everything, accuracy, and consistency came back and the rifle stayed a lot cleaner.
 
Getting a borescope just provided something else to obsess about. And I lost sleep over it. I was and still am a Hoppes #9 guy. I shot my first rifle in 1968. My old model 700 in 30-06 never knew what a borescope was until one day. The bore looked like the dirt floor of a wild-west saloon. A lot of work getting rid of the carbon. I never was able to get a clean patch out of it using Butch's. I decided I'd rather shoot it than clean it to death. Off to the range with known 0.5" capable ammo and began producing 1.5" groups. I logged all my results and in the end, found that at about every 10 shots the group tightened up until after 55 rounds I was back to consistent 0.5" groups. After that session, I ran several Hoppes #9 patches through it and fired on the next range visit, still 0.5". So that rifle likes to be fouled. After hunting season I clean it and put it in the safe. A month before the next season I take it out, run a dry patch through it and fire a 3-shot group to make sure it is still good then off to the woods. I have a Rem model 7 in .243win that used to foul horribly. After a range session, or groundhog session I nearly had to take it in the shower with me. But it stayed accurate enough to dispatch groundhogs at 300 yards. I loaded with IMR3031. Apparently at some point after Hercules sold out the formulation was changed. That's when the fouling started. The Model 7 has a short barrel. Accuracy became inconsistent. A reader on this forum advised trying I4350 35gr and that cured everything, accuracy, and consistency came back and the rifle stayed a lot cleaner.
I gave the borescope to a friend with the proviso that if I needed to use it, I could. I was afraid that if I had it in the house, I might be tempted to use it again.
 
Getting a borescope just provided something else to obsess about. And I lost sleep over it. I was and still am a Hoppes #9 guy. I shot my first rifle in 1968. My old model 700 in 30-06 never knew what a borescope was until one day. The bore looked like the dirt floor of a wild-west saloon. A lot of work getting rid of the carbon. I never was able to get a clean patch out of it using Butch's. I decided I'd rather shoot it than clean it to death. Off to the range with known 0.5" capable ammo and began producing 1.5" groups. I logged all my results and in the end, found that at about every 10 shots the group tightened up until after 55 rounds I was back to consistent 0.5" groups. After that session, I ran several Hoppes #9 patches through it and fired on the next range visit, still 0.5". So that rifle likes to be fouled. After hunting season I clean it and put it in the safe. A month before the next season I take it out, run a dry patch through it and fire a 3-shot group to make sure it is still good then off to the woods. I have a Rem model 7 in .243win that used to foul horribly. After a range session, or groundhog session I nearly had to take it in the shower with me. But it stayed accurate enough to dispatch groundhogs at 300 yards. I loaded with IMR3031. Apparently at some point after Hercules sold out the formulation was changed. That's when the fouling started. The Model 7 has a short barrel. Accuracy became inconsistent. A reader on this forum advised trying I4350 35gr and that cured everything, accuracy, and consistency came back and the rifle stayed a lot cleaner.

Well, now you've gone and done it……my secret is out! Cleaning the bore is a mental exercise that may harm your groups…..but, makes you feel good! 😉 memtb
 

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