I do not agree with much of what was posted above. My Bore Scope and actually testing does not support many of his opinions/conclusions especially this one--
"Can your barrel be too clean? You're kidding me – right? Nope, if a shooter uses an abrasive type cleaner too often the abrasives can be very effective at removing all traces of powder, carbon and jacket or lead fouling. The abrasives can get the barrel too clean. In effect the shooter is re-breaking in the barrel every time he cleans. This ends up in the dog chasing its tail scenario where the shooter believes his barrel is a fouler because of copper or lead accumulation in the barrel is always present so he works to remove it with more abrasive cleaner but what he does remove is the desirable layer of carbon fouling left by the powder and exposes the bare steel ready to grab lead or copper with the next shot."
I would suggest that people follow what follows as written by someone who has many skins on the wall as well as builds some of the most accurate rifles one can buy:
Bore Scope verified many times.....
Step 1. Insert Lucas bore guide into receiver and chamber. If you don't have one stop here and get one, if not, just shoot your rifle and forget trying to take any care of your barrel at all. If you do have one, proceed, and give yourself one "At-A-Boy" for being astute enough to have purchased the proper tools for the job.
Note: One "Aw-****" wipes out ALL "At-A-Boys".
Step 2. Run one wet patch of Sweets 7.62 through the bore and let soak for approximately 60 seconds. Do not patch this out.
Step 3. Next, run the brush through the barrel only enough to expose the entire brush. Yes, I know that you still have 12 more inches of cleaning rod you could push out the end of your barrel but we want to protect that new crown. Also, if that rod hangs out that far, you will eventually start wearing down the rifling at the crown from about 4 to 7 o'clock. This is very bad "JU-JU" for accuracy. OK, back to our next step. Once the brush is exposed, saturate it well with Sweets and SLOWLY run the brush through the barrel 10 (or more depending on the fouling amount) complete back and forth passes while keeping the rod as straight as possible. This is when the Lucas bore guide really pays for itself! Remember, the key word is slowly. We are not trying to break any land speed records today. Let this sit a minute or two and proceed to the next step.
Step 4. After you have let the barrel soak for a few moments, saturate a patch with Sweets and pass it through the bore if it is clean good job if not repeat 2 and 3. Follow this with 2 dry patches and then dry the chamber with Brake Cleaner. Next, gently wipe the crown off with a soft cloth and lube your bolt (do not use too much).
D. Final Cleaning Tips -
1. Each time you clean you should follow the last dry patch with a patch soaked with LOCK-EEZ. This is a graphite powder suspended in a quick evaporating carrier that coats the bore slightly before passing that first round through a completely dry bore.
2 The only product I use that really does a good job on powder fouling (will clean everything out including copper), especially on the carbon ring that forms just ahead of where the neck ends in the chamber, is IOSSO Bore Paste. This is used with an IOSSO nylon bristle brush and worked slowly in the neck and throat areas, then slowly down the entire bore for 10 to 20 strokes depending on the fouling level. Follow this up with a few wet patches, then dry the bore as usual, and you're ready to shoot. The brush will eventually turn black as you pass through the bore repeatedly and use Brake Cleaner or if you have a lot of money Gun Scrubber to clean the brush off (both for this and the Pro Shot phosphor bronze ones) then a blast down the Lucas Bore Guide followed by a patch or two to clean out any remaining IOSSO. Then a patch of Butches Bore Shine followed by 2 dry patches finally followed by a patch of LOCK-EZ.
This is a modified method of what Speedy taught me and it works because --- THE BORE SCOPE DOES NOT LIE
