What bore cleaner do you use ?!

[gator378]

I have been using Wipe Out for a couple of years now. It does a real good job.

Me too. No smell and has done to good job for me.

 

[shinbone]

I am nylon brush guy. With a quality copper, lead, and/or carbon solvent, the liquid does the work, and aggressive scrubbing with a metallic brush is not needed.

 

[Rick Richard]

I am nylon brush guy. With a quality copper, lead, and/or carbon solvent, the liquid does the work, and aggressive scrubbing with a metallic brush is not needed.

Unless you have a carbon ring build up in the throat area then heavy brushing will be required in my experience.

 

[Songdoger]

I have been using KG12 copper solvent, and wondered if there is something else anyone else uses they find better in any way? I was using Butchs Bore Shine, but thought the KG line might do a better job without the smell.
I know theres tons of videos out there on various bore cleaners, and methods of cleaning but I was looking for advice from you shooters here.
Thanks !!!

I use Kroil for carbon and KG12 for copper. Use to use sweets 7.62. I have used sweets till I had clean patches. Killed sweets with 2 wet patches of kroil then patched till dry. Ran KG12 and got more blue patches. Don't get too OCD on copper anymore unless accuracy degrades.

 

[Scoutin' Wyo]

I've e become a big fan of the KG products. Simple, efficient, and low stink.

 

[keithcandler]

When one guys says I like this, then next guy says I like another. You have no idea if either guy has a bore scope to examine his actual barrel condition, how many rounds he fires in between cleanings, and if he is referring to a custom barrel or factory barrel.

A guy that shoots 40 rounds of informal benchrest shooting at the range in a sesson is a lot different cleaning requirements from a guy that shoots long strings in F class competition, or a guy that shoots 650 rounds of centerfire on a p. dog town in a days time.

Also, you don't know if a guy is shooting a 223 shooting 24 grains of powder, or a 7 Mag with 66g of powder.

So, intensity of firing sessions, along with caliber choice should make a difference in cleaning frequency and intensity. More patches with JB works often, but circumstances will vary. Without a bore scope, a guy is hoping that clear patches will be good enough, and often this is the case.

I shoot a lot in factory barrels of different makes, and the finest SS custom barrels made. Having owned a bore scope for a long time, I can tell you that plastic brushes do not clean as well as bronze bristle brushes, but the Montana Extreme and ISSIo brushes are very good plastic brushes. The size of the plastic brush bristle does not easily scrub the carbon in the edges of the lands/groove. Bronze bristle brushes need to be thrown away every 100 strokes max, and buy them by the dozen.

I have only seen a few serious mistakes that guys make:

a. cleaning with a stainless steel brush
b. soaking with various products thinking that carbon is removed with patches only
c. a person not cleaning their rifles, for a lot of reasons
d. not using a rod guide that has a bushing on the rod, centering the rod in the guide
can leade to worn throats, especially if you use a lot of abrasive cleaners. Neil
Jones and Lucas rod guides are supurb...they never wear out.
e. a person using brushes that he just keeps re using for years is just getting exercise
unless he is wrapping a patch around the brush

Guys that like to clean with patches only can have good success with JB, ISSIO, Flitz, and a new product called Montana Extreme copper Cream that is easier to use than the 3 above.

It is amazing how barrels that have patches show clean may still have a lot of carbon in them.

The more serious issue of not cleaning till you have to or until accuracy is lost, can mean very different levels of carbon accumulation. Often barrels that an owner may think is shot out, is just carbon fouled. Now, removing heavy deposits of carbon is not an easy thing, and regular cleaning methods with any standard solvent, plastic or bronze brushes will not suffice. Often, various compounds of serious metal cutting/polishing silicone carbide has to be used, or he less abrasive grits of Aluminum Oxide.

With all the shooting over the many years that I have done in excess, often firing 25,000 rounds a year or more, bore solvents are less of an issue, good bronze bristle brushes get the job done is spades. The cleaning job on The heavy duty carboned up barrels is accomplished with new bronze bristle brushes and jB, especially at the end of a long day shooting p. dogs when you are tired and hungry.

I wish that all shooters that shoot a lot could own one of the new Lyman bore scopes that are less than $200. These bore scopes will make you an expert at the level you are shooting at and with your frequency. So reading who is doing what and how much will be a moot point because you will see with your own eyes just what your cleaning regiment is doing. Also, the lyman can capture pictures easily, you store them in your computer, so you can watch your barrel's wear progress over time. Some powders foul a lot more than others, some excessive powder charges eat up throats more than others. Again, You become an expert with your shooting and cleaning equipment.

When you read what a guy says, you have no idea of his success is in shooting a 17 Ackley hornet with 11g of powder or a 7 Remington mag with 71g of powder. How about the guy shooting an ultra mag with over 100g of powder, must less a guy shooting a long range 50 bmg where he is shooting 200g of powder?

Get a Lyman bore scope or a Hawkeye, especially if you are a long range shooter.

Best wishes!

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

As a general practice I only use brushes after shooting cast bullets. As for the various others from 17 Hornet on up I only use patches. I try to clean before I hit 100-150 shots. PDogs is where my most heavy action happens. I use a tube with a small funnel on the end down into the chamber so I can drown the barrel with solvent. Pretty much any one will work. I then let it sit 10 minutes or so, then patch until clean. Usually less than ten patches does it. I verified this enough times with my Hawkeye that I'm happy with the process. After a PDog trip I might repeat this a second time. If I start to see any carbon build up, which I rarely see, I'll drown the barrel with carb cleaner as needed.

 

[Old Rooster]

Dosh does Iosso make a paste or do you make a paste?
I have 1/2 gallon left from another project.
Old Rooster

 

[Old Rooster]

Keithcandler you make good sense about cleaning.
My AR 15's clean much easier as they have better barrels but I have seen some that only after shooting 30 rounds took 4 hours to get the bore clean.So caliber is not always going to be worse with caliber increase.
I have a 30-06 with a Shilen select barrel #5 contour that needs only a few patches to clean but I have a 300 weatherby mag that is horrible to clean.I have used 1/2 can of J B Bore Paste and several cans of Wipe Out mostly on that rifle.
I do use a video scope,NTS150B Borescope.
I can see when a product is not working for me and those that work stays on the shelf and I have tossed a bunch of bore cleaners since my first gun in 1960.Back then we only had Hoppe's and a few others that smelled like Kerosene.Some made their own bore cleaners but I never did.
Another 2 cents worth,Old Rooster

 

[rustyshackleford]

When one guys says I like this, then next guy says I like another. You have no idea if either guy has a bore scope to examine his actual barrel condition, how many rounds he fires in between cleanings, and if he is referring to a custom barrel or factory barrel.

A guy that shoots 40 rounds of informal benchrest shooting at the range in a sesson is a lot different cleaning requirements from a guy that shoots long strings in F class competition, or a guy that shoots 650 rounds of centerfire on a p. dog town in a days time.

Also, you don't know if a guy is shooting a 223 shooting 24 grains of powder, or a 7 Mag with 66g of powder.

So, intensity of firing sessions, along with caliber choice should make a difference in cleaning frequency and intensity. More patches with JB works often, but circumstances will vary. Without a bore scope, a guy is hoping that clear patches will be good enough, and often this is the case.

I shoot a lot in factory barrels of different makes, and the finest SS custom barrels made. Having owned a bore scope for a long time, I can tell you that plastic brushes do not clean as well as bronze bristle brushes, but the Montana Extreme and ISSIo brushes are very good plastic brushes. The size of the plastic brush bristle does not easily scrub the carbon in the edges of the lands/groove. Bronze bristle brushes need to be thrown away every 100 strokes max, and buy them by the dozen.

I have only seen a few serious mistakes that guys make:

a. cleaning with a stainless steel brush
b. soaking with various products thinking that carbon is removed with patches only
c. a person not cleaning their rifles, for a lot of reasons
d. not using a rod guide that has a bushing on the rod, centering the rod in the guide
can leade to worn throats, especially if you use a lot of abrasive cleaners. Neil
Jones and Lucas rod guides are supurb...they never wear out.
e. a person using brushes that he just keeps re using for years is just getting exercise
unless he is wrapping a patch around the brush

Guys that like to clean with patches only can have good success with JB, ISSIO, Flitz, and a new product called Montana Extreme copper Cream that is easier to use than the 3 above.

It is amazing how barrels that have patches show clean may still have a lot of carbon in them.

The more serious issue of not cleaning till you have to or until accuracy is lost, can mean very different levels of carbon accumulation. Often barrels that an owner may think is shot out, is just carbon fouled. Now, removing heavy deposits of carbon is not an easy thing, and regular cleaning methods with any standard solvent, plastic or bronze brushes will not suffice. Often, various compounds of serious metal cutting/polishing silicone carbide has to be used, or he less abrasive grits of Aluminum Oxide.

With all the shooting over the many years that I have done in excess, often firing 25,000 rounds a year or more, bore solvents are less of an issue, good bronze bristle brushes get the job done is spades. The cleaning job on The heavy duty carboned up barrels is accomplished with new bronze bristle brushes and jB, especially at the end of a long day shooting p. dogs when you are tired and hungry.

I wish that all shooters that shoot a lot could own one of the new Lyman bore scopes that are less than $200. These bore scopes will make you an expert at the level you are shooting at and with your frequency. So reading who is doing what and how much will be a moot point because you will see with your own eyes just what your cleaning regiment is doing. Also, the lyman can capture pictures easily, you store them in your computer, so you can watch your barrel's wear progress over time. Some powders foul a lot more than others, some excessive powder charges eat up throats more than others. Again, You become an expert with your shooting and cleaning equipment.

When you read what a guy says, you have no idea of his success is in shooting a 17 Ackley hornet with 11g of powder or a 7 Remington mag with 71g of powder. How about the guy shooting an ultra mag with over 100g of powder, must less a guy shooting a long range 50 bmg where he is shooting 200g of powder?

Get a Lyman bore scope or a Hawkeye, especially if you are a long range shooter.

Best wishes!

To somewhat echo your thoughts I agree the barrel type is a huge factor in people's perceptions of cleaning agents. Probably the nicest barrel in my stable right now is a criterion AR barrel. The accuracy is just sub MOA but the biggest surprise to me is how it seems to take forever to foul up and virtually no time to clean.

Almost every factory barrel I've had copper fouled really badly when new, to the point of degrading accuracy after 25-30 rounds. When cleaned to bare metal with copper solvent they may take 5-6 shots to settle back in. I've got a new one and it copper fouls horribly but shoots ok. It's about to get the final finish touch

 

[Old Rooster]

I need to look up the recipe for Ed's Red.
Someone gave me a bottle a few years back and I'm out.
Does anyone have the recipe on hand?
Old Rooster

 

[Old Rooster]

Hey Rustyshacklefor what is the final touch?

 

[rustyshackleford]

Hey Rustyshacklefor wht is the final touch?

David Tubb's Final Finish lapping kit. This barrel seems particularly attracted to copper and it's not a real barrel burner by any stretch so I'm going to give it a shot. They're bullets coated with an abrasive finish

 

[Old Rooster]

Rustyshacklefor Please let me know if it works.
That old 300 weatherby takes forever after 10 rounds.
Old Rooster