What bore cleaner do you use ?!

[ART W]

I like Butches Bore Shine and Kroil. I use Montana Extreme Copper Killer or Tiptons Solvent a nylon brush to remove copper. I swab first with Butches, then follow it with Kroil on two patches. then I dip a bronze brush in Kroil and use that for 20-25 strokes and I always pick up more fouling. After all the powder fouling is gone I repeat with Butches. I recently purchased a bottle of Hoppes Benchrest Solvent but I have not used it yet.
I still have a large can of Hoppes No.9 and I have used it to compare it against the others. The Hoppes No. 9 still works well, but I like penetrating properties of the Kroil when used with Butches Bore Shine.

 

[antelopedundee]

Just picked up some patchout and accelerator too try out! My smith says it's all he uses on his guns

One thing not addressed is the patch itself. First off I use a bore guide. Secondly for .25/.26 cal bores I use a 1 1/8 square patch as a "loose" patch. This allows the solvent to coat the bore. For followup I use 1 3/8 square patches for the tight patch. The first one I use with hexane [being a chemist I have access to it] followed by a dry patch. Charcoal started fluid would work too, but I'd use disposable gloves with it.

 

[antelopedundee]

I use Butches Bore Shine, and used to regularly use Tetra-Gel to remove copper. I also like Hoppe's #9. A recently decision, after studying the issue, I will now leave the copper fouling in my rifles, it may have more benefits than not is the situation. I will be looking to accuracy as I get rounds down the barrel as well as velocity changes of rifle without being scrubbed of copper. You should research this, don't just take my opinion.

There is some commentary on Shilen's website about copper. Seems pointless to try to get it all because it will just get put right back after the first few shots. I do a few runs with wipeout/patchout until the deep blue changes to light blue.

http://shilen.com/faq.html#question12

 

[EWY]

Has anybody treated their barrel with Dyna Tec Bore Coat? I have a M70 270 WSM late 2003 NH production barrel. It would copper foul horribly, taking days of soaking / brushing / patching. I finally decided to try the Bore Coat. Followed the instructions to get to bare steel and applied the Bore Coat. Wow, what a difference. Took about 10 minutes with Barnes CR 10 for the patches to come out clean.
In the past I used the CR 10, patched it all out, then a foaming cleaner, let it sit for hours, patch and repeat. I generally had to use USB Bore Paste to really get it clean.

 

[Bigaldepr]

Interesting read, thanks. Funny that's was what I was thinking but as a rookie trying to learn it seems lots of folks were saying it was important.

There is some commentary on Shilen's website about copper. Seems pointless to try to get it all because it will just get put right back after the first few shots. I do a few runs with wipeout/patchout until the deep blue changes to light blue.

http://shilen.com/faq.html#question12

 

[GuySutton]

A combination ofJB Bore Paste ,Kroll oil ,and the Boretech Eliminator usually gets the job done. Not necessarily in that order.

I also use remmington bore cleaner wich does a good job.

 

[jraulsten]

Never used a Bore Tech product I didn't like.

 

[Wiley J]

Sweets. Smells like camel **** but works a treat. Fastest and best I've used.

 

[GuySutton]

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!

Thanks very good reply i will buy a lyman.

 

[okie man]

Follow up on patchout and accelerator. At lunch I ran a patch of accelerator followed by patchout down 3 barrels. 5 hours later I ran dry clean patches down all 3 barrels . No sign of copper on patches but first ones out of each were black with carbon. I re applied both products too each barrel and am gonna give it a few more hours too see what I get out next!

 

[Terminalor]

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 !!!

WipeOut makes a liquid version called PatchOut(stronger version). Wet patch a couple times to get the crude out. Then put the PatchOut on a soft bristle brush plus a drop or 2 of their accelerator. Brush is to creat a little foam as oxygen is part of the chemical cleaning not for scrubbing. Let set for 20 mins and dry patch it out. Do the above process one more time to make sure there is no blue and you are done. You can let it set overnight if you want as it will not hurt your barrel. I leave out the accelerator as it is only for speeding the process and is not needed if you are not in a hurry.

 

[WKWRIGHT]

I second the Wipe out suggestion, works like a charm!

 

[keithcandler]

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The above worked well with good bronze bristle brushes, otherwise, carbon in the barrel after soaking for 1day, then two days, then a week reapplying every day on patches. Barrels were Krieger and Brux with 35-40 rounds of H4895 and R15 fired in two different 6 Dashers.

The products above work excellent on removing copper.

I have a 6 Dasher(brux) and a 308(Krieger) soaking now after about 40 shots each with Bore tec C4. C4 does a better job than the products above on getting out carbon in my barrels, but the brush will still do the work.

This bore scope's Image in the eye piece gives brilliant images to see the micro finish of the steel, and any tool or chatter marks. Needless to say, the carbon stands out with no mistaking what you are looking at. The bore scope's optical quality is good enough to where you can see the edges of the leade angle, so any scratches from a bronze bristle brush would be very evident.

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I had a Lyman bore scope, it is at a friend's house now, best $200 a guy that is serious about shooting could ever spend.

I just bought a 30" used Krieger 4 groove 308 from an F class shooter, had 600 rounds on the barrel. The barrel was black with carbon from front to back, with hard carbon cooked on. He had ruined the barrel with soaking and patches, and I told him the barrel would still be good for pig hunting. So, I got it for $150. I used every cleaner mentioned in this thread with good brushes. With only about 30% of the carbon removed, then JB, then flitz, which got out about half of the carbon. Next, I corked the end of the barrel and soaked it with Kroil for a week, a little fouling came out...not much progress. I corked the barrel again, and filled the barrel again with a penetrating oil called Free All. After soaking for a week, a bunch of carbon came out. 5 more soakings followed with brushing with Free All, and the barrel is spick and span clean down to bare metal.

If I had not seen any progress with the penetrating oil, then I would have gone to Aluminum Oxide, then silicone carbide compounds sold by Brownell's. The Aluminum Oxide and especially Silicone carbide compounds are very abrasive to barrels.

 

[okie man]

I've used this stuff on rifle barrels for years. Always run a few patches down the barrel the night before I scrub a bore! Maybe why I'm not seeing lots of copper when I use bore cleaners!