Rifle bore cleaning products and process

[KennyA]

Hi,

Am I the only guy having problems when it comes to cleaning my centrefire rifles.
I have read and viewed 100s of articles re how to clean your rifle.

The problem that I seam to have is it never appears to be totally clean. I can spend hours on this process.
I always seam to have some sign of powder on the patches.
I can clean and the rack the rifle, go back two days later and yep the patch will again show a slight sign of residue.
Am I being to anal about cleaning my rifles.

Products that I use are......
Hoppes no.9
Sweet's 7.62
Ed's Red. (Home brew)

I scrub the bore with both brass and nylon brushs. I also clean them on a regular basis with automotive degreaser.

What other products are being used...?
I was told that windex is good for getting out the powder residue.
Sweat's 7.62 has a very strong smell of ammonia.......can ammonia be used as a strong solvent.
Brake or carburettor cleaners..?

Thanks in advance.

[Oldbloke]

I have been using the exact same cleaning products. Recently used eds red and thought I had the barrel clean. Would go back a week later and more fouling would come out. Next day gave it and Sweets 7.62 of fouling came out. So will be using sweets from now on.
But I have noticed if soon after shooting I swab the bore with eds red then clean a few hrs later the fouling comes out much easier. So soaking seems to help.
Stopped buying hoppes yrs ago.

If ammonia works let us know, sweets isnt cheap. But then u dont need much.

PS. Ammonia is normally stored in steel containers, so barrels should be fine.

More here https://www.ssaa.org.au/stories/hints-t ... rearm.html

Edit to correct the auto correct error.

[bladeracer]

Sweets 762 is _very_ potent, I wouldn't recommend using it for normal maintenance cleaning. If you aren't thoroughly removing all residue of it that may well be what you're seeing when you run a patch through later on.

I use Outers Nitro Solvent but any of the bore solvents would do a similar job I would expect.

Spray a liberal amount into the muzzle and the chamber, let it sit for ten minutes or so, another squirt to make sure it's well lubricated then use a chamber brush to scrub the chamber, then run a brush through 5-10 times depending on how dirty it is.
Muzzle down and another good squirt into the chamber to flush any debris through, then start patching it out with dry patches. I would rarely need more than four or five patches for them to come out as white as they went in.
Then a last patch wet with Outers goes through to protect the bore in storage.
I try to clean the .204 bore every 30-40 rounds, the bigger stuff somewhere between 50 and 100 rounds depending on convenience. I think it's helpful to hit it with solvent immediately after shooting but that's rarely practical.
I give the bolt a spray with solvent to clean off any grease and debris, then wipe it over with gun grease. The a dab on the back of each lug, the bolt handle lug and the sear face of the striker. Then a wipe of a greasy hand over all metal parts. If I remove the action from the stock I will also put a drop of gun oil on all pivot pins.

For black powder I'm using Hornady's One Shot Muzzle Loader cleaner. I've found it takes less patching to come out clean if I let it soak for 10-15 minutes before brushing and patching.

[juststarting]

https://m.youtube.com/user/GunBlue490

This guy has everything you'll need to know, from cleaning, to how much oil to use, to when not to use it... This was my starting point.

[happyhunter]

What you are seeing is normal. When you clean a rifle and put it away for a bit it sweats. Just run a dry patch through the bore before you go shooting and enjoy.

[Wm.Traynor]

juststarting,
That's a long video and I don't have an hour to spare right now so here is my long established method:-

1. Patch out with any solvent initially. Loose patches at first so they don't jam. WD40 is ok on powder. Stop when patches start coming out cleaner and cleaner.
2. Use a bronze brush and WD40. One stroke for every shot fired. Patch out every 10 strokes. Patches will be much dirtier at first.
3. To remove copper use a patch and solvent on a bristle brush. Any solvent. Patch out. Apply Ballistol to bore on a brush.

[SendIt]

One stroke for every shot fired. Patch out every 10 strokes.

You're going to be there for house after comp day

[Varmtr]

Use Kroil for carbon removal with patches first then bronze brush then patch out. Once done follow up with Boretech copper removal few patches first, let sit for 10min or so. Then nylon brush again soaked in Boretech then patch out. Finally I'll run 1 patch with Boretech and short stroke it then push a patch with Boretech chameleon gel and short stroke. This will give a colour indication on what fouling is left and then take if from there.

[Homer]

G'Day Fella's,

KennyA, check this out for some advice http://brtshooterssupply.com.au/how-to- ... arrel.html
Also, whilst your on this page, check out the "How To Run In A Barrel" as well.

Hope that helps

Doh!
Homer

[colinbentley]

Without question the best bore cleaner on the market is Wipeout Bore cleaning foam. That's if you can get it. I just ordered a can from the US but it cost $80 landed here. .Go on the net to see what users think of it. I used it years ago and it is fantastic but generally not available in Oz.

[bladeracer]

Without question the best bore cleaner on the market is Wipeout Bore cleaning foam. That's if you can get it. I just ordered a can from the US but it cost $80 landed here. .Go on the net to see what users think of it. I used it years ago and it is fantastic but generally not available in Oz.

Their webpage appears to be rubbish though.
"Consider the effect you have on the barrel of a firearm during a cleaning using conventional products. Count the number of strokes it takes to clean your rifle using conventional solvents and a brush. Conservatively, you will find the number somewhere between 50 to 100 brushstrokes. Now take the number of times you clean that firearm during a season. And finally take that number times the number of years that you have used that barrel. The number of brush strokes is astronomical. It is impossible to introduce the cleaning rod into the barrel of any firearm thousands of times without causing serious degradation of the quality of the performance of that barrel."

I'm supposed to be making 50-100 brush strokes _every_ time I clean a bore????
If it's really grubby I'll make a half-dozen strokes, then four or five patches and they're clean. I've never heard of anybody needing 50 stokes of a bore brush to clean even the worst barrel.
And I have never heard of anybody being able to damage a rifle bore using a bore brush.
That one paragraph of bulls**t is enough for me to look elsewhere.

F-Class and benchrest shooters have the most to lose by damaging their bores, but their expensive hand-lapped barrels are quite different from our hunting barrels.

[colinbentley]

Why is it that if you ask 10 different shooters about the best way to clean a rifle bore you gat 10 different answers. Even the experts can't seem to agree ! Tis a puzzlement !

[bladeracer]

Why is it that if you ask 10 different shooters about the best way to clean a rifle bore you gat 10 different answers. Even the experts can't seem to agree ! Tis a puzzlement !

There's nothing wrong with that, it's only a problem when you find one that insists he knows the right and only way to do it
It's a very simple process that hundreds of products and techniques are perfectly capable of doing properly. But every one of those manufacturers want you to believe only their product does the job well enough.

I think you'll find that most experts that do not have a vested interest do agree, and it never revolves around any specific product.
Go onto a motorcycle forum and ask which oil is best if you really want to see an argument

[colinbentley]

Why is it that if you speak to 10 different shooters about the best way to clean a rifle bore you get 10 different answers

[Apollo]

Why is it that if you speak to 10 different shooters about the best way to clean a rifle bore you get 10 different answers

Because they have 10 different ideas of how to go about the job. Perhaps because also they use 10 different products and end up with 10 different results.

Going to F Class / Full Bore Target Shoots I used to watch these guys stroking a barrel bore with a piece of cloth soaked with Sweet's 7.62 wrapped around an old brass bore brush, near enough times until their arm near fell off. I just watched in amazement. Sweet's was supposed to be the Antz Pants of cleaning. I gave up on it many years ago so one of these guys I asked if his bore was now clean and the answer was "Yes, it took a bit of work"... Wow, I then asked if I could run a patch of mine through his bore with a few drops of Bore Tech Eliminator on it, yep, okay go ahead. Well, he didn't use Sweet's again after that as my patch came out dirty.

With a "Match Grade" Stainless Barrel I think on average it takes about 6 patches, 3rd last is dry to remove any solvent, 2nd last is damp with Shellite to neutralise any remaining solvent and last is just a dry patch if the rifle is to be used again soon or has a few drops of Gun Oil on it to protect the bore. The first patch is just pushed through to remove carbon and not returned, the next two are cycled once forward, back then out of the muzzle.

Factory Chrome Moly (Blued) Barrels take a little more cleaning due to the material the barrel is made from. Stainless not so much.

[Homer]

G'Day Fella's,

Colin Bentley, I'm of the same opinion as you on this Wipe-Out, Patch-Out liquid version of this same bore solvent.
I'm so happy with it, this is the only bore solvent I use these days (I'm on my third bottle)!

DSCN0197.JPG (250.77 KiB) Viewed 5262 times

If it helps, I get mine from http://www.sinclairintl.com

Doh!
Homer

[Mongrel]

Brownells.com.au have that product

https://www.brownells.com.au/index.php? ... t_id=54657

also the foaming one

https://www.brownells.com.au/index.php? ... ct_id=4424