disco stu wrote:Old Bloke is such a good guy, always helping everyone out. I would take him up on that offer if I were you-not everyone will be so generous.
(Is the cheque in the mail yet Old Bloke? )
JohnV wrote:If you don't clean properly fouling will build up slowly and to a point the barrel will be ruined and it will take a marathon of cleaning and solvent use to try and get it back to shooting well if at all possible .
Aggressive and often cleaning of a new barrel is exactly what you need especially if it's rough until it's run in a bit and then you find you don't have to clean as often . Two passes with a bush is not enough and if it's a nylon brush it's useless. Nylon brushes should be only used for applying solvent and then a bronze brush to scrub it . People advocating this light cleaning methods usually have select match barrels that are hand lapped and super smooth inside . However I have even seen match barrels ruined by the no cleaning set .
in2anity wrote:Nylon brushes are popular where I shoot BR. Not a heap, just enough to loosen the copper.
in2anity wrote:You can also clean them in a berroca tube with a swig of turps
Lsfan wrote:Can I just ask about my cleaning method. I’m only using hoppies no. 9 solvent with patches. Not using brushes. I used my howa 223 for the first time and fired 70 rounds over 1.5 hours. I then cleaned it after that using the same method and around 12 patches, starting with oil, then a few dry ones, the oil again, dry and then a final light lube. Last patches came out with very minor grey colour. Should I be using a copper solvent or are opinions mixed on this? I’m sure some will say I rooted the barrel by not running it in correctly. I didn't notice any major inaccuracy over the 70 shots. Would be interested in knowing if I need a copper solvent or not.
bigrich wrote:in2anity wrote:You can also clean them in a berroca tube with a swig of turps
the barrels or the brushes ?
or is that some crazy new cocktail drink , sweet's and metho in a berroca tube
Larry wrote:The nylon brushes work the sweets into a good lather and that really helps the process.
Wm.Traynor wrote:bigrich wrote:in2anity wrote:You can also clean them in a berroca tube with a swig of turps
the barrels or the brushes ?
or is that some crazy new cocktail drink , sweet's and metho in a berroca tube
Don't feel too bad, bigrich. Owing to social isolation, not to mention a bit of senile decrepitude, I had to look up berroca
Larry wrote:Yes you really should use a copper removal solvent as well. There are a lot of very ineffective copper solvents out there.
bigrich wrote:Lsfan wrote:Can I just ask about my cleaning method. I’m only using hoppies no. 9 solvent with patches. Not using brushes. I used my howa 223 for the first time and fired 70 rounds over 1.5 hours. I then cleaned it after that using the same method and around 12 patches, starting with oil, then a few dry ones, the oil again, dry and then a final light lube. Last patches came out with very minor grey colour. Should I be using a copper solvent or are opinions mixed on this? I’m sure some will say I rooted the barrel by not running it in correctly. I didn't notice any major inaccuracy over the 70 shots. Would be interested in knowing if I need a copper solvent or not.
yes you should use a copper solvent . i've tried others , but came back to sweets . there's a LOT of different opinions on this subject though ........
bigrich wrote:Larry wrote:The nylon brushes work the sweets into a good lather and that really helps the process.
yeah , i dunno about brushes these days larry . on a really used rifle or old milsurp , i'll give a good clean with a brush when it first enters into my safe . i used to tell myself how can a brush being dragged through a barrel doing any harm compared to a projectile doing 3000 fps down the barrel but , the carbon being moved by the brush is what can cause cleaning wear in a barrel i suspect . pushing it out after being dislodged with sweets sounds like less of a issue than using the carbon like valve grinding paste on a brush . at least this is my opinion of the moment . if anyone can show me something to the contrary i'm all ears .
Lsfan wrote:bigrich wrote:Lsfan wrote:Can I just ask about my cleaning method. I’m only using hoppies no. 9 solvent with patches. Not using brushes. I used my howa 223 for the first time and fired 70 rounds over 1.5 hours. I then cleaned it after that using the same method and around 12 patches, starting with oil, then a few dry ones, the oil again, dry and then a final light lube. Last patches came out with very minor grey colour. Should I be using a copper solvent or are opinions mixed on this? I’m sure some will say I rooted the barrel by not running it in correctly. I didn't notice any major inaccuracy over the 70 shots. Would be interested in knowing if I need a copper solvent or not.
yes you should use a copper solvent . i've tried others , but came back to sweets . there's a LOT of different opinions on this subject though ........
Ok thanks. I’m seeing that sweets and boretech seem to be preferred by many. So you reckon I start with my hoppies stuff to get rid of powder, then a copper Solvent, then wipe it clean and finish with the hoppies oil?
Downunder wrote:Over the years my thoughts and methods of both barrel inspection and cleaning has changed many times.
Like hand loading IMO theres never 1 steadfast recipe as all barrels differ, powders differ and projectiles differ.
My cleaning methods differ from barrel to barrel once I learn their traits and impact of the load traits being ran through them.
There’s 3 different contaminations that barrels are cleaned for, carbon (from the charge) and copper (from the projectile jacket) and or lead (from a slug)
There are 2 different reasons barrels are cleaned for, to mitigated against damaged caused by contaminates left in the barrel and to maintain or improve accuracy.
I’ve never used a barrel that shoots better with carbon fouling but I have had and still do use barrels that shoot better with some copper fouling.
These days I wouldn’t comment that a barrel is clean to my satisfaction without confirming it with a bore scope.
Same as I couldn’t comment on damage without an inspection with a bore scope.
Personally I think it’s unlikely you’ve done any irreparable damage but IMO the only way to truly tell that it’s clean and undamaged is a close up inspection.
Another positive of a bore scope is the inspection of chambers and importantly throats.
Regards,
Tony
bigrich wrote:Lsfan wrote:bigrich wrote:Lsfan wrote:Can I just ask about my cleaning method. I’m only using hoppies no. 9 solvent with patches. Not using brushes. I used my howa 223 for the first time and fired 70 rounds over 1.5 hours. I then cleaned it after that using the same method and around 12 patches, starting with oil, then a few dry ones, the oil again, dry and then a final light lube. Last patches came out with very minor grey colour. Should I be using a copper solvent or are opinions mixed on this? I’m sure some will say I rooted the barrel by not running it in correctly. I didn't notice any major inaccuracy over the 70 shots. Would be interested in knowing if I need a copper solvent or not.
yes you should use a copper solvent . i've tried others , but came back to sweets . there's a LOT of different opinions on this subject though ........
Ok thanks. I’m seeing that sweets and boretech seem to be preferred by many. So you reckon I start with my hoppies stuff to get rid of powder, then a copper Solvent, then wipe it clean and finish with the hoppies oil?
That would be my advice. I use sweets cause the one solution does it all. But you must make sure you don’t leave any lying around as it can be corrosive. So make sure you clean it all out of the bore and gun and use gun oil to finish. Some members on this forum in the past have plugged barrels and filled sweets overnight to remove a lifetime of grunge from old milsurps if I remember correctly
Here’s another can of worms. Bin told G96 and other gun oils that are petroleum based can eat away at stocks over time. I myself use “balistol “ which is a natural oil developed by those lovely German folks before WW1 . Besides being a good gun oil , it’s also good for wood and leather and can be used as a antiseptic. How good is that
Lsfan wrote:Yes thanks bigrich. I think from reading various comments, the variables seem to be what copper solvent to use, whether to use bronze, nylon or no brush at all, whether to push the brush back and forth or just one stroke forward, how long to leave the solvent etc.
in my limited experience, I didn’t really run in my barrels. I took them to the range and fired at least 50 shots before first clean. I’ve probably fired around 500 rounds through my cz 22 and haven’t used any copper solvent in it and I can get half inch groups at 50m. I’m hopeful there is no time limit on copper fouling.
Interesting/ funny what you say about your marlin rifle. There seem to be mixed views on marlin but I assume they have budget and and premium models. I was considering an xt17 to get something between my 22 and 223 as a compromise on ammo cost yet with reasonable range. Someone on here said the xt range is crap. I expect a no frills rifle for $400 or $500 but that is my budget.
Lsfan wrote:It’s funny I was googling barrel cleaning and there are numerous posts dating back 10 years ago from here including comments from current people saying cleaning rituals are BS. Some say clean it when new and then not til several hundred rounds later.
Something I realised is that the majority of 22 rounds are lead bullet so can’t present any copper fouling issues, only carbon buildup. In saying this I have been
using some mini-mag which are copper and I guess they are an exception. From what I gather the lower velocity ammo (namely 22) can use lead and it’s only higher velocities which require a copper jacket to protect the barrel from the lead.
Lsfan wrote: I’m hopeful there is no time limit on copper fouling..