Bore cleaning

[reed1285]

Thought this was the best place for this. Im just curious as to how each of you clean the bores on your firearms, what products you use and your methods.

I usually dip a bronze brush in hoppes #9 then run it through the bore a couple times to loosen all the grit and residual stuff in there. Then i have dedicated cotton brushes i use for hoppes as well. Run them through there a couple times. End with a few patches soaked in rem-oil. This method works pretty well I've found out, just go through a lot of hoppes though. Im a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning my firearms so i may be overkilling it.

I have some friends that just use boresnakes on their firearms. They seem to do a good job, is that all a bore really needs is just a boresnake ran through it from time to time? I own a couple but still find myself using the good ol brushes and patches mostly.

[daddyo]

Dechlorinated brake cleaner sprayed through the bore followed by cleaning patches. Gets them sparkling clean.

Edited September 27, 2012 by DaddyO

[peejman]

I look at it. If it's just dirty, I don't clean it. If it's got noticeable build-up, I'll spray it with CLP and reevaluate. If it's still cruddy, I'll run a few solvent patches through it and check it again. Only if there's still noticeable fouling do I break out the brushes and really scrub it. Experience says it takes hundreds of rounds for it to get that dirty. Once it's clean to my satisfaction, I'll run an oiled patch through it.

I'm a firm believer that more guns get worn out from obsessive cleaning than obsessive shooting.

[Jonnin]

most of the time I use a few patchs sprayed with rem-oil pushed by a wooden dowl rod. If it seems like it needs it, I brush it, but that is rare. I push the patches until they come out clean, then a dry one to pick up any excess oil and call it good.

[sschrick]

run a wet patch with Hoppe's #9 through the bore. let it sit a while. run a nylon bristle brush through the bore 2-3 times. then run patches through it until clean, then a light-oil soaked patch 1-2 times through the bore.

but I only do this about every 300~500 rounds, not every time I shoot.

[mikegideon]

Depends on the caliber. I always hit it with #9 (or CLP) and a brass bore brush. Followed with some solvent soaked patches over a brass jag. Once the patches come out clean, I hit it with a couple of dry patches followed by an oiled patch to finish up.

If it's subject to copper fouling like a .223, I'll add scrubbing with copper solvent with a nylon bore brush. Again, followed by soaked patches until I stop seeing the green stuff.

BTW: I'm a fan of boresnakes, and own a bunch of them. They're good for field cleaning, but I can always get more gunk out with brushes/patches.

Edited September 27, 2012 by mikegideon

[Guest FIST]

I'm OCD about cleaning every last bit of carbon regardless of number of rounds fired with one exception, my barrel. Q-Tips and #9 for everything inside a rifle or pistol. Barrel will get a nylon brush 2-3 runs and then 2 pulls with a bore snake.

[Hershmeister]

Bore tech eliminator

[Dolomite_supafly]

I NEVER clean my bore unless I see accuracy fall off. I am of the opinion that there is more damage done to a gun by excessive cleaning than by normal shooting.

I have a 223 barrel that has to have 600 rounds through it without cleaning and it will still shoot sub .5" groups at 100 yards using handloads. That is a Savage with a factory Savage barrel which are known for copper fouling.

My primary AR, until I recently tore it down, has had an untold amount of rounds through it without cleaning. I know it had no less than 15K rimfire rounds through it and thousands of 223 rounds through it without cleaning. And until I tore it down it was still shooting 1" groups at 100 yard with ammo it liked.

Never clean a rimfire, ever, unless it is having reliability issues. I have a dedicated AR that has at least 5K through it without cleaning. I might squirt some lube on the rails from time to time but that is about it. I have a 10/22 that has been shot regularly for the last 7 years without ever being cleaned. Something else about rimfires. The bullets use lube and that lube, believe it not, protects the bore during long term storage. That is why most rimfires that look like hell on the outside have nice bores. And if you remove that lube then corrosion can set in.

For my pistols I pull part of a copper scrub pad through the bore to get rid of any leading there might be. I do this a couple of times and then I am done. I rarely have any lead issues.

Never clean a bore from the muzzle, always from the breech. If you can't use a rod to clean from the breech then use a bore snake. Never use SS brushes as they are as hard as, if not harder, than the bore of most rifles so they can scratch the bore. I like boresnakes and they are great but be mindful they can get embedded with crud. I normally use mine for a year or so then replace it. I normally put solvent on the bore snake itself. A little solvent of choice before and after the brush then a little bit of oil on the last part of the snake. That way it cleans and then leaves a film of oil on the bore. When I use a rod I will take a bore mop and run it up and down the bore with solvent. Let it set for a few minutes then use a bronze brush and scrub it probably 10-15 times. Then take a solvent coated patch and push everything out. Then use dry patches until they come out clean. Then a patch with a little bit of oil. That is when I do clean, which is rarely.

Dolomite

[TN-popo]

I never use brushes or jags for rifles and handguns.

1. I run a cotton patch soaked with either Shooter's Choice Bore Cleaner or Butch's Bore Shine through the bore a few times (the two best I've used...I buy whichever is cheaper at the time).

2. Wait 5-15 minutes, depending on how dirty it is. During this time, I'm cleaning the rest of the gun.

3. Blow it out with non-chlorinated brake cleaner (I like WearEver brand from Advance Auto...cheap and it stinks the least).

White patch clean everytime.

While I'm not completely onboard with the "filthy crowd" guys, I'm not all anal about it either.

I do agree that silly OCD cleaning practices ruin too many guns. The Marine Corps is/was the worst about this.

Edited September 28, 2012 by TN-popo

[Caster]

I'm with Dolomite. More damage and wear on the bore comes from you guys who think it has to be spotless than shooting will ever cause. I NEVER clean the bore on my rifles unless groups open up. I shoot cast through every gun I own except my AR's and accuracy will go to if I clean it. I don't know who started this "It's gotta be spotless" bull crap but it's just that, absolute rubbish.

In the world of cast bullets, the lead will actually fill any pits, chatter marks or other microscopic void until the bore is very smooth. THe result is a perfect bore. I can shoot a "fouled" rifle and get a one hole group. Clean it and it'll be 10-15 shots of wild groups as large as 4-5 inches. Seen it too many times.

As far as my AR's go, I use a LOT of SMP-842 which has the same copper fouling preventatives as CFE223 [although it has a MUCH hotter burn rate] That keeps the copper fouling to all but non existent. My AR's are either chrome lined or stainless. If there's no copper build up, groups are tighter than dicks hat band, zero cycling issues, and there's no corrosive salts present, WHY THE HELL would I want to waste my time & money cleaning it????????? It's stupid. The action and BCG I clean every range trip and I even wipe out the locking lug areas and use a chamber mop to wipe up any mess I made cleaning the locking lugs. I keep the engine spotless, but I rarely if ever clean the exhaust pipe.

I'm pretty anal about clean guns. I clean every gun every time I shoot it. I rarely clean the bore though. It's a waste of time with detrimental consequences.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Caster

[peejman]

I spoke with a guy who's an NRA Highpower national match competitor. He goes to Camp Perry every year and shoots way more than most people, well over 1000 rds per year through his NM AR. He decided to put all this cleaning stuff to the test. He said he cleaned the rifle thoroughly on Jan 1 and didn't clean it again until he following Jan 1. The only thing he noticed was how much time and money he saved not cleaning it 50+ times in a year. No change in accuracy. I figure if anyone would notice a change, a NM competitor would.

[daddyo]

Wow. Good to know. Thanks guys.

[vujade]

I used to clean my bore religiously until I started handloading and really paying attention to group sizes.

What I realized is that my groups (Savage 10 in 308) are slightly larger when it's bare metal clean (.5-.75 inches @ 100). It tightens up after maybe 2 or 3 groups worth of shooting. And then it stays TINY for about 70 rounds (equivalent to 3 range trips) (under half an inch) and then they open up again (.5-.75 inches @ 100). I don't know if that's just this rifle but now I tend to not clean my other bores as much. (and now I have more time to reload instead of clean bores).

But to answer your question - I wipe it down with a CLP or some other gun oil. I use Remington 40-x bore cleaner (make sure you shake it). I add a little more oil to the patch because the 40-x is an abrasive and I baby my stuff. IF it's still got copper, I use sweets 762 but that's some strong stuff. And then I put out several patches of just CLP/oil. I usually don't use a brush unless it's really really bad and if I do, it ends up being every 4 or 5 cleanings only (like when I want to get back to bare metal).

[reed1285]

i think i got mistaken as one of the guys that cleans his rifle religiously after a mag or two. not that there is anything wrong with that. Its your rifle, to each his own. I personally think the guys that do clean after every shooting session arent hurting anything. I would have to see some kind of physical evidence that its hurting the rifle in order to believe it, i.e. accuracy problems or whatever overcleaning may cause. Not saying it doesnt exist, I just havent seen the proof personally. I clean the bore on my ar after about 5 or 600 rounds, and out of all honesty, its mainly because of laziness lol, and like dolomite said, i never really clean the bore on any of my .22's. I know the importance of not overcleaning, just when I do decide to sit down and do it, I want to make sure I do it right.

Edited September 28, 2012 by reed1285

[mikegideon]

I'm not real anal about cleaning, especially my AR's. I just have some guns that can sit in the safe for a year that DON'T have chrome or stainless bores. The dirt in a plain steel bore can trap moisture, and cause pitting. I don't like pits, even in a shotgun bore.

[RED333]

To each their own.

If I "see" trash on the surface on the bore I run a swab to get it out.

If I see a lot of lead, a bursh wraped in 2 patches and a bit of cleaner

to get most of it off, or shoot a few jacketed rounds.

To each their own.

[TN-popo]

What I realized is that my groups (Savage 10 in 308) are slightly larger when it's bare metal clean (.5-.75 inches @ 100). It tightens up after maybe 2 or 3 groups worth of shooting. And then it stays TINY for about 70 rounds (equivalent to 3 range trips) (under half an inch) and then they open up again (.5-.75 inches @ 100). I don't know if that's just this rifle but now I tend to not clean my other bores as much. (and now I have more time to reload instead of clean bores).

There's a reason snipers fire "fouling shots" after cleaning their rifles.

[mikegideon]

There's a reason snipers fire "fouling shots" after cleaning their rifles.

Anybody that's gonna shoot under 1 MOA is going to fire fouling shots. My accurate rifle shoots loose until I run a few down the pipe.

[jtmaze]

Rimires I wipe down outside and clean when get misfires everything else wipe down an clean once a year. If shooting corrosive primers I run a patch of clp down the bore after shooting. That is basically the Mosins.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[TrickyNicky]

Certain guns get cleaned more often than others, 10/22, mkiii, pretty much all the .22s actually only get cleaned about every 1-1.5k rounds. If I'm borrowing one of my dads they get cleaned everytime because that's his preference.

Very rarely will I detail strip anything to clean individual components, usually just spay the works down with ballistol and either wipe off the excess or blast it out with the compressor or canned air.

For cleaning the bore I usually just spray the inside with the ballistol and pull a few patches through from the chamber until they come out clean. Got an Otis cleaning system with the steel cables wrapped in plasic and really like it. I don't go out for their fancy patches though, nor do I bother cutting regular ones to use as they recommend, just put em through the loop and pull them through the works.

I have heard about people ruining the accuracy of their Nagants by removing all the fouling out of the barrels, I wouldn't know as mine refuse to get any cleaner than not turning the patches blue yellow and green when pulled through. I went through a stack of patches, two different cleaners, and gummed a brush up beyond wanting to save it and the bores still turns patches black if wet with solvent. Stopped caring after I realized at 50 yards I can get 2-3 rounds touching with irons if and I do mean if I do my part.

My opinion is keep them as clean as you want, 9.5 out of 10 quality designs will work just fine with minimal maintenance. The offs of even a decent weapon not functioning because they are dirty from use has to be astronomically low.

[Guest kingarmory]

I'm meticulous about keeping the guns cleaned and lubed, but I don't scrub the bores heavily (likewise don't want the wear). I put some Blue Wonder on the brush, run it through the bore about 5x and let it sit for 10 minutes. Push a couple patches through the barrel (they come out FILTHY) and the bore is clean and shiny. Rem-Oil or Rem Dry Lube on all the parts after carefully cleaning dirt and fouling out