Quick Rifle Cleaning Question

[yukonal]

So, I use Bore Tech products. Been using Eliminator for years...with great success. I clean (brush and patch) until I get clean rags.

Lately, just for grins and giggles, I've been throwing the Hawkeye in after my usual routine. And still seeing carbon that doesn't show up on the patches.

So, I start over with Carbon Remover, and it tears more carbon out, and a lot of the copper underneath. Almost like the "wonder solvent."

Do you guys think it might be a good idea to just clean with carbon remover, and maybe use copper remover as needed...and just bypass the Eliminator? (an overnight soak with Eliminator really does wonders)

 

[Dub]

I use all 3 as needed

 

[JEFFPPC]

Regardless of what I am using my final step is always the same. Sweets left in over night and a clean white patch in the morning followed by Hoppes/Kroil mix left in 24 hrs patched out dry then dry patched 10 strokes with a tight patch......no gray, no black, just a clean white patch when done.

 

[jelenko]

Regardless of what I am using my final step is always the same. Sweets left in over night and a clean white patch in the morning followed by Hoppes/Kroil mix left in 24 hrs patched out dry then dry patched 10 strokes with a tight patch......no gray, no black, just a clean white patch when done.

What does the bore show after that last clean dry patch?

 

[yukonal]

I can get the lands clean, with my procedure. But there is always a bit in the grooves. From reading other posts...seems this is quite common.

 

[JEFFPPC]

What does the bore show after that last clean dry patch?

Lands and groves. Clean.

 

[acloco]

All of the good and bad items that accumulate in the bore, are layered on. A little copper, a little unburnt powder, a little burnt powder, and the process repeats itself.

Try cleaning when the barrel is warm. This seems to help, no matter what product is being used.

 

[MikeMcCasland]

Your thread title made me laugh; there's no such thing as a quick cleaning thread on here.

For a long while I used BT Eliminator, BT CU+2, and BT C4 as a three part process during cleaning, but ultimately came to the conclusion that Eliminator alone did like 95% as good of a job with a lot less hassle.

These days I use butches and Eliminator (depending on a number of factors), but I don't know that the solvent you use really matters as much as forum posts would have you believe. Lots of really good shooters use a variety of different chemicals, and I've never met a single (credible) competitive shooter who thought they were gaining additional points by switching cleaning products.

As far as the carbon you're talking about, unless you get it while it's hot, you've gotta brush (and likely abrasive) that stuff out. If stripping it to bare steel is a worthwhile exercise is a totally different question.

My 2c.

 

[tsyarnall]

From my experience, the best thing that you can honestly do is to start the cleaning process while your barrel is still warm. I run a couple of patches with Butch’s Boreshine on them through the barrel and let it set a couple of minutes. Then run a clean patch or two through it. I follow with some Wipeout foam and leave it. Then, when I get home, before the end of the night, I give the rifle a good cleaning. Getting something on the carbon before it solidifies has really made a big difference in the amount of time needed to clean my rifles.

 

[yukonal]

Your thread title made me laugh; there's no such thing as a quick cleaning thread on here.

As far as the carbon you're talking about, unless you get it while it's hot, you've gotta brush (and likely abrasive) that stuff out. If stripping it to bare steel is a worthwhile exercise is a totally different question.

My 2c.

Ya, I always brush after initial patching. The abrasives are basically an unknown for me. I've only done it once to an F-TR barrel that I only half arse cleaned thru out the season, and didn't yet have a bore scope. I remember that the patches following came out grey for hours! I don't really know what was going on there. It was JB.

Can you guys that use JB or another abrasive tell me what your procedure is? I'd like to do it at the end of every 'TR season...and hit some of my LR Hunting rigs that have several hundred rounds thru them.

Thanks!

 

[rebs]

After my last shot at the range I run an Otis Rip Cord through my barrel three times and cleaning at home is much easier. I use eliminator at home.

 

[powderbrake]

I use BoreTech carbon remover, then BoreTech Copper remover.
This generally leaves some light carbon in the grooves, if I want to get down to bare metal, I use a bronze brush and JB Bore Paste, followed by multiple patches with Kroil to get the JB all out.

 

[wedgy]

CLR for carbon;

 

[divingin]

Regardless of what I am using my final step is always the same. Sweets left in over night

Doesn't Sweets say to not leave it in for longer than 15 minutes?

 

[DangerRanger]

shouldn’t be a problem

c4 and a bronze brush has worked very well for me

 

[ckaberna]

So, I use Bore Tech products. Been using Eliminator for years...with great success. I clean (brush and patch) until I get clean rags.

Lately, just for grins and giggles, I've been throwing the Hawkeye in after my usual routine. And still seeing carbon that doesn't show up on the patches.

So, I start over with Carbon Remover, and it tears more carbon out, and a lot of the copper underneath. Almost like the "wonder solvent."

Do you guys think it might be a good idea to just clean with carbon remover, and maybe use copper remover as needed...and just bypass the Eliminator? (an overnight soak with Eliminator really does wonders)

If you have been using the same procedure “for years” and it works, why change what works for you to what someone else does just because you decided to put a bore scope in it?

 

[JEFFPPC]

Doesn't Sweets say to not leave it in for longer than 15 minutes?

Yes it does. I am doing this in ss barrels. I have given "the science" on here numerous times, not doing it again. Trust me, after 25 years of doing thus , no ill effects in numerous match barrels. If you were selling Sweets, or whatever, would you want to soak overnight removing quite a bit of copper in 1 go, or would you want a fresh patch full used every 15 min. Let's see, overnight , say 10 hours which would be 40 patches worth of product to do the same thing. Just my opinion.

 

[Ccrider]

Cleaning to bare metal is highly overrated.

 

[Wellington]

My cleaning process for 6mm. First step, 6mm nylon brush cover tip with 1" patch soaked with Bore Tech carbon cleaner, into just short of the lands, spin three or four times with a pistol rod. Then in goes the bore guide, three or four patches soaked in the carbon cleaner through the barrel. Let soak for 30 or 40 minutes.
Out come the bore guide, a 6.5 mm nylon brush goes on the pistol rod and it is inserted until it just ticks the lands when I spin it. Withdraw while spinning it just enough that it does not tick the land, spin the rod about 50 revolutions, the carbon ring should be gone. In goes the bore guide and run 3 or 4 patches soaked in Bore Tech eliminator down the barrel, let soak for about an hour. On goes the 6mm nylon brush and soak the brush and stroke about 40 strokes. Then soak another 3 or four patches in the Eliminator and run through the barrel and then dry patches. If you are on top of the barrel cleaning that should be it. Clean the chamber with a suitable mop. Check with a bore scope, if carbon is still present, repeat step one, if copper is present repeat step two. I clean after every 25 shots and this always cleans my barrels. Well not my factory Savage, but I got rid of that piece of crap.

 

[garandman]

I have a sneaking suspicion mixing manufacturers products may not be a good idea… we really have no idea how certain chemicals will will react to other chemicals they are not made to interact with.