Barrel Cleaning: A Discovery

[D Coots]

How's you're shoulder?

 

[Beiruty]

I think the bullet is in the barrel for ~ 1-2 millisecond - i.e., .001 sec.

You are correct. I should have typed 0.4msec

 

[Gargoyle]

Wow. That was a piece of work!

I've done the same except rubbed the bronze brush on the clean outside of the barrel. Wiping with a clean cloth shows the same black that you got out of the bore.

Oh I wipe off the brush and rod too. I lay the brush on the table and hit it with alcohol to get the black out of the inner bristles. One of my thoughts was maybe I was reintroducing black into the barrel with a dirty brush. NOPE.

I just saw you typed, "Outside of a clean barrel" and got black from a bronze brush. Well...oakly silly doakly! I am convinced the black is a false read from the bronze brush!

Thanks so much!

 

[Gargoyle]

I would stop using Flitz

Its less abrasive than JB and IOSSO. I've been using it 20yrs.

 

[mikecr]

Its less abrasive than JB and IOSSO. I've been using it 20yrs.

And you should stop

 

[Gargoyle]

And you should stop

Why? Is that causing all the bronze brushed patches to keep coming out black?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Your bronze brush isnt causing black. Youre still picking up carbon somewhere

 

[DShortt]

I have found the same to be true. As with many things I've read on the internet there is no such thing as getting a clean patch after scrubbing a bore with a bronze brush when I try it. This is why I bought a bore scope to begin with. I don't need to try and read the 'patch tea leaves' anymore. I can inspect the bore with the scope and I know with certainly if the bore is clean or not. And if not I've learned enough now to know what is in there.

 

[6BRA]

I've never had that issue. I occasionally use a bronze brush. And when my cleaning is done...the patches come out the way they went in. Borescope it.

 

[Gargoyle]

I've never had that issue. I occasionally use a bronze brush. And when my cleaning is done...the patches come out the way they went in. Borescope it.

My patches do what your patches do, until I patch after bronze brushing.

 

[DShortt]

By observing the bore with a bore scope I have seen that bronze brushes do in fact leave very fine scratches in the bore. They run parallel with the rifling and follow the twist of the rifling. There is obviously a small amount of material removed otherwise there would be no scratches. I do not believe this harms the bore in any way that effects the accuracy I am able to achieve. This light scratching that is observable only by the magnification produced by the bore scope creates a very small amount of material which is what I see when I run a clean patch through the bore after using a bronze brush.
If some of you see absolutely no color on a patch at all I wish I could be there to see it because something that you do is different from what I do. What that is I can only guess.

 

[mikecr]

Why? Is that causing all the bronze brushed patches to keep coming out black?

Flitz will polish away that perfect lapping that your barrel blank came with.

Otherwise, I think what's happening to cause continual black on your patches is passivation.
Reformation of an oxide layer.
Not a bad thing, but there is no reason keep doing it over & over.

 

[jelenko]

Same thing will happen when you rub Flitz bore cleaner or Flitz metal [or Iosso, or JB, or etc] polish on the outside of the barrel. You can do it forever and it will always turn black.

 

[K22]

1. Run 3 firm fitting cotton flannel patches saturated with Bore Tech C4 through the bore. Use a jag with a point that will keep the patches centered. These patches will have a heavy black color, that's ok, the idea is to push out the loose carbon fouling.

2. Run 8 passes of a proper size bronze brush, preferably a Dewey no harm brand. Saturate the brush with C4 before the first pass, then after the 4th pass.

3. Repeat step one above. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. The third saturated patch should contain very little "black" residue.

4. Run dry patches through the bore, it shouldn't take more than 4 to 6 patches to obtain a clean patch.

Make sure you wipe the rod with a clean cloth after each pass. Of course, use a rod guide and high-quality rod. I like the Dewey coated rods. Immediately after brushing, place the brush in a bottle of water to neutralize the C4. Pro shot cotton flannel patches work very well for me.

5. Run three patches of mineral oil (Hoppe's Gun Oil) through the bore. These patches should contain only about three small drops of oil to very lightly coat the bore. The first patch may contain a trace of brown color. However, the third patch should come out totally clear. Before shooting, run a dry patch through the bore.

I've cleaned a lot of factory rifles of different brands and some with custom barrels and never had one that didn't respond well to this procedure. Unless you have fire cracking in the throat area, this procedure should work to remove the carbon.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Flitz will polish away that perfect lapping that your barrel blank came with.

No, it won't. That's impossible.

I have stayed away from these threads because there is so much misinformation.

 

[rijndael]

Flitz makes like 50 different products. They range from bore cleaner to metal polishes. It seems prudent to clarify which ones we're talking about, especially if we're going to make definitive statements them.

 

[JFrank]

Your bronze brush isnt causing black. Youre still picking up carbon somewhere

Inside the bore guide maybe ?

 

[Rat Rifle]

Where is it written that a white patch rubbed across metal, has to come out white? How is it that a competitor can shoot a relay, run just a few patches through his bore, then shoot a hummer target on the next relay? How is it that another shooter can shoot multiple relays, do nothing, and then shoot a hummer target? It would be good if these cleaning theories could be justified with on target results.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Flitz makes like 50 different products. They range from bore cleaner to metal polishes. It seems prudent to clarify which ones we're talking about, especially if we're going to make definitive statements them.

That's a good idea.

The grit level of Flitz barrel cleaner is so fine it doesn't even qualify as "abrasive". That's straight from the manufacturer.

 

[dusterdave173]

I don't know anything I am a rookie but I just don't see all the horrible fouling and carbon that folks talk about--My Savage barrel coppered up at the start but after about 1000K rounds that issue went away--I use Barnes, Hoppes, bronze brush and a lot of patches and some Gunscrubber at the end--after about 3500 rounds-
My barrel looks beautiful--I think if I get a bore scope I may start to be unhappy--as long as it shoots well I think I may just stay with not knowing
I shoot maybe 100-140 rounds per range visit , spend maybe 10 minutes on the barrel and call it good--