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A couple of barrel cleaning equipment tips

BoydAllen

Gold $$ Contributor
Years back a company that made cleaning rods offered something that I had not seen before, and because they were so inexpensive and seemed like they might be useful, I ordered a package.....of a dozen disposable transfer pipettes. Since most of you will not know what these are, here is a link to one example. There are a zillion different styles. The ones that I ordered were 6" long. ( as are the ones I have linked to)
None of mine have been damaged by solvent. I gave some to friends, and lost or misplaced several, so, after many years I am about to reorder some that are similar.

The great thing about these pipettes is that they allow very precise dispensing of solvent, functioning just like a very long, drop proof, non reactive eye dropper. Using these I am able to control exactly how much solvent I put on a patch with little or no waste or spillage. The net result is that cleaning is less messy, and I waste less solvent.

This brings me to my second tip. It has been my observation that although plastic bottles have the advantage of not breaking when dropped, it seems that they do not keep solvents as well as glass containers. On the other hand the prospect of a pint of solvent hitting my garage floor is something that I obviously would want to avoid. Looking around for something that I could use to make my solvent bottle more secure on my bench top, I discovered that the 16 oz. bottle of Butch's Bore Shine is a good fit inside a roll of duct tape, which does an excellent job of stabilizing it.
 
I use these all the time when adding water to fired cases to check volume. They are great to have around. If you know a nurse or someone that works in a lab, they can get you a couple... gratis
 
I also use these for adding water to cases for checking H2O capacity.

For dispensing bore cleaning solvents I use these https://gauntindustries.com/

They have options on the ID of the needle so you can use the best one for the viscosity of the liquid.
 
Thanks for the tip, BoydAllen. I just some of the pipettes from Amazon. I use a squeeze bottle for solvent and generally make a pretty big mess. With these, there may still be hope for me!
 
A follow-up: Thanks to Bezos and Co., yesterday's pipette order arrived this afternoon. I had some cleaning to do and gave Boyd's tip a test. I was very pleased! Not only did I avoid my usual mess, but it took me less solvent to accomplish the job. The pipettes are longer than I anticipated. Initially, it was a bit of a challenge to get the nozzle right on the cleaning patch. Foolish me, I was holding the bulb. Once I recalled what I learned in high school chemistry, it was easy. Simply hold the pipette in your fist and squeeze the bulb with your thumb and index finger. Much easier that way.

Great idea, Boyd. Thanks for the tip!
 
I use the little glass bottles with dropper lids and transfer my cleaning solution to them. I agree glass seems to work better than plastic and these things are cheap from Amazon. They also come in a bunch of different sizes. I just used painters tape to label them. And if you drop and break one you are not loosing a bunch of cleaning solution.
 

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I plug my pockets with the rather expensive plugs available from 21st Century…. Which used to cost like $11.00. I use a syringe/needle to fill the cases to measure case volume.

The pipettes are very useful for dispensing solvents from larger containers to the smaller squeeze bottles with needle. I tend to spill a little less this way.

Yes. I think leaving the primer in will give a more accurate measurement than plugging the primer pocket.
 
My only issue with the pipettes was that they split at the seam on the bulb eventually. They are cheap enough that I don't worry about it much but I have thought about just using a glass one that you just use your finger tip to seal it up or let it out.
 
I bought five of these last year at the Super Shoot. Work great and held up to Bore Tech solvents
 

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This, and cut the straw short for better control. Recommend that you never close the spout vale if you can avoid it; they are a little delicate
 
In woodworking we use these types of bottles and needles for the controlled application of CA glue (basically super glue, but with different viscosity).

I started using these for applying solvent to patches and it has worked better than anything I have used before. That includes, tweezers, pipets,, glass bottles woth droppers, and eye dropper bottles.

These bottles are cheaper than oil needle bottles, and you can interchange needles of different diameters. The best part for me is that I can use these at the range even with alot of wind and it all makes it on the patch.


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I bought five of these last year at the Super Shoot. Work great and held up to Bore Tech solvents

I recently got the bigger squeeze bottles from MidwayUSA IIRC, the smaller ones with blue top just don’t hold up well, after few months the blue plastic tops disintegrated exposed to chemical solvents

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