I have been just using patches till now but am wondering if I should use a brush? If so how often?
Myself, I first started cleaning barrels in the 70's and used a brush and patches.
At about year 2001 and after reading some hub-hub on the net about the use of brushes, I stopped using a brush all together for the most part, only using a plastic brush and very sparingly if and when I would.
In 2004 I had my first introduction to a bore-scope, and to shorten the story, I went back to using bronze brushes as part of the cleaning ritual, in every barrel and every time I clean. And have so ever since.
With one exception: I do only push a brush through the barrel (to protect against possible crown damage) , and do spin a brush in the chamber's neck/throat area a few turns, every time I clean.
It is to my experience that powder, primer, and copper fouling are quite easy to remove. Carbon and neck/throat layered burnished fouling is why I use a brush and advise the same.
Donovan Moran