Cleaning the first 6” of barrel

[Walt Krafft]

And no one mentioned the power drill process.

 

[VA_XTC_Shooter]

And no one mentioned the power drill process.

Don't give up all your secrets Walt!

 

[J.d. Popkes]

15 minutes total including the bolt, lug abutments, carbon ring, muzzle threads.

Carb out or free all on a bronze brush

Couple strokes of witches brew

If you have a problem with abrasives, put some wipe out/patch out/foam out/with accelerator and push it out 30 minutes later. Just a little slower.

Hit the lugs and carbon ring

 

[6MMsteve]

Surprised everybody missed youre not using a bronze brush. These “i just cant get my barrel clean” or the “i clean my barrel for 3 days” threads always have this in common

yep I'm guilty of plastic brushes....but no more plastic, got on the Bronze Bus

 

[6MMsteve]

Free All will remove Carbon with a soak time it will just fall out basically, if your not in too biga hurry, I used it on my brakes but going the Vinegar route for R&D then back to something else, then try this then that

 

[Kracken McGraw]

https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/barrel-cleaning-made-easy.3975801/
And don’t forget this thread^^^^ Dryer Sheets!

 

[jelenko]

https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/barrel-cleaning-made-easy.3975801/
And don’t forget this thread^^^^ Dryer Sheets!

And, borescoping confirms the bore is clean!

 

[JBT47]

Thanks for the responses, I’m currently shooting in f open matches with a dasher with varget, not to heavy of a load right at max weight. Typically around 75 rounds per match then back home to clean.
I currently use sharp shoot-r patch out and their accelerator. I send a few wet patches then will let sit for about 15min then brush with a nylon about 15-20 times back and forth. Then wet patch a few more with alcohol to flush. I’ll look with a scope and see where I’m at. Then hit it with a wet patch of accelerator and sit for about 15 - 30 min, repeat the flushing and look again. That gets me relatively no copper and about 80% there for carbon but the first foot is still heavy carbon. I’ll then let a wet patch of patch out sit overnight and repeat the process in the morning. Then will send a few loose patches of Iosso short stroking the first 1 or so lightly. Then flush with alcohol and dry patch. Then if it’s still not breaking up I’ll put a little clr on to sit for about 5 min and flush out completely then go back at it with a nylon brush . That gets me about 90-95 %. The last 5-10% to get completely clean is just keep letting it soak with patch out and brushing and patching until I get there . Usually about a 3 day process currently…

I need to get this down to one night lol

Use Iosso paste according to Iosso’s instructions using their blue nylon brushes and you will clean it to bare metal.

 

[ebb]

I liked the one where everybody was singing the praises of CLR, toilet bowl cleaner then later there is a request to recommend someone to Cerracoat cause the toilet bowl cleaner ate the finish off of the bolt and/or the action. The reason there is such a thing as a brass brush is some people like actually get a clean rifle when the clean their rifle. Most barrel makers say that more barrels are ruined by cleaning than anything else wouldn't it make sense to clean one 1/3 as many times with a brass brush than many times with a nylon brush that does not do the job.

 

[D Coots]

wouldn't it make sense to clean one 1/3 as many times with a brass brush than many times with a nylon brush that does not do the job.

Call BS on that.

 

[Fast14riot]

Best way I've found to deal with hard carbon is to wet patch the bore as soon as you're done shooting, while it's still hot. It'll soak on the ride home. Good scrub when you get home and It'll come out easy. I use wipe out.

 

[ebb]

The brass doesn't hurt the barrel its the bent out of shape rod, and dragging it over the crown that has to be done way less with a real brush.

 

[Bryan Z.]

Best way I've found to deal with hard carbon is to wet patch the bore as soon as you're done shooting, while it's still hot. It'll soak on the ride home. Good scrub when you get home and It'll come out easy. I use wipe out.

That’s what I was going to say. When I clean immediately after shooting, I never get the type of carbon build up that requires any of the cleaning methods described in this thread. This is why I routinely take cleaning materials with me when I shoot.

 

[karrarararararar]

In 'cross the course' competition, the toughest target has a 1 MOA X ring and a 2 MOA 10 ring. Most competitors only clean after an 90 shot match and many/most won't clean the bore for 240 shot matches.

I'm definitely guilty of this to another level last year. I finally cleaned my upper/barrel after day 2 of the CMP cup last year. I estimated my round count at ~950 rounds since it's last cleaning. 600 yard score that day was 200-7x.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Surprised everybody missed youre not using a bronze brush. These “i just cant get my barrel clean” or the “i clean my barrel for 3 days” threads always have this in common

Someone keeps telling these people that bronze brushes or barrel cleaning abrasives ruins barrels. Or there is some extra credit for never using either.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I'm definitely guilty of this to another level last year. I finally cleaned my upper/barrel after day 2 of the CMP cup last year. I estimated my round count at ~950 rounds since it's last cleaning. 600 yard score that day was 200-7x.

Many of these modern powders don't require cleaning to shoot small. I'm at 200 rounds on my FTR 223 test rifle and groups have not changed.

 

[AckleymanII]

Surprised everybody missed youre not using a bronze brush. These “i just cant get my barrel clean” or the “i clean my barrel for 3 days” threads always have this in common

YES!

I buy Dewey or Pro Shot bronze bristle brushes, 5 dozen at a time. Iosso and Montana Extreme plastic brushes for use with stubborn Hard carbon with FLITZ BORE CLEANER, Iosso, JB, JB red, Thurro Clean.

Wrapping a patch around a worn bronze bristle brush is very effective, but I do not use a bronze bristle brush enough to get to this stage, so a smaller caliber bronze brush may work.

The issue in delaying cleaning until accuracy is lost inevitably leads to very hard cooked on carbon, and after several cycles, the hard carbon cannot be removed without using products that are detrimental to the bore dia. The approach of only cleaning when accuracy is lost, inevitably leads to replacing barrels more frequently, depending on your accuracy requirement.

When we start reading about rifle barrel cleaning, you do not know the posters application for his use. For example, a 6 ppc fired in competition is fired 10 times or less in-between cleanings, so cleaning with patches May suffice, followed periodically by scrubbing with JB. If you were to take this approach with a P. dog hunting rifle or a magnum target/ hunting rifle, the barrel may be "shot out" in 650 rounds or less.

The best advise maybe to purchase a Teslong bore scope that plugs into an old lap top, for $89, and become your own expert.

Final thought, powder type used, amount of powder used, cleaning frequency, and rate of fire has one heck of an impact on cleaning technique, cleaning chemicals, brushes, etc that are required to clean the bore down to bare metal on a regular basis.

I hate cleaning rifle barrels, but it is necessary for my accuracy requirements, and barrel longevity.

 

[BoydAllen]

One of the main issues in these discussions is differences in definitions of accuracy. The other is limitations on cleaning intervals. Recently I have been impressed with Thorroclean, as compared to my previous abrasive favorite, IOSSO, which are really different forms of the same thing. Funny thing was that I had to use some dirty, worn test barrels to do my tests, since none of my barrels have been used for things that required extended firing between cleanings. None have unresolved hard carbon issues. If you have the time, you can get most of the hard carbon out soaking and brushing with Free All, but it takes quite a while. When hard carbon has been allowed to accumulate beyond a certain point, I think that this approach is likely to be worth the effort. There are some tricks that can make it go better, but they would be more appropriate in another thread, or PMs. As to bronze brush issues, I have continued to use them for decades with no evidence of damage to any barre, and yes I do have a bore scope, and have had access to one for many years. One tip that has come to me lately is the idea of putting something in the bore immediately after cessation of shooting. Based on a friend's experience this seems to greatly facilitate cleaning. He does it with Kroil. I think that this keeps the powder fouling from setting up, like it seems to do on case necks, being easy to wipe off right after firing, and much more difficult to remove after some time.

 

[jelenko]

The approach of only cleaning when accuracy is lost, inevitably leads to replacing barrels more frequently, depending on your accuracy requirement.

^^^

 

[Straightshooter1]

One of the main issues in these discussions is differences in definitions of accuracy. The other is limitations on cleaning intervals. Recently I have been impressed with Thorroclean, as compared to my previous abrasive favorite, IOSSO, which are really different forms of the same thing. Funny thing was that I had to use some dirty, worn test barrels to do my tests, since none of my barrels have been used for things that required extended firing between cleanings. None have unresolved hard carbon issues. If you have the time, you can get most of the hard carbon out soaking and brushing with Free All, but it takes quite a while. When hard carbon has been allowed to accumulate beyond a certain point, I think that this approach is likely to be worth the effort. There are some tricks that can make it go better, but they would be more appropriate in another thread, or PMs. As to bronze brush issues, I have continued to use them for decades with no evidence of damage to any barre, and yes I do have a bore scope, and have had access to one for many years. One tip that has come to me lately is the idea of putting something in the bore immediately after cessation of shooting. Based on a friend's experience this seems to greatly facilitate cleaning. He does it with Kroil. I think that this keeps the powder fouling from setting up, like it seems to do on case necks, being easy to wipe off right after firing, and much more difficult to remove after some time.

"Putting something in the bore immediately after cessation of shooting" is something I started doing last year and found it does make it more easy to get the bore clean when I do my cleaning.

All I do is run an initial wet patch with Hoppe's through the bore, then a couple of strokes with a wet brush followed by another wet patch to push the grit out and then a dry patch. Finally, I run a patch with Kroil to let soak until I get the gun home to clean. And this seems to work best when the barrel is still warm.