Old Dog - New Tricks

[K22]

I posted before about having to find a new solvent (other than Shooter's Choice) that doesn't have an offensive odor so that I can keep the wifey happy. I've used it for years but she recently developed a reaction to the ammonia odor.

This Old Dog needed to learn a new Trick so I began using Hoppe's No. 9 with bronze brush for carbon removal followed with Bore Tech Cu+2 for copper removal. Seemed to work alright especially impressed with CU+2 for copper removal. The Bore Tech is odorless which keeps wifey happy. She likes the smell of Hoppe's. Considering it for as an after shave lotion.

This week I switched from Hoppe's No 9 to Bore Tech C4 carbon remover (with bronze brush) for the carbon removal phase of cleaning just to try it and see how it works. Wow - this stuff removes carbon fouling like nothing I've ever seen. The patches were blackest I've ever experienced. Followed with CU+2 copper remover. I think if found something that really works great. Any of you guys ever try C4?

Note: I prefer to use a bronze brush for carbon removal because I believe the mechanical action of the brush is essential for adequate carbon removal even though Bore Tech claims you only need to use a nylon brush. I might be wrong about the need for the bronze brush but that's a new trick this old dog hasn't learned yet. That's the reason I don't use Bore Tech Eliminator because you can use a bronze brush with it.

 

[tunered]

A bronze brush is made for cleaning, a nylon brush is for thinking you cleaned. Lol

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

drag a brass brush across your barrel sometime and let us know if it scratches the surface. Think of it as providing a couple thousand extra micro-valleys in your barrel for copper and powder ash to accumulate in.

 

[tunered]

Ill bet you cant rub two tho off your barrel with a bronze brush non stop for 30 days.

 

[JLT]

My experience with Boretech C4 mirrors yours. It does a fine job. Carb-Out is pretty good, too, but Boretech wins in the odor department. Carb-Out is not very strong or nasty, but the Boretech has no odor that I can detect.

Some of my barrels clean up just fine with a nylon brush. Others need a little more aggressive treatment now and then - they get a bronze brush. I have a couple of particularly agreeable barrels that require nothing more than patches. For quite some time, I've used the least aggressive cleaning regimen that gets the job completely done for each barrel. Borescopes come in handy . . .

 

[dkhunt14]

If you let the Bore Tech C-4 and Eliminator soak for awhile it cleans without brushing. Most my barrels don't need brushing. Once in awhile I use Iosso with a patch wrapped around a worn out brush and scrub the throat and first 6 inches of barrel. Matt

 

[jpx2rk]

I've found that throwing the used cleaning patches with Butches bore shine in the kitchen trash can is a great way to get the wife to take the trash out.

 

[Comrade Terry]

Any of you guys ever try C4?

Yes, it's my favorite. I like to run a few patches soaked with C4 down the bore at the range while the barrel is still warm, and the carbon hasn't 'set'. Allow it to soak while I'm on the way home, and clean after a couple of hours.

 

[John Russell]

drag a brass brush across your barrel sometime and let us know if it scratches the surface. Think of it as providing a couple thousand extra micro-valleys in your barrel for copper and powder ash to accumulate in.

40 strokes with a new brush, across a highly polished stainless steel barrel, hard enough to bend (and ruin) the brush's bristles.
Checked with a 20x jeweler's loupe.

Not even a teeny tiny micro mark

You have either very soft barrels or very hard brushes.

 

[Fotheringill]

For the range, I use the Bore-Tech Eliminator. At home the two products listed above. I have found them to be superior and obviously odorless. Now, what to do with the big plastic storage container of all the other products I have purchased and don't use?

 

[hoz53]

I posted before about having to find a new solvent (other than Shooter's Choice) that doesn't have an offensive odor so that I can keep the wifey happy. I've used it for years but she recently developed a reaction to the ammonia odor.

This Old Dog needed to learn a new Trick so I began using Hoppe's No. 9 with bronze brush for carbon removal followed with Bore Tech Cu+2 for copper removal. Seemed to work alright especially impressed with CU+2 for copper removal. The Bore Tech is odorless which keeps wifey happy. She likes the smell of Hoppe's. Considering it for as an after shave lotion.

This week I switched from Hoppe's No 9 to Bore Tech C4 carbon remover (with bronze brush) for the carbon removal phase of cleaning just to try it and see how it works. Wow - this stuff removes carbon fouling like nothing I've ever seen. The patches were blackest I've ever experienced. Followed with CU+2 copper remover. I think if found something that really works great. Any of you guys ever try C4?

Note: I prefer to use a bronze brush for carbon removal because I believe the mechanical action of the brush is essential for adequate carbon removal even though Bore Tech claims you only need to use a nylon brush. I might be wrong about the need for the bronze brush but that's a new trick this old dog hasn't learned yet. That's the reason I don't use Bore Tech Eliminator because you can use a bronze brush with it.

I like iosso on an over sized nylon brush because you can scrub it back and forth in the barrel and it gets the carbon our pretty quick. Id rather not use an abrasive cleaner alot though so thanks I will try that c4

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

Thanks. I had an HBR rifle built in the early 1990's, and the first thing the gunsmith told me was "Never put a brass brush in this barrel. It will scratch it." It was CM not stainless, wonder if that made a difference.

 

[John Russell]

Thanks. I had an HBR rifle built in the early 1990's, and the first thing the gunsmith told me was "Never put a brass brush in this barrel. It will scratch it." It was CM not stainless, wonder if that made a difference.

It is a complete myth - brass or bronze can NEVER scratch or wear any kind of steel.

And the myth keeps getting passed around to each new generation of newbees. Brushes cannot wear the muzzle either. The muzzle wears out the brass brush.

 

[LHSmith]

drag a brass brush across your barrel sometime and let us know if it scratches the surface. Think of it as providing a couple thousand extra micro-valleys in your barrel for copper and powder ash to accumulate in.

That's why Benchrest Shooters of old used the addage " Keep the brush good and wet" (with solvent). And if you are judicious in keeping a wet brush, wipe the rod often, use a well fitting bore guide, run the rod without arcing it, and just ease the brush and jag out of the crown.....the barrel will long be toast due to throat erosion before any bore damage is done by cleaning.

 

[LHSmith]

I posted before about having to find a new solvent (other than Shooter's Choice) that doesn't have an offensive odor so that I can keep the wifey happy. I've used it for years but she recently developed a reaction to the ammonia odor.

This Old Dog needed to learn a new Trick so I began using Hoppe's No. 9 with bronze brush for carbon removal followed with Bore Tech Cu+2 for copper removal. Seemed to work alright especially impressed with CU+2 for copper removal. The Bore Tech is odorless which keeps wifey happy. She likes the smell of Hoppe's. Considering it for as an after shave lotion.

This week I switched from Hoppe's No 9 to Bore Tech C4 carbon remover (with bronze brush) for the carbon removal phase of cleaning just to try it and see how it works. Wow - this stuff removes carbon fouling like nothing I've ever seen. The patches were blackest I've ever experienced. Followed with CU+2 copper remover. I think if found something that really works great. Any of you guys ever try C4?

Note: I prefer to use a bronze brush for carbon removal because I believe the mechanical action of the brush is essential for adequate carbon removal even though Bore Tech claims you only need to use a nylon brush. I might be wrong about the need for the bronze brush but that's a new trick this old dog hasn't learned yet. That's the reason I don't use Bore Tech Eliminator because you can use a bronze brush with it.

And Bore Tech is local to both you and me- Quakertown.
And then there is Competitive Edge Dynamics (chronographs) located off Rte 100 near Leather Corner Post.

 

[K22]

I do use a bore guide to minimize the chance of damage. Also, on my Dewey rods, I've used a rasp to remove one side of the handle material creating a flat surface that clears the comb of the stock so I can obtain straight alignment without arching the rod.

I have no scientific evidence to support the use of a bronze brush for carbon removal but it seem rational that the mechanical action of the brush would aid in carbon removal. I use Dewey brushes that have copper cores and are looped at the end. These brushes seem to offer an optimum fit and resistance. Some other brands I've tried are very stiff and have steel cores, not good.

 

[GNERGY]

Boretech and clean my rifles on the island in the kitchen. No smell.
Tarey

 

[newbieshooter]

I use the bore tech proof positive nylon brushes. They are much stiffer than my other nylon brushes.

For Cu+2, I run a few patches thru and let it sit for a while. Depending on the rifle, i might run the bore tech nylon brushes thru a few times - then run a few more Cu+2 patches. Then leave Cu+2 overnight and come back the following evening and run 2 more Cu+2 patches. Repeat running 2 patches Cu+2 every evening for several days.

 

[tunered]

Chr

Thanks. I had an HBR rifle built in the early 1990's, and the first thing the gunsmith told me was "Never put a brass brush in this barrel. It will scratch it." It was CM not stainless, wonder if that made a difference.

chromoly is harder than the stainless they use in barrels

 

[SheepDog]

It isn't the brass brush that hurts the barrel or crown, it's the dirt that can accumulate on them. Nylon brushes get that dirt embedded it them. I agree that keeping the brush wet is a good idea because it flushes the dirt. Bore guides keep the rod from rubbing the throat and careful attention keeps the rod from arching and hitting the bore. The multi piece aluminum rods are worse than one piece steel rods because they bend easier and also get dirt embedded in the metal. Brass or bronze rods are the best to use.