Power drill for cleaning

[Dave M.]

What rod are people using to clean the real stubborn areas in the throat with a powered drill? I have a super old stubborn barrel and I’d like to use a rod of some sort to chuck up in the drill, but I have no idea what rod to use that is threaded for 8-32 brushes. How can you prevent the rod from spinning in the drill chuck??
Dave

 

[DShortt]

I'd not recommend a brush in a drill to clean a barrel unless you're fine with minute of barn accuracy. There are multiple threads about removing stubborn hard carbon from the throat area if that's what you're trying to accomplish.

Are you trying to remove hard carbon, general carbon fouling, copper, rust or a combination of all of that?

 

[wkdickinson]

I've done it and it works fine, but be careful. I cut off an old cleaning rod - no issue with spinning in the chuck.

 

[Bill Norris]

No issues with cleaning a carbon ring with a nylon brush on a short cleaning rod.

 

[Dave M.]

I'd not recommend a brush in a drill to clean a barrel unless you're fine with minute of barn accuracy. There are multiple threads about removing stubborn hard carbon from the throat area if that's what you're trying to accomplish.

Are you trying to remove hard carbon, general carbon fouling, copper, rust or a combination of all of that?

I’ve just heard Lou Murdica speak of using a drill. I’ve always just used Iosso on a patch wrapped around a bronze brush and scrub, scrub, scrub.
Dave

 

[Bill Norris]

Lou cleans with a drill religiously. LOL

 

[JFrank]

What rod are people using to clean the real stubborn areas in the throat with a powered drill? I have a super old stubborn barrel and I’d like to use a rod of some sort to chuck up in the drill, but I have no idea what rod to use that is threaded for 8-32 brushes. How can you prevent the rod from spinning in the drill chuck??
Dave

Are you removing the barrel prior to cleaning ? If so it should make it a little easier to work on.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

No issues with cleaning a carbon ring with a nylon brush on a short cleaning rod.

I did one this afternoon and took the advice from Boyd Allen on using the regular black nylon brush with Iosso. Just on a regular long rod, you can reverse that brush easily and work on the troublesome spots.
Edit: no drill

 

[R.Morehouse]

For hard carbon ( carbon ring ) I take this stuff, soak a patch, and wrap it around a bronze brush, then let it sit inserted on the carbon ring overnight. In the morning a few twists of the rod then push it through the barrel. Clean things up and give it a look with the Hawkeye. It has worked every time so far.

Regards
Rick

 

[jpx2rk]

Bore Tech C4 works well, just soak the area with a patch, or an oversized Q tip for gun cleaning, scrub in the normal manner, rinse and repeat as needed. I also use the Remington 10x (?) cleaning solution on a patch wrapped around a well used bronze brush with a drop of Hoppes #9 for lube. For the really burnt on stuff, it takes time and patience, I rotate between these products to loosen up the stubborn stuff.

 

[M-61]

What rod are people using to clean the real stubborn areas in the throat with a powered drill?

The thought, to me, is sickening.

 

[Bill K]

From your showing in avitar, being a f-class shooter, etc. follow the pattern of others or what you have been doing in cleaning the bore well.
I bet none of them use a powder drill to run the rod into their barrels. Good old hand power and good cleaning rod and solvent, of a brand you like, works the best. Elbow grease never fails.

 

[Dave M.]

To be clear, I’ve never used a drill on any barrel before. The barrel in question is a severely carboned and copper fouled hunting barrel. My better instincts told me this is a bad idea from the beginning. After several great shooters and barrel specialists reaching out to me to NOT DO THIS, I will certainly not be using a drill. I will resort to to old school patch with Iosso around a brush and good old fashion elbow grease.
Dave

 

[Krogen]

Do you remember the old Outers Foul Out device? I was duly impressed how well it removed built up copper fouling. It got the barrel down to the "bare nekkid" steel. While not necessarily the best thing, at least it put you back to a well-defined starting point. You could then resume fouling the barrel as you wished.

The Foul Out did an amazing job of de-plating copper fouling from the bore. The amount of jacket material it could move to an inserted rod was eye-opening. Not only that, but it loosened powder fouling and perhaps carbon. It seemed that both copper and carbon were layered on the bore in a matrix of sorts. De-plate the copper and it was simple to push out the remaining carbon with a patch.

Unfortunately, in those days, cheap borescopes like Teslong were not existent. You either paid for a Hawkeye or tried to use your young eyes to see down the bore. I don't really know if my Foul Out removed carbon rings, but it sure removed a bunch of gunk from various bores I used it on.

The Foul Out vanished from the marketplace. The lead- and copper-removing solutions went away leaving those of us with the device high and dry. I see various home-brew electrolysis gadgets and solutions scattered around the net, but I don't see reports of anybody actually using the method these days. Bores "too clean" and hazardous liquids come to mind.

Anybody ever try to remove carbon with a Foul Out?

 

[Ruger15151]

I'd not recommend a brush in a drill to clean a barrel unless you're fine with minute of barn accuracy. There are multiple threads about removing stubborn hard carbon from the throat area if that's what you're trying to accomplish.

Are you trying to remove hard carbon, general carbon fouling, copper, rust or a combination of all of that?

I guess you haven't seen Lou Murdica's video on cleaning? He is a Hall of Fame benchrest shooter who cleans all of his barrels with a drill. He said in the video he has sent the barrels back to the manufacture who have examined them and said they showed no sign of damage. Erik Cortina has mentioned that he has done it to his barrels as well. They are both pretty good at what they do I think.

 

[Ruger15151]

What rod are people using to clean the real stubborn areas in the throat with a powered drill? I have a super old stubborn barrel and I’d like to use a rod of some sort to chuck up in the drill, but I have no idea what rod to use that is threaded for 8-32 brushes. How can you prevent the rod from spinning in the drill chuck??
Dave

I just bought a carbon coated cleanign rod and cut the handle off. Works great in a drill.

 

[afrench]

I guess you haven't seen Lou Murdica's video on cleaning? He is a Hall of Fame benchrest shooter who cleans all of his barrels with a drill. He said in the video he has sent the barrels back to the manufacture who have examined them and said they showed no sign of damage. Erik Cortina has mentioned that he has done it to his barrels as well. They are both pretty good at what they do I think.

no sign of damage? not quite.

Bronze Brushes Don't Hurt Barrels.

No problem believing that, or experience, that a 30 will do that, but with the geometry involved, and my experience, a 6mm will last nowhere that long..no matter how you clean it....imo Later Dave Agreed. That was kinda my point. That being, I commonly touch up the crown on my 30s, over its...

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[CNC-Dude]

I recently had an idea to use a solution we use at work to clean our EDM's with. They require regular and routine disassembly of the wire feed components to remove the metal dust trash that accumulates from the electrical discharge process. The solution dissolves, or actually breaks the bond that makes it stick to the parts, the film is gone instantly, where other cleaners won't even touch it. I wondered how it might work on fired brass, so I tested it on the worst sooted up range brass I could find. I dunked a shell by hand for only about 5 seconds, giving it a slight sloshing motion. I pulled it out and it was shiny on the inside and outside like it had been tumbled for hours. Haven't tried it on a gun and don't know that I would. It is an industrial strength toilet bowl cleaner we buy from Uline. It looks like the old green antifreeze from the 1970's, but works great on brass....

 

[Webster]

For hard carbon ( carbon ring ) I take this stuff, soak a patch, and wrap it around a bronze brush, then let it sit inserted on the carbon ring overnight. In the morning a few twists of the rod then push it through the barrel. Clean things up and give it a look with the Hawkeye. It has worked every time so far.

Regards
Rick

I read that there is no solvent that dissolves carbon. Maybe the cleaner loosens it up because it isn't pure carbon but a mixture of chemicals.

 

[K22]

Personally, I would never ever use a brush chucked in a drill to clean the barrel. I don't care if the top shooter in the world does this.

Maybe this is necessary for his discipline, I don't know. Maybe he tunes his rifles to bare metal clean barrels - different strokes for different folks. But I can't positively tell you it is not necessary for my level of shooting which is precision varmint hunting. Also, when that level of tediousness in needed, I am going to switch hobbies to spear throwing.

I think the internet has cause more harm to precision rifles that the most inexperienced novice.