"Screaming deal" ...not so much!!!!

[4xforfun]

Well. just loaded up some test loads for my "new" R-25 in 7mm-08. I bought the gun fairly cheap because it was a "slightly used demo"....about "15 to 20 rounds". I spent an hour on the phone with ..someone...at the store...sounded like a good deal. The guy sounded honest and knowledgeable....and I am a car dealer, so I am skeptical at the mention of a "screaming deal".


Well I decided to clean the gun before I tested....called on one of my Army Nat Guard Buddie's to give me a quick lesson in disassemble/clean/reassembly. He said that it (the action) was fairly dirty. Anyway, after he left I broke out my shinny new cleaning tools from Sinclair....started on the bore first......HOLY *^#@%^*!!!!

My routine......wet patch x2...brush the living krap out of it...let sit....dry and wet patches.....ISSO the living crap out of it.......wet patch the krap out of it....brush the crap out of it...let sit....clean and dry and run a Sweets patch down and let it sit for 15 min..........

result.......PURPLE TOOTHPASTE!!!


I did this whole procedure 4...FOUR ....more times..... OVER 3 HOURS OF CLEANNING!!

Result........PURPLE TOOTHPASTE!!!! EVERY TIME.

Not sure if it will EVER come clean.


MAYBE THIS WASN'T SUCH A SMOKIN DEAL!!! :-[

Well ...back to the grind...stay tuned for episode II

 

[watercam]

I hear what you are saying. Have never seen 'purple toothpaste' using Sweet's before - normally comes out blue with copper fouling until gone. Picture might be interesting. The fact that it is that fouled would twist my knickers a bit even for a 'demo'.
Rest assured that there is no such thing as a bore that will not clean (eventually). Rather than leave Sweet's in to sit, run the patch up and back 20-25 passes or better yet, use a nylon brush soaked with it and run that back and forth until you can not see copper at the muzzle (if you can see past the flash hider).

 

[Romulus]

15 to 20 rounds at a tactical shoot? lol ;D

Sorry to hear your troubles, but please let us know how it shoots once you get it clean.

 

[4xforfun]

Not a tactical shoot......it was (supposedly) a demo from Rem with the distributors, or from the distributors to the dealers. Anyway, it was $300 less than new...worst case, I can sell it to someone who just wants to spray lead and could give a crap about cleaning it.....

Anyway..getting to the end now.....just a hint of copper. Going to let it soak over night in Wipeout, finish the job, and run the 21 shells i have loaded for it.....then...start all over with the cleaning. We'll see if is another copper mine and really did only have 20 rounds through it or not. Who knows, maybe it will be a "shooter"!!!

 

[shortgrass]

With the renewed interest in shooting, especially LR rifles, "screaming deals" should be heard as "there's a problem here!". Hey, if it doesn't shoot, at least you've got an action.

 

[Erud]

In my experience, the amount a given barrel fouls has very little to do with the way it shoots. My favorite rifle that I shoot far more than all of the others combined holds carbon, copper, etc like you wouldn't believe. If I worried about getting it cleaned down to bare steel every time I shot it, all I'd ever do is clean. It is well capable of cleaning NRA HP targets with high X-counts whether the barrel is clean or dirty, so I don't worry too much about it. I usually do a general cleaning after a match to get most of the crap out but I have no need to scour it for hours. Anyways, if you shoot enough, barrels are a consumable - just like bullets. This one of mine will be replaced soon and hopefully the next one will clean easier. If not, oh well, as long as it shoots like this one does.....

Erik

 

[Mark S in NM]

Me thinks I would have shot it prior to getting panties in a wad.

 

[4xforfun]

Me thinks I would have shot it prior to getting panties in a wad.

I need the panties in a wad to clean the gun!!! I ran out of patches. Like I said....maybe it will be a shooter. Maybe it did only have 20 rounds through it, and it just gets WAY dirty. Now. I have been cleaning other peoples stuff for years.....I mean....people who shouldn't event be allowed to OWN a gun they were so bad. Never seen anyting like it. But like I said, I did get a GREAT price on the gun. If it is as bad as it seems, then I simply got my moneys worth. Cosmetically the gun is perfect. But if you are selling something at a fair price, why in hell lie about it??? Try that in a small town like mine and you are simply out of business!!!

Just sayin....

I'll know by tonight.

 

[PREMOD70]

I wouldn't expect anything less out of a factory barrel.

 

[dtucker]

Did you leave any rifleing in their when you where done ;D ( just Kidding ). I had a couple factory rifles some years ago, can't remember who,s they where but i do remember that i had to really work my butt off to try and get it clean and it seemed that it never would clean up all the way. The good thing is that if it has to be cleaned like that it won't be long and you can have it rebarreled.

 

[4xforfun]

I was just wondering if , after deer season, I compleatly cleaned it and tried to break it in.....you know....shoot/clean/shoot clean...ect. I have seen absolutly spectacular results at times with both custom and factory tubes.

Still waiting to shoot....it's midnight and the wind is still blowin hard. Was 15 to 20 knots with 25++ gusts. I will try agin in the early am. I also need to try my new 6-6.5x47L!! I have my fingers crossed!!

 

[JimT]

After helping out at several "dealer demo days" at my gun club, I always wanted to know the condition of the barrels after they were shot and shot and shot........ ! At one this summer held for the employees of a national sporting goods retailer I was concerned with the continuous rapid fire beating the Springfield Armory SOCOM variants were subjected to. I asked the Springfield rep if he was concerned to which he informed me, this is the way they are used in the field, and that was that. Made sense to me.

Now I guess I know what it must be like to clean one of those demo rifles. 10 to 20 rounds, I don't think so.

 

[4xforfun]

Update........The thing may have only had 20 rounds through it. Finally gave up waiting out the wind and just tested anyway......21 rounds....with moly....PIG dirty bore. Less powder/carbon than before, but just as much copper. Spending most of the day cleaning.....well, less scrubbing and more soaking as I just don't have time to scrub during business hours. I did the brush thing a couple of times, now just soak for 15 min in sweets , patch dry and repeat. Shooting results.... 1 horrible 3 shot group.....3 in the 1.25- 1.5 range, and one under a half inch. The two extreams were probably a good/bad luck deal. I'll find out soon enough.

I am having problems with the brass catcher....the brass just don't seem to want to eject into it. Not sure if it is because the loads are not stout enough. I didn't have time to set up the chrono, so I am not sure where I am at.. Shooting 140 NBTs....Varget...from 39 to 43 grains. Brass all looked great, but I am not sure if the PSI signs are the same with a gas gun as they are with a bolt gun. To be fair, I didn't try it with out the brass catcher....maybe the thing won't eject period.....I'll find that out soon enough also.

Laters

 

[mr45man]

Get some full strength ammonia ( no you can’t get it at the local wal mart),mix with a little Sweets or dish soap,

Start with a carbon cutter to get the crud out.

Plug the chamber and squirt some in from the muzzle end.
Or use a chamber guide from the breach
Use a ss or a nylon brush with a patch wrapped around it and
Work the bore a few strokes. Let it “soak 10 min, brush a few more strokes.
Clean with patches, look in the muzzle end for copper,

To help you see in the muzzle end push a small piece of white patch in about ½ “

Repeat if necessary.

This works for me, 20 min and your done. Just keep the stuff out of your action
And run some dry patches followed by oily then dry.
John H.