Switching cleaners

[dantiff2]

Well I've finally decided to switch my daily cleaning regimen from Sweets to something like the Patch Out product. Any special things I need to know? I'm not quite sure what the standard procedure is. Do I need to brush out the powder fouling first?

I have what I think is a really bad carbon problem. Will this product help? After removing all the powder fouling and copper, a tight patch will detect a rough "feel" when I pull it from the muzzle toward the chamber.

Any incline as to weather I should go with the foam or the liquid? Is one better or easier to work with than the other? Do I need to purchase the accelerator?

Thanks

Dan

 

[357Mag]

Dann -

Howdy !

Is this a factory ( non-custom ) barrel ?

Out of curiosity.... what is the chambering; and what is the ''load" ?

On a nice custom barrel w/ smooth inside land/groove surfaces, a patch dragging nearer the muzzle could indicate a "choked" section of the barrel ( where hand lapping process was used to leave a deliberately tighter section of the bore near the muzzle ).

On a factory gun, that rough spot sounds like a rough section of the inner barrel surfaces.... near the muzzle. Rough inner surfaces are an attractant, to things like carbon and copper fouling. One particular manifestation of powder fouling, is hard powder fouling ", which often seems as if it had been laid-down like some sort of hard; dark epoxy.

In extreme cases, many have used "IOSSO", or "J.B. Bore Paste"; to work on problem powder fowling. "Sweets" and "Butches Bore Shine" ( IMHO ) are more reknowned for their copper removing capabilities, than they are for powder fowling removal [ not that they don't do THAT, also ].

Many shooters w/ proven/known " rough bores ", have "fire-lapped" with things like " Tubb's Final Finish "; or hand lapped with some type of ultra/fine abrasive-like grit. Not everyone can/should accomplish such a task.

Access to a good bore scope, or a barrel health check by a competent gunsmith
using a bore scope should help in your understanding of the problem.

I myself over the years, have in-turn tried/used "Hoppe's #9 and Hoppe's BP solvents, Sweet's, Butches Bore Shine, TM Solution; and " Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner ". The last one I only began using recently, on a new rifle that has extra tall/deep " Ballard-type" rifling. For this, the foaming product worked quite well, and the factory barrel cleans-up w/o my even having to use a bore brush !

Again, this gives example of what might be possbile w/ a really good factory rifle barrel, with a quality finish imparted to its insides; during manufacture.

With regards,
57Mag

 

[BoydAllen]

Get the Accelerator, and some Carb Out as well. Disregard the instructions for the latter and use a bronze brush. Patch Out everything that you can get out, dry and then wet with Carb Out, wet brush, and then let soak and hit it again and then patch dry. Also, you might want to incorporate a couple of drops of some bore conditioner. Let us know about your results.

 

[GerryM]

Be careful when changing cleaning agents'' Some are not very kind when mixed.
Make sure you get all of the sweets out before you apply patch out and other products with similar chemicals some cause etching due to being mixed, I have seen frosting and pitting in hand lapped barrels because the owners mixed the chemicals
Just make sure you flush out the barrel with a good non corrosive solvent,
Then dry out before applying anything else.

 

[BoydAllen]

A couple of things that I forgot to mention...I have more experience with the foam. Take pains to keep it off your stock finish. I use a cleaning rod guide that seals well at the chamber and cover butt stocks with plastic. Also, I have found that it is a good idea to wash my hands with hot water and soap immediately after touching any of the foam. Simply wiping my hands doesn't get it all off, and if I wipe my hand across my face, I find the edges of my eyelids become sensitive, until I wash. The up side is that you can leave it in your bore over night. A friend, who has a bore scope tells me that although foam is excellent that it can leave some carbon behind. To cope with this, he dries the bore and wets it with Butch's, wets a bronze brush, and gives it 7-9 strokes, another wet patch, and then dries. I that the foam makes it easier for the brush to remove. Also the previous poster's advice about taking pains to not mix solvents was spot on.

 

[mj2evans]

I clean with Sea Foam first to get carbon out then a foaming copper cleaner. Sweets never worked as well for me as Barnes copper remover but the foaming products sure are easy and no rod work. All this is related to factory barrels. With a Douglas 6.5x55 I have I could use dishwater - seriously jsut a little Butch's and its good to go (but it gets cleaned about every 40 rounds).

I used the Tubbs system on a 308 Savage the seemed to copper foul too much. It did smooth it up and it DID move the throat. Accuracy was never really an issue but cleaning pre Tubbs was a chore. Post Tubbs cleaning was better but I would not do this to anthing but a factory rifle.

 

[dantiff2]

My barrel is a Shilen select match chambered in 6BR. It has 1650 rounds through it and I'm noticing it getting very "rough" inside just ahead of the throat and about 6inches further down toward the muzzle. I've only ever used sweets on this barrel and it cleaned up very fast or so I thought.
Now I'm getting some fliers which I've never had before and my brass is showing pressure signs,(ejector mark on the case head and some brass are even tight in my shell holder at the extractor groove) I've not changed the load at all.
I do not have a bore scope but I feel confident it is a carbon issue. I've used some JB non embedding cleaning compound on a patch wrapped around a jag and after some time it did feel much better just in front of the chamber but after 100 rounds the roughness is back. My description of the roughness is the tight fitting patch goes smoothly down the bore but when I reverse the patch toward the chamber there are spots that feel like sand paper.

Thanks for the info:

Dan

 

[dantiff2]

Am I on par with my thoughts on this matter with a round count like this? I expected far more out of this barrel.

Dan

 

[GerryM]

At 1600 , it is more then likely washed pretty well, they get rough in front of the throat.
Use some Iosso aand oil to smooth things out. Do it several times after shooting and you will see that after a while the bore will smooth up. Just don't over do it .
I use an Iosso plastic brush with some oil applied before the paste.
Then apply the paste to the brush and scrub away. Clean up by flushing out with carb cleaner , Then a slight application of your favorite solvent or oil.

 

[tenring]

Dantiff, your description "just in front of the chamber" leads me to think you have a carbon ring at that point. This is not uncommon. When I detect this condition, I put JB on a tight patch, insert rod until it hits the bore, then twist the rod clockwise about 20 times. You could also use an old oversize nylon brush and do just as well. After the JB is completely cleaned out, check it with a bore scope.