Clean Bore

RLDR · 05-03-2005, 11:52 AM

I shoot a .300 WSM in an A-Bolt Stalker that loves a clean barrel. I called Browning to see if there were any problems with accuracy after a few shots (6) and they had noticed that the short mags shot much better with a clean barrel. Other than the bothersome nature of having to clean the barrel so often to obtain good accuarcy(MOA) I don't mind too much. What I am wondering is what shooters have found that cleans the barrel well while your at the shooting range? I would suspect I need a powder solvent as well as a copper solvent, but I'm not sure. I would appreciate any input.

Slamfire · 05-03-2005, 12:05 PM

I'd advise goin' to a muzzle loader as you can clean the barrel in the act of reloadin' it.

05-03-2005, 12:38 PM

Yea, I had a 300RUM one time like that. Its problem was it had a real rough barrel. When you clean out the copper with say sweets, or CR-10, do you notice quite a bit of copper?

RLDR · 05-03-2005, 01:45 PM

What copper solvent I have does color the patches purple after a couple of passes. I haven't used a brush yet on the bore, just patches. Would anyone recommend copper or stainless brushes or simply patches only?

Mark whiz · 05-03-2005, 01:58 PM

Stay far away from Stainless Steel brushes............. veryy bad joo-joo for steel barrels. Use bronze or plastic brushes only.

The best copper solvents that I've found are Barne's CR-10 and Sweet's 7.62. When using these types of solvents, do not use brass/bronze brushes or jags - only plastic. The ammonia attacks them too along with the copper in the bore - so you'll never know when the bore is clean cause the patches will always come out blue. A fun way to get out copper, is to get a chamber plug and use an over-sized bore mop coated with the CR-10 or Sweet's. Pumping the mop back & forth in the bore creates a blue foam of removed copper - so it's easy to tell when all the copper is out.

Butch's Bore Shine is a pretty good range cleaner, good on powder and decent on copper.

If you really have a bad time with copper fouling, I would suggest using some J-Bs Bore Paste (or similiar product) to smooth out the bore some. Doing so can make a SIGNIFICANT difference in cleaning and accuracy, depending on the original condition of the bore.

Pittsburghunter · 05-03-2005, 07:55 PM

Yup stay away from stainless brushes in a barrel it would be like cleaning bird turd off your windshield with a sand plaster. It will get the turd off butttttt!!!!

Solitary Man · 05-04-2005, 09:43 AM

The link listed below has some good information on barrel cleaning. I use some of the products and methods mentioned there.

http://www.6mmbr.com/borecleaning.html

thndrchiken · 05-05-2005, 05:15 AM

Like has bee said stay far away from s/s brushes. I'll use the brass brushes to scrub the bore with Hoppes and plastic with Shooters Choice.

05-05-2005, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Like has bee said stay far away from s/s brushes. I'll use the brass brushes to scrub the bore with Hoppes and plastic with Shooters Choice.

Have you guys seen how a bronze brush scratchs the bore thru a hawkeye bore scope? Might change your minds on using them.

Solitary Man · 05-05-2005, 09:05 AM

BC, I don't doubt what you saw in the borescope, but I don't think it would change my mind. I've been using bronze brushes as long as I've been shooting rifles, about 30 years, and I've yet to harm a barrel, if groups on paper are an indication, that is. If I had seen it (a borescope image of my rifle bore) during my anal stage of rifle worship a few years ago, then maybe I'd have considered giving them up, but thankfully I'm past that now and don't fret these things any more. I like the routine I now use, which includes the liberal use of bronze brushes, and I plan on sticking with it.