How do you clean your barrel?

B

bigoledude

New member
I mop the barrel with the copper solvent Barnes CR10 and let the CR10 set for about 10 minutes.

I now run a few patches of Kroil penetrant to get between the copper and the barrel. Hopefully the CR10 has given me a little more "GAP" for the Kroil to creep into. I let the Kroil do it's thing for about 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, I wipe the Kroil out with dry patches.

Now, using nylon brushes, I scrub-in some CR10. Let set for a few minutes then, run some CR10 patches. I repeat this process, alternating between brushing the solvent, patching solvent, and then applying the penetrant with patches.

In most cases, the Kroil has loosened the copper to the point where I don't have to apply it again.

When I no longer get blue on the Barnes CR10 patches, I consider the barrel clean.

At this point, I run a lightly KRoiled patch for storage for protection in our humid climate down here.

I usually have 2-3 rifles to clean so, while one rifle is soaking, I am in another stage of cleaning on the other rifle.
 
I prop the barrel on an incline, shoot it full of Outer's Foaming Bore Cleaner, (soaks out copper and powder residue) let it set until I can see through the barrel and drainage has finished going on a cloth under the end of the barrel, and swab it out with clean patches.

Then apply some CorrosionX Corrosion Inhibitor, let set for a few hours and swab out any excess, and it's ready to go again...

So far, I've never observed any degradation in accuracy due to number of rounds shot up to a couple of hundred.
 
I run two or three patches w/solvent (whatever is handy) to push out the loose crud, dry, then fill with Wipe Out foam bore cleaner, and go to bed. I can clean 20 guns a night...while I sleep. Follow up by patching out the Wipe Out, then run a wet patch with Shooters Choice/Kroil mixture, follow with a dry patch, and its done. And, if the barrel hasn't been fouled really, really bad, it should be squeaky clean.

If your barrel collects a lot of copper, and/or time is a factor, as in a dog town, then I use Bore Tech Eliminator, and a normal cleaning regimen. At the end of the day, the foam goes in, no matter what else I've done. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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I run two or three patches w/solvent (whatever is handy) to push out the loose crud, dry, then fill with Wipe Out foam bore cleaner, and go to bed. I can clean 20 guns a night...while I sleep. Follow up by patching out the Wipe Out, then run a wet patch with Shooters Choice/Kroil mixture, follow with a dry patch, and its done. And, if the barrel hasn't been fouled really, really bad, it should be squeaky clean.



I do about the same most of the time.

Or in some cases I put a couple of drops of CLP on the leading end of a Boresnake, pull it through and call it good.
 
run a cotton swab with breakfree CLP on it, then 2 - 3 dry swabs, 2nd or 3rd one comes out clean, and the bore is nice and shiny
 
Shiny, as in pointing the barrel at a light, and peeking in, doesn't tell you much, other than that the heavy load of crud has been removed. Find a borescope, and be prepared for the worst. Or, push a couple patches of Bore Tech Eliminator through your "clean" barrel: the 2nd one will come out so loaded with copper, you won't believe it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
I have always loved JB and kroil.

I have some of the wipe out foam cleaner but have yet to try it. The thought of doing 20 guns in a night really is something though!!!!
 
I soak with Hoppes, patch dry, and then do the foam thing. That usually does it, but I have a bore scope to make sure.

Everybody always says to use their product till the patches come out clean and dry and you are done. I'm here to tell you it just ain't so. Using my borescope I have often (usually) found copper still in the barrel after the patches come out "clean and dry" (and the bore looked shiny to the naked eye). The exception is with wipe out, but even there, an overnight soak hasn't always gotten it all out.

The only way to really tell what's happening in your barrel is with a borescope.
 
I just used a new (to me anyhow) product I got from my gunsmith called Slip2000

In a nutshell, they are water based super detergents

The first one is 725 Gun Cleaner Degreaser,
I have never used a solvent that broke powder fouling as fast as this. Hoppes, Shooters Choice, Butches, Montana Extreme, and a couple others cant compare. This stuff is fast using a patch or nylon brush. It smells good to, kind of like windex or something?

The second one I tried was their Copper Cutter,

Its the same formula as the 725 but it has ammonia added, it works as well or better than the Sweets, but doesnt stink as bad, which is a bonus. The thing to remember with these cleaners is their water based, and when done cleaning you need to run a oiled patch down the tube to prevent rust from forming, which we most always do using any cleaner. Out of the two products I tried, you really only need the Copper Cutter as it works on all fouling, but the other is handy to spray on your AR bolts to clean the carbon and excess junk off. Great stuff, as of last sunday its the only thing I will use now. If anybody is interested it can be found here.
Slip 2000

No, I didnt get paid to write this.
 
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Thanks for that link Furhunter! I really enjoy testing new products and will give this one a try!!


Your welcome
Get a couple small bottles and me/us know what you think of it. I would like to hear from somebody else as to what they think of it.
 
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I soak with Hoppes, patch dry, and then do the foam thing. That usually does it, but I have a bore scope to make sure.

Everybody always says to use their product till the patches come out clean and dry and you are done. I'm here to tell you it just ain't so. Using my borescope I have often (usually) found copper still in the barrel after the patches come out "clean and dry" (and the bore looked shiny to the naked eye). The exception is with wipe out, but even there, an overnight soak hasn't always gotten it all out.

The only way to really tell what's happening in your barrel is with a borescope.



+1 on that.

I own a borescope and can assure you, "clean" patches aren't a reliable indicator of anything except you've got most of the carbon out....but not always.

While I'm a big proponent of WipeOut, I agree with nmleon that an overnight soak doesn't always get all the copper out. I once had fouled my 6mm Rem bore so badly it took 3 full days, changing the foam out 2X a day, before the scope indicated no copper left.

I'm not being snobbish here, but unless you can actually borescope your barrel, you're just guessing regarding cleaning techniques. In my case, a week of owning a borescope undid about 35 years of "experience".

That said, of the readily available commercial bore cleaners, WipeOut gives you the best chance of a 100% clean bore on the first try, and it is my cleaner of choice 95% of the time. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't have the time to let WipeOut perform it's magic.

When time is short, KG Industries KG-1 (Carbon remover) followed by KG-2 (very mild abrasive bore paste), flushed after cleaning, is about as good as it gets. Most LGS's don't carry this brand, but it can be purchased online. I highly recommend it for use when you don't have time to wait for WipeOut to work.

Mike
 
Will do guys. I would really like to have a borescope, how much would one cost? I can remember years ago cleaning a barrel what I thought was squeaky clean and then use some new product and it would be lousy with copper. I enjoy trying new products because they keep getting better!
 
A Hawkeye Borescope by Lens Gradient Corporaton runs in the neighborhood of $900. I lucked out in that a riflebuilder I knew (the son of another riflebuilder) got his dad's equipment when he passed away. My builder wound up with 4 borescopes, and he sold me one for $400. I don't usually run across deals like that, and I consider it some of the best money I've ever spent.

Mike
 
I pull the bolt swab the bore from the breech end with what ever solvent I need to use.( some of my rifles shoot only cast, some shoot only jacketed, and some shoot both, so my choice of solvents is based on what I will find in the barrel) solvent is left to sit for five or ten minutes then swabed with dry patches till no fouling comes out then a light oil patch is used.
 


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