How to clean shotgun forcing cone?

JimT

JimT

New member
I went skeet/trap shooting on Saturday and I cleaned my shotgun when I got back. The thing is, my bore brush seems to be too small to really scrub the area between the chamber and the barrel where it gets smaller. I think this is called the forcing cone. I suspect the chamber is probably dirty too but it's too big for the brush to rough up. I'm using an Otis kit, with the rubber coated steel cables, an Otis 12 ga bore brush, and the shotgun is an 1187. I usually run the brush through a few times, then wrap a patch around the brush, spray CLP on and run that through. Repeat until it comes out pretty clean. I just can't get the gunk off the forcing cone. Ideas?
 
Jim,
Besides the CLP there are some solvents designed specifically to remove plastic wad build-up in this area. CLP is a pretty mild cleaner and something more aggresive could save a lot of elbow grease. Check www.brownells.com in their gun cleaning section and see if there are brushes, bore mops, and solvents better designed for this work.
 
I shoot a lot of sporting clays. It's typical to go through a case of shell each Saturday. I have a Beretta 391 that I had the "forcing Cone" lengthened. With this, it does not have as good of a "polish" as does the remainder of the bore, so I have a lot of buildup. The best thing I have found is a Bore Snake. Spray some cleaner down the bore and get the part of the snake were the copper brush is at the cone and scrub like hell. I stand on one of the snake and hold the other tight and rock the barrel back and forth vigorously /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry-smiley-055.gif. Do it till the barrel starts getting hot... then a little more. Pull the bore snake the rest of the way through & weeewww. Clean as a whistle.

There are some solvents that make this a little easier but I have not found a miracle worker.

"Choke Shine" works really well breaking down the build up from the cone of my pure gold choke tubes (I eventually clean them the same way w/ the snake), but you have to let them soak in the jar forever. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Haven’t found a way to get my barrel to fit in that little jar yet.

Good luck.
 
i shot a lot of trap years ago and found the best way to clean the barrel was a 20 guage brush wrapped with a maroon scotch brite pad soaked in hoppes placed on a cleaning rod and powered by an electric drill. cleans all the crud from the chamber to the choke slick as a whistle.

and don't tell me it's bad for the bore, i've been shooting and cleaning it that way for 30 years, and my grandson will be doing the same once i'm gone.

just my 2 cents worth.
 
BILLYD's method is very similar to mine. Since shotgun barrels have basicly nothing to wear out, you can't hurt one by using a cheap rod and stiff brush on a drill motor. I put shooters choice-gel on the brush and scrub away (Keep the choke tube in place). When the brush gets a bit tired wrap steel wool on the brush and work that in and out of the barrel until you get sick and tired of doing it. For choke tubes chuck the brush up in a drill press and clean the tube by hand, the choke tube can get fairly hot so light gloves don't hurt.

This method can be alittle bit educational as well. For instance my Remington 3200's barrels are much different. I don't know if the barrel block has anyting to do with it, but the chamber and forcing cone in the bottom barrel is MUCH tighter than the top barrel. The barrels are choked Skeet/skeet. Doesn't seem to matter though because both barrels grind skeet into dust (or into small pieces, or into pieces or .... well maybe into BIG pieces or okay maybe a chip or two). I haven't been known for cleaning shotgun barrels very frequently so I was stunned to see how much plastic and powder that will build up in a choke tube.
 
I wrap a couple patches around the brush and put breakfree bore paste on them and work back and forth in the barrel until clean. The patches make the brush snug in there and the bore paste is a polishing compound with some grit in it.
 


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