A to Z on how to clean a rifle barrel

[jmc]

Hi all I'm after help on how to clean and look after my barrel and rife. I have read some post on here about cleaning barrels. I have just got a 6br and I'm after step bye step on cleaning including products and gear rods brushes ect thanks in advance

[Brad Y]

Hard topic as it's so personal. A few patches of hoppes 9 and left to work for an hour or two, then a bronze brush for a couple of passes then patch out. If your new to it stay away from abrasives until someone can show you how to use them (hopefully with a borescope)

[NDO]

See "Barrel Cleaning" at www.khgs.com.au.

Regarding jags and brush guides, see: http://www.boreriderbarrelcareproducts.com.

[Frank Green]

Brad Y made a couple of good comments!

Ask ten people and get ten different answers! You can write a book on this stuff!

Use a good one piece cleaning rod and a rod/bore guide for starters. I like the Dewey rods and Bore Tech rods.

I like the Parker Hale type cleaning jag. Roll a patch around it like you would roll a cigarette. This will give you a lot of surface area for the patch to clean the bore and keep the tip of yor rod centered as it goes down the bore, which helps with the rod from dragging in the bore.

If the rod is flexing to much or the patch is squealing going down the bore the patch is to tight.

Never mix your solvents. Weather in a jar or in the bore. The different chemicals can cause pitting in the bore and wreck the barrel.

I don't use and or recommend the paste cleaners. You use them in one of our barrels and have fouling problems I have a hard time with giving a warranty. The only paste type cleaner I'm remotely comfortable with is JB Bore Compound. Not the bore bright paste cleaner.

I feel once you start using a paste cleaner you have to keep using it. Basically your lapping/polishing the bore every time. It can cause the barrels to foul as well. Some copper in the bore is normal and doesn't hurt anything but if it keeps building up it can cause accuracy issues. If you have a fouling situation it seems like it will effect the accuracy in a negative way in about 12 to 20 rounds of firing from a clean barrel. Once you have a fouling/accuracy problem it usually doesn't get fixed in my experience.

Some say the barrels can be to smooth. That this causes the copper fouling problem. I can agree with this but this to me is hard to measure. I will though pretty much guarantee that a bore of a barrel that is really rough will foul more.

I clean my guns one of two ways. My hurry up method and my non hurry don't need it for a while method. If not in a hurry I just use Hoppes No.9. Get the bore wet with patches one after another till they come out clean. Leave the barrel sit for a few hours or overnight soaking. Come back and run another couple wet patches down the bore. If there is any copper in it they will come out green in color. I repeat this till no more color shows on the patches. I also store all my guns with a light coat of Hoppes. It will protect the bore and keep cleaning. Before you use the gun I run a couple fresh wet patches down the bore and dry patch thourghly before shooting. Overtime Hoppes will get thick/gummy as it will partially evaporate.

In a hurry? I shot the gun today in a match and need to shootit again tomorrow! I use Sweets 7.62 solvent. One patch after till they come out clean. I don't leave it sit over night etc...just keep cleaning till the patches come out clean. Any copper in the bore and they will come out blue in color. Once I'm not getting anymore color on the patches I dry patch the bore and chamber completely. Then I follow up with a patched soaked with Remington 40x cleaner and stroke the barrel 10x with that one patch. I'll also short stroke the throat area. Then I dry patch that out and give the bore a patch with Hoppes on it. Dry patch the bore before shooting it. Before it was called Rem. 40x cleaner it was Remington bore cleaner and before that it was called Gold Medallion. To me it's like a paste cleaner but in a liquid form. It's not as aggressive as a paste cleaner. To me it will also neutralize any left over Sweets. It also seems to work better on the carbon fouling/build up.

I don't use a brush. Haven't since the late 80's. Using a brush the hard carbon particles lay in the bristles and the hard carbon can scratch the bore. Some argue that the brush is only around 80 on the hardness scale and barrels in the upper 200's to about 300 and the brush can't scratch the bore etc....my come back is why can water erode rocks! Also it's a big don't do with brushes and pastes cleaners. Guaranteed to cause damage.

If you insist on using a brush I tell guys to use a one caliber smaller or a old worm out one. Wrap a patch around it like a cigarette. Only push the brush from the breech towards the muzzle. Exit the muzzle completely and take the brush off the rod before pulling the rod back thru and out of the barrel. Pulling the brush back over the crown is asking for crown damage in my book.

I tell guys to pay attention to your gun. You have to learn how to read it. It will tell you how and when it needs to be taken care of.

Also just because the guy next to you cleans differently does mean he's doing it better. Doesn't mean he's doing it worse either.

As long as your not wrecking anything I've got nothing to say. If have a cleaning procedure you use and it works for you than run with it. As the saying goes "There is more than one way to skin a cat!"

My thoughts for now.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

[RDavies]

Brad Y made a couple of good comments!

Ask ten people and get ten different answers! You can write a book on this stuff!

Use a good one piece cleaning rod and a rod/bore guide for starters. I like the Dewey rods and Bore Tech rods.

I like the Parker Hale type cleaning jag. Roll a patch around it like you would roll a cigarette. This will give you a lot of surface area for the patch to clean the bore and keep the tip of yor rod centered as it goes down the bore, which helps with the rod from dragging in the bore.

If the rod is flexing to much or the patch is squealing going down the bore the patch is to tight.

Never mix your solvents. Weather in a jar or in the bore. The different chemicals can cause pitting in the bore and wreck the barrel.

I don't use and or recommend the paste cleaners. You use them in one of our barrels and have fouling problems I have a hard time with giving a warranty. The only paste type cleaner I'm remotely comfortable with is JB Bore Compound. Not the bore bright paste cleaner.

I feel once you start using a paste cleaner you have to keep using it. Basically your lapping/polishing the bore every time. It can cause the barrels to foul as well. Some copper in the bore is normal and doesn't hurt anything but if it keeps building up it can cause accuracy issues. If you have a fouling situation it seems like it will effect the accuracy in a negative way in about 12 to 20 rounds of firing from a clean barrel. Once you have a fouling/accuracy problem it usually doesn't get fixed in my experience.

Some say the barrels can be to smooth. That this causes the copper fouling problem. I can agree with this but this to me is hard to measure. I will though pretty much guarantee that a bore of a barrel that is really rough will foul more.

I clean my guns one of two ways. My hurry up method and my non hurry don't need it for a while method. If not in a hurry I just use Hoppes No.9. Get the bore wet with patches one after another till they come out clean. Leave the barrel sit for a few hours or overnight soaking. Come back and run another couple wet patches down the bore. If there is any copper in it they will come out green in color. I repeat this till no more color shows on the patches. I also store all my guns with a light coat of Hoppes. It will protect the bore and keep cleaning. Before you use the gun I run a couple fresh wet patches down the bore and dry patch thourghly before shooting. Overtime Hoppes will get thick/gummy as it will partially evaporate.

In a hurry? I shot the gun today in a match and need to shootit again tomorrow! I use Sweets 7.62 solvent. One patch after till they come out clean. I don't leave it sit over night etc...just keep cleaning till the patches come out clean. Any copper in the bore and they will come out blue in color. Once I'm not getting anymore color on the patches I dry patch the bore and chamber completely. Then I follow up with a patched soaked with Remington 40x cleaner and stroke the barrel 10x with that one patch. I'll also short stroke the throat area. Then I dry patch that out and give the bore a patch with Hoppes on it. Dry patch the bore before shooting it. Before it was called Rem. 40x cleaner it was Remington bore cleaner and before that it was called Gold Medallion. To me it's like a paste cleaner but in a liquid form. It's not as aggressive as a paste cleaner. To me it will also neutralize any left over Sweets. It also seems to work better on the carbon fouling/build up.

I don't use a brush. Haven't since the late 80's. Using a brush the hard carbon particles lay in the bristles and the hard carbon can scratch the bore. Some argue that the brush is only around 80 on the hardness scale and barrels in the upper 200's to about 300 and the brush can't scratch the bore etc....my come back is why can water erode rocks! Also it's a big don't do with brushes and pastes cleaners. Guaranteed to cause damage.

If you insist on using a brush I tell guys to use a one caliber smaller or a old worm out one. Wrap a patch around it like a cigarette. Only push the brush from the breech towards the muzzle. Exit the muzzle completely and take the brush off the rod before pulling the rod back thru and out of the barrel. Pulling the brush back over the crown is asking for crown damage in my book.

I tell guys to pay attention to your gun. You have to learn how to read it. It will tell you how and when it needs to be taken care of.

Also just because the guy next to you cleans differently does mean he's doing it better. Doesn't mean he's doing it worse either.

As long as your not wrecking anything I've got nothing to say. If have a cleaning procedure you use and it works for you than run with it. As the saying goes "There is more than one way to skin a cat!"

My thoughts for now.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

Frank, you mention the only paste you would remotely recommend is the JB paste. I like to use Iosso in the first few inches every 2-300 shots or so to clean out hard carbon build up, what did you find bad with Iosso?

[Frank Green]

RDavies, Not the JB bore paste (called bore brite I believe) but the JB bore compound I'm ok with.

I feel iosso is to aggressive. Again my opinion. I've seen barrels where the shooter used iosso and the tops of the lands were dull looking and abnormal looking scratches on tops of the lands. The lands of the bore always take the worst beating. The last barrel I had in the shop was from one of the top F-class shooters here in the U.S. The barrel had less then 200 rounds on it and fouled just horribly and wouldn't hold accuracy. He only cleaned it with iosso. His other three barrels that where made at the same time and the replacement we gave him he had no problem with. I'm pretty sure he stopped using the iosso for his cleaning. At least when the barrel is new! He hasn't had a problem since. It was a 6.5mm barrel.

Why I don't like the paste cleaners? I'll say I see more damage from paste cleaners then from anything else when shooters clean they're guns.

For one I don't think guys completely get it out when they clean. If they don't then the first rounds fired thru the barrel you might as well be pouring gravel down the tube.

It's been linked to causing the barrels to copper foul. The more aggressive paste again your lapping the bore every time you use it. Also how some shooters use them causes problems.

We just don't have control how this person or that person cleans they're gun.

Depending on the caliber/what I use the gun for I will use the JB Bore Compound and do what you do. Every few hundred rounds I'll short stroke the throat area. Especially as the barrel starts to get a higher round count on it. One to work on the carbon build up and second to keep the throat a little smoother. As the round count goes up the throat wears and gets rougher as well all know.

Again though that's why I use the Remington 40x cleaner also and I don't feel it's as aggressive and I'm more comfortable with it.

Later, Frank

[jmc]

Thanks for all your help that get me started

[Seddo]

I'm mostly like frank, patch and jag. Every now and again I use a nylon or brass brush but not often. It mostly because I am lazy that I do it but I haven't had and issues with my barrels. My first patch or two are always with carby or break clean as it pulls a lot of carbon out of there. Then it's bore tech eliminator and patches and end with an oil.

[Josh Cox]

Has anyone tried "milfoam" ?

[Razer]

Has anyone tried "milfoam" ?

Yes. In 2006 I was shooting a load of 2206H with PMC Mag LR primers.
This load was very consistent and accurate, but, without any changes, went sour.
As I could not fault the load I believed it to be an issue with the barrel being carboned up.
Tried every trick in the book from hot water to different solvents, but, nothing worked until I used Milfoam.
I place my finger over the end of the barrel so as the pressure of the foam starts to squirt past it.
I did this for 7 days, leaving the foam in the barrel for 24 hours, patching out, then more foam.
On the seventh day the flannel on the PH jag came out with an intense black streak which came from the corner of one of the lands.
Barrel was back to original. No doubt a bore-scope would have shown the problem but I did not have access to one.
I gave up on 2206H after that, but, it may have been a combination of it and the Mag primers that created such a hard patch of carbon?
I still have some which I occasionally use just in case there is some residual crud in a barrel, but, my main cleaning regime is much the same as Franks. Hoppes left to soak for at least an hour, patch out with a patch soaked in Hoppes No 9, dry, then Sweets 'OIL' applied with a nylon brush and only patched out prior to shooting. By using the oil I have no copper problems.
The only time Sweets 762 gets near my barrels is when running in.
Mal McKenzie was using Milfoam as Border Barrels recommend it from the first shot( I sold him a can some time ago). Whether or not is still using it I do not know.
You may have trouble acquiring Milfoam but I think that it is sold under another name in the US. Problem is it is an aerosol can so cannot be posted.