Gun cleaning

[emr]

I was hard at it tonight again and it seemed to get slightly better but not much. Maybe shooting a few rounds would be a good idea.
I do not shoot all lead bullets. I usually shoot 170 grain Winchester or Remington.... Whatever is cheapest at Fleet Farm.

 

[treebogan]

As an aside.

I found this recipe for Bore Cleaner on the Net.I have been using it for about a year with great results.Many of my shooting friends are also now using it,as it is superior to anything found on the Market here in Norway.Plus its very cheap to make.

1 part Dexron II, IIe or III Automatic Transmission Fluid - GM Spec D20265 or later
1 part K1 Kerosene
1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits federal spec TT-T-2981F (CAS# 64741-49-9) or Stodard Solvent/Varsol
(CAS#8052-41-1)
1 part Acetone (CAS#67-64-1)

It is very similar in content to Hoppes #9,without the Ammonia.

Hoppes #9


Original component Notes
Ammonium oleate (CAS #544-60-5)
aka Oleic Acid CAS #112-80-1 5.0 oz (also known as ammonium soap) Could substitute lanolin but this would sacrifice its mild copper removal qualities
Amyl Acetate (CAS#544-60-5) 8.5 oz ("banana oil")
Nitro-benzene 2.0 oz (the racing fuel additive)
K1 Kerosene 8.5 oz
Neutral Saponifiable Oil

 

[Tucker943]

Mix 50/50 ammonia and GM Top Engine Cleaner if you can score a can of it. Wet patch it, give it a few minutes and push. Repeat again. That cocktail will clean a barrel better then anything on earth. Trust me.

 

[Cobleskill]

Treebogan's formula I have seen touted as a great home made penetrating oil as well. I have been meaning to make some and try it.

 

[1savagehunter]

JB bore paste is all the compound I would use, it will polish out the copper and fouling but not remove steel.

That would work

My choice would be to get some CR-10 soak the barrel and leave x 45 min. / swab and repeat x 2. Then brush it with a non-metallic brush x 30 -60 times and then swab. After that oil it really good with G-96 and then forget about it if there is any pitting. if it shoots well ... don't over think it.

 

[1savagehunter]

JB bore paste is all the compound I would use, it will polish out the copper and fouling but not remove steel.

That would work

My choice would be to get some CR-10 soak the barrel and leave x 45 min. / swab and repeat x 2. Then brush it with a non-metallic brush x 30 -60 times and then swab. After that oil it really good with G-96 and then forget about it if there is any pitting. if it shoots well ... don't over think it.

 

[emr]

I have tried some of the tips listed in this thread and it got better but not perfect. After a couple of overnight sits and scrubs I just gave up. It must be pitted but it's not bad at all. Honestly, if you would look fast, you might just think it's dust. I'm sure it won't affect the shooting one bit. I'm glad I posted this here because I got lots of good pointers to use in the future.

 

[1savagehunter]

Good for you!!!

 

[Burnham]

You're right, it'll shoot with no significant impacts to accuracy, I'd expect.

 

[FireFighterZero]

The accuracy of more guns has been ruined by EXCESSIVE cleaning rather than not cleaning enough. Especially a rifle with a breech than can not be opened easily. It is very easy to damage a crown on a barrel. Of course the aluminum or carbon fiber of your rod is softer than gun steel, but repeated abrasions and compression can lead to a damaged crown.

When my dad was in boot camp in 1962 they were issued brand spanking new M-14 rifles. By the time he finished boot camp in Fort Ord he said you could not even see the rifling anymore. It was from cleaning. Of course that is an extreme example.

You would have to work hard to shoot out a barrel on a 30-30, dont worry about the pits. Shoot the crap out of it, oil it once in a while to prevent rust, store it in a dry place and enjoy the thing.

If you are using an ammonia based cleaner and are not getting any blue patches anymore, stop cleaning. You cant get cleaner than that.

 

[Tucker943]

Some guns shoot better dirty. It very much depends on the starting quality of the bore when it came from the manufacturer. Match grade barrels obviously like to run clean/lightly fouled. Rougher bores with heavy tooling marks often shoot their best with a bit of collected copper in there to smooth out some rougher spots. I have always allowed the gun to tell me how it shoots its best.

 

[Grendel]

I wouldn't worry about it. As other have said, you will likely cause unnecessary wear trying to get your bore spotless. I use a bore snake for 99% of my bore cleaning and don't worry about a bit of copper here and there. I don't know that I've ever ran a seperate bore brush through my AR's. . . no worries.

 

[Tucker943]

What do you guys do to clean your bolt action rifle bores? I throw it on the bench and stick a bore guide in the action and run a wet patch with a general purpose powder/fouling solvent through. Let it sit awhile(minutes, hours, depends on what else I'm doing). Then I dry patch and repeat again until the dry patch(s) are coming out about clean. Then I wet patch/dry patch my copper solvent until that comes out clean. Then I run a wet patch of basic gun oil up the bore to keep the bore hydrated(no I'm not crazy, its a real thing). I don't so much care about the whole theory of keeping the steel hydrated as I do applying a lube to protect the bore from any corrosion the lingering copper solvent might want to do. I do this on even the cheapest of rifles. When I got into loading ammo and learning to shoot well, I also learned a good bit about chambers and bores(as any intelligent reloader should). Once I had an understanding of chambers and bores, the accuracy perfectionist came alive in me and now I treat my barrels with dignity and care. Probably to excess in some cases but I love fooling with the worst of rifles to try and get them to perform better.

 

[Tucker943]

I've even come to the conclusion that almost all bolt action rifles made in the last few years are capable of shooting a MOA if someone feels like investing the time effort and money into load experimenting. There's still a few Rugers out there that I whole heartedly believe won't do it, but it seems most will if you have the time to spare. Would you believe Ruger does not consider the barrel to be flawed or are willing to remedy the rifle if it shoots 4 MOA or under? I'd be heated if I dropped 750 bucks to watch my rifle group like a shotgun.

 

[Reddog]

Rugers hammer forged barrels tend to be fine. But their cut rifled are very hit or miss.

I clean my target rifles or a new purchase much the same way Tucker.

Bore guide, two wet patches hoppes#9 bench rest.
Two or three patches with JB bore paste. Short stroking/scrubbing the bore with each pass.
Two wet patches #9bench.
Leave at this point if storing. If shooting a match next day two patches with lighter fluid and the a dry patch.

Depending on the gun it can take 1 to 10 rounds to foul the bore back to accurate after a heavy clean.

Hunting guns I dont clean until the accuracy shows a drop on the bench. Or dirty from a field carry, then only a wet patch or two, followed by a few dry patches. Then a round on the bench shooting to check the point of impact.

Use a hard cleaning rod. Less chance of grit getting imbedded. Dewey's SST are my favorite.


A lot of different ways to skin a cat in match grade cleaning. Dont know of two shooters that do it the same.

 

[Tucker943]

I use the same Dewey rod and like it also. Yes, there is a clear line in Ruger barrel quality when they subbed it out to a different company. I've looked up the pipe of several Rugers with a electronic bore scope at the gunsmiths shop and been shocked. My favorite, and I mean favorite hunting rifle is a Ruger 7 mag (but I'm a r700 guy), and the bore of that thing is a train wreck. With time and effort, I've actually shot a lot of the sin out of that barrel and accuracy has improved. Throat should be going by now on the poor thing. I went through a phase of cranking 120's out of it at 3700ish fps. Lots of them too.