A clean barrel

barrel cleaning

I've been putting my Hawkeye borescope to good use for almost 4 years now, using it to monitor the bore condition before, during and after cleaning. There were times when I thought the barrel was clean, since the patches were coming out white. Wrong! Several times found heavy deposits of carbon, usually beginning about 8" to 10" in front of the chamber, for the next 6" to 8", then fairly clean to the muzzle. JB is used with 10 to 20 push strokes, depending on the severity, washed out with Hoppes, dried, scoped and all traces of carbon are gone. The bore once again looks like it's chrome plated. I find powder fouling the easiest to remove, copper a little more difficult, sometimes requiring overnight soaking (with Butch's), and carbon the most difficult to remove. Without the borescope I'd be guessing what is going on inside the barrel, and with it I'm able to prove or dis-prove some of the claims being made-- some products really are "snake-oil". Works for me.:)
 
cleaning too much

maybe it's a fluke BUT...i have a 6br that really seeme to "run" after there's been 30 or more rounds through it. belonged to a great friend of mine, got it in a trade, and between the two of us we tried every method that seemed reasonable...yet, on a casual, load-development -type day, i found that the possibility of just plain shooting the thing was completely "do-able". of course, i then guiltily cleaned the snot out of it at the end of the day...how about round-counts? anyone have one that just seems to go beyond all traditional thought? eberyone says this barrel in that caliber SHOULD last X amount, etc...anyone found a non-conforming barrel in their collection?
just curious!
 
The worst barrel I have seen yet, arrived an hour ago. It was cleaned
faithfully after each day of shooting. Untill the patches came out clean.
This is a hunting rifle, The targets that accompanied it are very big, in the order of 2 3/4 to 3 inches. Fliers in random directions take this out of the 1 inch category. When looking at voids in the fouling, the edges show some
serious thickness. Unless the scope has gone south in a big way,This
barrel is a candidate for serious work.
 
All replys have been interesting, I know that I am not going to be so strict on cleaning in the future, just let the barrel tell me when by accuracy.
 
Bob,
You know this stuff better than me but sometimes we get too BR myopic when it comes to basic stuff. If big flyers are killin' a huntin' rifle,particularly a big boomer, I'd be scrutinizing a free floatin fore-end that dosn't quite have enough clearance at the forend tip,and when the barrel whips it smacks the end of the stock and launches "Sputnik" out of the group. Naturally, good bedding with a 1" pad in front of( but not touching) the recoil lug is usually "sporter heaven", but every stick and steel combo has it's own personality.Even the worst factory barrels will shoot down the middle if left unabated by bad bedding and insufficient forend clearance.
I think if you start with the crude and move on to the refined,you should be able to tame this beast in short order.
Joel
 
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Phil3 said:
What about minimizing barrel damage through use of the bore snake type devices? I have one, obtained from somewhere for a 22 rifle where you punch a patch through with the sharp end of a long plastic string (like weed eater material), and push the patch to the other end where it catches on a button, smaller than the rifle bore. Push the pointed end down the barrel until it emerges, grab, and pull through. Way easier than a rod, rod guide, and jags. I don't know if it is any more or less effective than the cleaning rod, but I saw no difference so far in an AR15 223.

- Phil
Click to expand...

Sounds like an updated "pull through" or cleaning cord. Old time Army used to use the cord from their campaign hats for the purpose if a standard issue pull through were not available. Usually each squad had one cleaning rod or the rifles came with a short rod so that two or three could be screwed together for more through cleaning. Sometimes troops were not allowed to use a rod, any serious cleaning being the responsibility of a corporal or other non com.
The British found that a cleaning rod in its track under the fore end could vibrate and effect accuracy so they used pull throughs stored in a butt trap after the SMLE was adopted.
Breechloading Carbines usually didn't have an accomodation for a rod, so thats probably where the practice originated.
While a cord can prevent the sort of damage a steel rod might do, such as dinging the lands at mid bore, or at the muzzle if the rod is pushed through without your catching it as it emerges, The cord itself can pick up grit and is difficult to pull straight through without rubbing against one side of the crown and I've seen a few old rifles with the muzzle "Cord Worn" to an oval. Cord wear to the chamber can be dangerous, leaving the case poorly supported on one side and inviting a blown case.

A synthetic cord would probably be less likely to hold grit.

I keep a home made pull through handy when in the field but prefer not to use one except with a .22 Marlin auto loader which can't otherwise be cleaned from the breech. If I have to brush the Marlin's bore I use a short .22 pistol brush , put the brush threaded end forwards into the chamber then slip a rod down the bore from the muzzle very carefully screw it onto the brush threads and pull it through , unscrew the brush, and then repeat the process a few times.
I then finish up with patches and pull through cord.
Care must be taken that the bolt handle latch doesn't come loose while the brush is halfway out at the chamber end, if it does it can get stuck tight.
 
I have seen troops from 3rd world countries use the pull through method to clean rifle bores by tying a not in a piece of 550 cord or some other available cord and pulling it through the bore .....usually from the breach to the muzzle.

However I can remember at least 3 times when we have had to go in with a steel cleaning rod and pound a knot back out because it was too big and got wedged in a tight section of the bore.

The first time I saw this I was impressed by their ingenuity but if not executed properly it could cause some issues.

I have also seen this method used in Afghanistan. Old motor oil is usually the cleaner/lube of choice in these instances.
 
Jackie,

I thought us old farts were the only ones who put primers in backwards. Makes shooting more interesting....
 
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