Bore solvents causing rusting?

L

Lorancen

Guest
A little over a year ago, I built a .20 Tactical on an XR100 action using a chrome-moly barrel. I worked up some loads, cleaned the gun and put it away. Yesterday, I fired the gun again and couldn't get it to group like it did before. When I gave it the final cleaning before putting it away, I noticed a 3/8" patch of rust on the outside of the barrel just under the muzzle. I carded off the rust and checked it under a 20X lens and indeed, it was pitted! Evidently, I failed to remove the cleaning solvent that most often accummulates under the barrel when a patch is run through it. I then scoped the bore to see if it had any pitting and was quite dismayed to see that the bore was not shiny as before, but had taken on a greyish color much like the patch on the underside of the barrel. There were a few places where pitting was evident.

I don't remember what solvent I used to clean the bore with originally. It was either Wipe-Out, Butch's Bore Shine or Shooter's Choice. I have heard that some solvents should not be mixed and it is possible that I used two of these solvents when I last cleaned the gun. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Lorancen
 
Did you oil it after cleaning? Cleaning and putting something away without oiling is the best way to ruin it.

Hovis
 
I always alcohol patch a couple of times, dry patch 3 or 4 times and then oil patch 2 or 3 times before putting the gun away. Even on stainless steel bbls. Of course I also wipe down the exterior of the gun with the same oily patch, even the alum receiver so I might just be OC :)
 
In this particular case, the patch of rust on the underside of the barrel was definitely caused by the solvent(s). There was no rust anywhere else on the outside of the barrel. I failed to wipe away the solvent on the underside of the barrel that was pushed out by the patches. I did wipe the solvent off the crown, however, and it is completely rust free.

I have used Hoppes No9 for over 50 years and have never had a barrel rust that was left with a thin film of this solvent. I even conducted a controlled experiment in 1963 with various solvents using iron nails under various conditions of humidity and satisfied myself that Hoppes would give me the protection I wanted.

I strongly suspect that the barrel in question was cleaned last with Wipeout or a combination of Wipeout and either Hoppes or Butch's. Wipe-out claims to have a "powerful anticorrosive that prevents rust". I may have very well have left the gun with only Wipe-out present and it was ineffective in preventing rust. The spot of solvent on the underside of the barrel definitely was caused by the solvent or combination of solvents.

I am interested to know if anyone else has seen this. I may have to repeat my experiment with the iron nails.

I will appreciate any and all feed back on this.
 
It happened the same with a ss barrel I have. I used Bore Tech Eliminator and after 2 or 3 days, there was a spot of very light rust on the underside of the barrel, near the muzzle, where the solvent ran.

Also, I had the same very light and small spots of rust on the bolt itself. I left Bore Tech Eliminator a couple of days too.

Fortunately, it was so light that I wiped out and left no "scars" on steel.

Right now, I dont trust any solvent. Even for a day. I always spray some type of rust preventive (actually Corrosion X).
 
Hoppes No 9 is not the same as it used to be. It is now enviromentally friendly and about worthless. Anyway, the only cleaner I would use and leave for long term storage is Military Spec CLP which is Breakfree. But in reality, I won't leave it on for over six months. Always use oil. If you want to get by fairly cheap...Mobil 1 synthetic works fairly well and is cheap. Lockease is very, very good.

Hovis
 
See recent thread in BRC gunsmith forum .........re: leaving ammonia cleaners in bore overnight.

Apparently, when copper is dissolved, a nasty compound is formed...and this is the cause of rusting.
The cleaners by themselves do no harm, but add dissolving copper into the mix...and problems begin.
 
I always clean my barrel after shooting, and then run an oiled patch through the bore. That prevents any chance of rust or pitting, no matter what bore cleaner you use. I've verified (using my borescope) that there's no need (with my guns) to ever soak the bore with a solvent. Another thing to consider is where you store your guns. I once knew a guy that kept all his rifles in his garage. Every one of his guns had signs of rust somewhere.

- Innovative
 
The more I think about it, I think LHSmith may have hit on the problem. The bore cleaner creates a solution of copper. I know that if you put a clean, iron nail in a solution of copper sulfate, copper will be plated on the nail. Maybe, this is what is happening. This would mean that you should not leave a powerful copper solvent in a barrel for very long. I have left solvents containing ammonia in a bore for up to 30 minutes but never checked the bore afterwards to see if there had been any damage.

My normal procedure after giving a barrel a thorough cleaning has been to wipe the bore clean of any solvent and then run a mop through it with R.I.G. grease on it. I have put guns away for many years with R.I.G. in the bore and have not had a problem with rust. It was only this particular rifle that I put away with the bore coated with the cleaning solvent. I had intended to shoot the gun again fairly soon, but didn't get it done. I really appreciate the responses I have been getting on this issue.
 
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