Bore cleaning

[markiver54]

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

A bore snake is my friend. And the only help my gun barrels can look for. Let all do as they please. I don't fear for my guns barrels no more than I shoot. Enjoy and be happy

[GunnyGene]

.
The video series has very good key points. But they are unnecessarily wordy, repetitive and wander.

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I've noticed that when a bore is too clean or too dirty, accuracy suffers. Fouled in between delivers best results.

Here's the science about that. Several in depth videos of what's going on in the bore, starting around Part 37.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... vDCIcEPxUn

Yeah, he does ramble on and get a bit preachy in some of his videos, but that's just the way he is. He does know his stuff tho.

[Rifletom]

I just do what works for me and dont worry about what others have said or done. I dont scour my bores but if I have shot lead cast I like to make sure there isnt any leading. I also check for excessive copper if I have been shooting alot of jacketed.

Most of my shooting these days consist of mostly lead, and for the most part is all PC'd.
I still have some lubed bullets that I haven't used up as of yet.
Now when I do swap I confess to using a little Hoppe's, to make sure there isn't any leading.
But other than the 44, the other pistol cal. rifles Only see lead.
I bought the 41 new and it hasn't had a single jacketed bullet down it since it left the factory.
Now the 308 MX and the 2 06's have never seen a cast boolit.

RP

And I'll bet those three rifles shoot just fine. I don't obsess about cleaning, but, like most here, I want the crud out of my firearms.

[clovishound]

I have a Savage .223 bolt action rifle that is a tack driver. I starting using just a bore snake. After a while I started having accuracy problems. I finally broke out the brush and solvent. Cleaned a ton of copper out of the bore. Accuracy went back to tack driving. I no longer use bore snakes.

Just my experience.

[JEBar]

over time my way of cleaning a firearm's barrel has evolved in a couple of different directions .... my use of cast bullets is dropping and as soon as some I loaded years ago are gone, I have no plan to fire any more .... that will eliminate one concern .... with jacketed bullets much depends on the muzzle velocity and volume .... with high velocities (like our 300 WBY Mag) I run a patch and check for copper residue often .... with slower velocities (like our 44 Mag and 30-30) I go longer between running a patch to check for copper .... if copper is detected, I deal with it first ... if no copper needs to be removed or once it is removed, I run Ballistol soaked patches through until the barrel shines and the patches aren't grimy .... I use Ballistol for both cleaning and lubing .... the last patch finishes the cleaning and leaves a thin lubricating coating .... I have brushes but now that I don't shoot cast bullets, seldom have the need to use them

[jwarrenod]

Another Ballistol fan, for all of my firearms, long guns, shot guns and hand guns. Love the way it leaves the metal. I do put some Rem-Oil on blued metal after cleaning and on the furniture too, just before putting them away in the safe.

JW

I only use Ballistol! When I get a new gun the first thing I do is spray ONLY the bore down with Brake Clean and then run several patches thru to remove any oils or dirt. Then a run thru with soaked Ballistol patches and then dry patch.
It might be several shooting sessions of use before I check the barrel and run a quick clean with Ballistol thru the bore.

[Shakey Jake]

I'm going to keep doing what I've been doin' for years and if I ruin a gun I'll fix it or buy a new one.
Jake

[Vaquero]

Me to Jake, and I think it was Al said something very similar,
just do what works for you and not worry about what others say or do.
Still have my first 30-30 and it's pretty darn accurate after 35 years of shootin and cleaning.

RP

[fortyshooter]

It your loads shoot clean it shouldn't need any more than a oil wipe down....bore snake with Ballistol every now and then.

[Mistered]

Because of the frequency of which I shoot IF I were to COMPLETELY clean my guns after shooting I would be spending more time cleaning THAN shooting - so, I tend to accomplish minor cleaning between sessions, wipe downs, compressed air blow off when dusty and occasional 'lite' bore swabs & oiling along with occasional bore inspections.

My cleaning tends to be more 'maintenance' than full on cleaning and I stay on top of it.

The only guns of mine that get complete cleaning after use are muzzleloaders but that goes without saying.

While a complete lack of maintenance or cleaning can ruin a gun it is suprising how some 'survive' long periods of time without it.

A good example is my 1899 Winchester. It had been in a closet for 50 years when I got it and the owner jacked a green shell out of it when he got it! When I went to look at it I brought my 'tackle box' and gave it good bore cleaning as I could not see through it. The only other thing I did was to remove and clean the load tube and spring, some minimal cleaning of the internals and shot it quite a bit and it is very accurate. A few who looked at it said it had probably never been disassembled due to the condition of the screws. After three years I finally got around to a complete disassembly and was pretty impressed with the condition of the frame and internals and there was essentially no rust (other than a very little surface rust on a few of the parts) but nothing major - and this was 50 years in San Francisco - which initially worried me due to the environment.

[RanchRoper]

I clean when I think it needs it. Works for me.

[dasmoeturhead]

Guess I've ruined all my barrels since 1967, and was taught wrong by Gunny (the old man). Seem to remember he won lots of competition's, and he always cleaned the bores afterwards. I do as well. To each his own.

[leverjc]

The amount of bore cleaning that I do depends on the gun. I don't believe any one way of cleaning works for all guns. I have a two 336's in 30-30 and one cleans up very easy with just a wet patch and a tight patch on a jag. The other one needs to be scrubbed clean with a brush and many patches to maintain accuracy. What ever it takes is what I do.

[Team Roper]

Depends, if and when I shoot " J " bullets,I generally just run a wet patch through it to remove any copper build up if it is to bad,but never any brushes as I got away from them a long time ago, just because it's easier and I got lazy . However, shooting lead cast requires a different approach and that is when the brush, chor boy, bronze wool or JB bore cleaner come out.At 74 years old, I have been my own research scientist on the subject and my conclusion is. You will not ruin a bore by overcleaning it with or without a brush. Just do what works for you and be happy.

[Conax]

I use Ballistol on lead bullet jobs and Wipe-Out on copper fouled barrels.
The Wipe Out works without any scrubbing and the bore looks like a mirror. You spray it, it lays there for a couple hours, you wipe it out, done. I didn't stop scrubbing because of accuracy, I stopped because I'm old and lazy. Anyway, my guns shoot more accurately than I do and look fine. So...

[Team Roper]

I've used Ballistol for many years on black powder guns and it does a fine job on them but on lead removal o pistols and rifles, na, I was never impressed. It does clean up the powder residue pretty good though.

[Steve51]

Wish someone could have convinced the Army armorers that bores should not be cleaned. Don't know how many hours I spent trying to get the bore clean on an M16 back in the early 70's.

[Team Roper]

Wish someone could have convinced the Army armorers that bores should not be cleaned. Don't know how many hours I spent trying to get the bore clean on an M16 back in the early 70's.

And fail inspection too...