Henry Rifle Forums

Ran across this article on bore cleaning. Says that especially with stainless steel you should rarely or even never clean your bores. Interesting article and also a short thread with some comments about the article.

Are our Henry barrels stainless steel?

http://www.schuemann.com/Portals/0/Docu ... eaning.pdf

https://wethearmed.com/gunsmithing-and- ... r-barrels/

what type of metal does Henry make its barrels out of

dave77 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 21, 2020 10:30 pm

Are our Henry barrels stainless steel?

Don't make any difference what steel is used. Leave it alone. As one of the comments in the link you posted said: "Better accuracy though consistent sloppiness... over cleaning can hamper that and wear out the barrel faster." The only thing I do is blow out a barrel with compressed air, and run a damp oil patch thru if it's going to sit a while. Many people obsess about the bore, but pay little attention to the working parts in the receiver/slide/etc. . Should be just the opposite.

I guess I should assume all my guns are ruined, because I have always cleaned the bores?
What is to be said then for the thousands of bore cleaning kits with rods and brushes and such?

I can say that in the past couple years I have not cleaned the bores like I did before.
When I have it's just been pulling a bore snake through them.

RP

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:58 am

I can say that in the past couple years I have not cleaned the bores like I did before.
When I have it's just been pulling a bore snake through them.

RP

Randy, do you put any solvent or oil on the snake?

Nope, sometimes I will push a slightly oily rag through them if I know it will be a while before I will shoot it again.

I had heard similar things about the 22's quite a few years ago and have since stopped scrubbing them and just use the snake on them now.

RP

I guess its a wonder that any of our 50+ year old firearms have maintained their accuracy ..

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:51 am

I guess I should assume all my guns are ruined, because I have always cleaned the bores?
What is to be said then for the thousands of bore cleaning kits with rods and brushes and such?

It's an evil conspiracy between the barrel makers and the cleaning kit people. Just like that between grass seed and fertilizer sellers and lawn mower mfgs.

Right

RP

JEBar wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:06 pm

I guess its a wonder that any of our 50+ year old firearms have maintained their accuracy ..

Exactly...could it be that this is a somewhat insignificant point. I have heard, all my life, keep your guns clean.

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.

.
Likewise.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:30 pm

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.

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

Mags wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:05 pm

.
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

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:30 pm

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

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.

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

GunnyGene wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:18 pm

Mags wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:05 pm

.
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

Thanks for the links, but don't want to allocate that much time to research bore cleaning. As often as I shoot my guns, they will out live me.

.
Best to skim through the videos quickly to the places where he makes his bulletized points and pick up the narrative for few seconds and then move on. I lost patience with the repetition and slowness of getting to the point(s).

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:50 pm

Thanks for the links, but don't want to allocate that much time to research bore cleaning. As often as I shoot my guns, they will out live me.