Cleaning your fire arm...........

[asquires2]

What do you guys use to clean the barrel of your long gun? Right now I use a boresnake and Hoppes but Im thinking its not getting the job done. The reason I asked is I bought a used Encore pistol barrel, gave in to a friend of mine to find a round for it and before he could do anything with it he had to clean it , severly. Once he cleaned it , it went from shooting a 5" group to shooting less than a 1". I cant remember what he used and I havent seen him in along time to even ask him. Thx for your response.

 

[jontheturboguy]

For really fouled barrels, I like to use the CLP foaming bore bright.

Then follow up with some copper cutting solvent if needed.

If not, just some general solvent, with a brass brush. Then oil & patch.

 

[asquires2]

For really fouled barrels, I like to use the CLP foaming bore bright.

Then follow up with some copper cutting solvent if needed.

If not, just some general solvent, with a brass brush. Then oil & patch.

How long do or can you leave the CLP in the Barrel?

 

[jontheturboguy]

How long do or can you leave the CLP in the Barrel?

I believe you can leave it over night as it is oil based.

 

[IndianaGTI]

I use a powder only solvent to clean the barrel then a bore brush then a patch. It usually removes all the black.

Then I use a copper solvent. I try to use it until I quitting getting blue on my patches. I don't know if I am doing something wrong, but I just keep getting blue colored patches.

Then I use a couple of patches of breakfree or some other oil based cleaner to neutralize the copper solvent.

Then I use a clean swab. Then I run a patch with lucas gun oil through the barrel just to seal it.

Copper fills the lands and grooves in a barrel's rifling and greatly reduces accuracy. It has been my experience that Hoppe's #9 and a boresnake is great for a quickie clean job, but if you want to really clean your rifle you must do it correctly. I also don't think the oil based solvents will adequately remove copper from the barrel, but I admit I am guessing there.

 

[rhino1303]

I use Montana Extreme or Sweets 762.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I have noticed with one of my pistols that it gets a LOT of copper/lead fouling. I'm not familiar with any of the metal solvents, so I use a brass brush one size too big and a lot of hoppes and scrub the living pizz out of it until I stop getting metal out. It is a LOT of work and don't like doing it for fear of damage, do the solvents really work any better than elbow grease?

 

[Sticky]

1. Use a rather wet patch of Hoppe's #9. Run it once (in one direction) through the barrel from the breech if possible. Remove patch, then rod. If using a pull through like Otis, pull patch once from breech to muzzle.
2. Put some Hoppe's on a bristle brush (I prefer nylon) and run it through the bore 3-5 times. Dry patch once. The first time the patch will probably be blue/green, that means the copper is coming out. Run a wet Hoppe's patch through again and let soak 8 hours or overnight. Then, run a dry patch through the bore.

If you want most of the copper removed, repeat 1 & 2 every day until the final dry patch in step 2 comes out clean (no blue/green color). Then use a light coat of Hoppe's (for short term) or your favorite oil for (longer term) storage, etc...

If you are in a hurry, use a copper removing solvent like Sweet's and follow their directions.

I used to do the above with Hoppe's #9 followed by CLP. Now I just use Ballistol for the solvent and oil step combined. The beauty of Hoppe's is that the blue/green color is the copper being removed, so you get a nice visual indicator of how much copper is being removed over, likely, a 3 to 8 day period.

Substitute any solvent or 1-step cleaner/oil that removes enough copper and/or fouling, fast enough, to suit your needs.

 

[trigger643]

I'm a big fan of bore snakes and my collection of Dewey Rods are all but forgotten.

Mostly I use Break Free CLP after each trip to the range. However, I still use Sweet's 7.62 in my precision rifles every 200 rounds.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I have been using bore snakes with bore cleaner and rem-oil for a while now. It workds great for my Dad and I.

 

[Bshaw]

Gun Cleaning

I have been trying some of the foaming bore cleaners and they seem to be doing a pretty good job. I start with the foaming cleaner then run the rod with patches thru it then the rod with Hoppes and follow everything up with a Boresnake.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

1. Use a rather wet patch of Hoppe's #9. Run it once (in one direction) through the barrel from the breech if possible. Remove patch, then rod. If using a pull through like Otis, pull patch once from breech to muzzle.
2. Put some Hoppe's on a bristle brush (I prefer nylon) and run it through the bore 3-5 times. Dry patch once. The first time the patch will probably be blue/green, that means the copper is coming out. Run a wet Hoppe's patch through again and let soak 8 hours or overnight. Then, run a dry patch through the bore.

If you want most of the copper removed, repeat 1 & 2 every day until the final dry patch in step 2 comes out clean (no blue/green color). Then use a light coat of Hoppe's (for short term) or your favorite oil for (longer term) storage, etc...

If you are in a hurry, use a copper removing solvent like Sweet's and follow their directions.

I used to do the above with Hoppe's #9 followed by CLP. Now I just use Ballistol for the solvent and oil step combined. The beauty of Hoppe's is that the blue/green color is the copper being removed, so you get a nice visual indicator of how much copper is being removed over, likely, a 3 to 8 day period.

Substitute any solvent or 1-step cleaner/oil that removes enough copper and/or fouling, fast enough, to suit your needs.

Even after the patches come through clean I can still get LOTS of lead/copper out of the grooves with my method. I sometimes shoot non jacketed wadcutters I wonder if they are the culprit?

 

[Sticky]

Even after the patches come through clean I can still get LOTS of lead/copper out of the grooves with my method. I sometimes shoot non jacketed wadcutters I wonder if they are the culprit?

I'll guess it probably is. IIRC, Hoppe's #9 only reacts with the blue/green color when it's copper. Lead that's much softer than the old Lyman #2 alloy can be really heavy above certain velocities.

Some benchrest shooters, like in Schutzenfest, actually will clean leading and fouling by using fine steel wool wrapped around brushes. I don't recommend it because I don't want any liability if it's done incorrectly...

 

[asquires2]

Rite on for you responses, I clean my firearms once I get home from the range but Im scared Im not getting it done good enough. Im gonna get some foam cleaner and go threw all of them just to make sure.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

22's bore snake and breakfree clp then a patch to remove anything else

9mm, 45acp wet a patch with clp, go in direction recommended by owners manual, the a brush a few times, then run a patch through until no longer dirty, if i shot more than a whole box i'll repate the whole processes a few times.

 

[sloughfoot]

I am a big fan of J-B non-imbedding Bore paste. It is the only thing that will get the moly or carbon ring out of the barrel that tends to form just ahead of the leade, especially in 223 barrels. It is a once a year thing or if accuracy of one of my match rifles drops off suddenly.

For normal cleaning, I use Hoppe's #9 and Otis pull through cables and nylon brushes. If you use bronze brushes, they leave their own green residue behind which can be confused with copper in the barrel.

I have copper removal solvents like Sweets 7.62 and others, but I stopped using them because they can be tough on a lapped match barrel and I want to leave some copper in the bore pits and such for consistant shot to shot performance.

After all, in an NRA match, you won't be cleaning after the first 66 rounds at 200 and 300 yards and before you shoot the last 22 at 600 yards.

 

[IndianaGTI]

1. Use a rather wet patch of Hoppe's #9. Run it once (in one direction) through the barrel from the breech if possible. Remove patch, then rod. If using a pull through like Otis, pull patch once from breech to muzzle.
2. Put some Hoppe's on a bristle brush (I prefer nylon) and run it through the bore 3-5 times. Dry patch once. The first time the patch will probably be blue/green, that means the copper is coming out. Run a wet Hoppe's patch through again and let soak 8 hours or overnight. Then, run a dry patch through the bore.

If you want most of the copper removed, repeat 1 & 2 every day until the final dry patch in step 2 comes out clean (no blue/green color). Then use a light coat of Hoppe's (for short term) or your favorite oil for (longer term) storage, etc...

If you are in a hurry, use a copper removing solvent like Sweet's and follow their directions.

I used to do the above with Hoppe's #9 followed by CLP. Now I just use Ballistol for the solvent and oil step combined. The beauty of Hoppe's is that the blue/green color is the copper being removed, so you get a nice visual indicator of how much copper is being removed over, likely, a 3 to 8 day period.

Substitute any solvent or 1-step cleaner/oil that removes enough copper and/or fouling, fast enough, to suit your needs.

OK, I have a couple of issue with Hoppes #9. Maybe it is my misuse.

First, even after cleaning with Hoppes #9, I can still clean with any other cleaner and get tons of fouling out.

Second, I question the wisdom of leaving any metal solvent in a metal barrel overnight. I thought Hoppes was a mild acid to remove the copper. Even a mild acid will eat tough metals with time. I try to not leave any copper remover in my barrels overnight.

Both of these questions could be my misuse of the product. Maybe I should just soak the barrel in Hoppes and leave it overnight instead of 15 minutes and it would be spotless.

 

[MarlinMan68]

You really need to brush it.I like the bore snake but it isn't as thorough as people believe.I think I have 3 of them that came with used guns I bought but they are not even opened yet.

 

[DarkRose]

Me and dad have used Hoppe's #9 religiously for years... But I never have seen a patch come out blue/green, always just black/brown until they come out white...

I start by a bronze brush dipped in Hoppe's, followed by a patch on the brush, also dipped in Hoppe's, then dry patches until they come out clean.

Follow with a mop with Rem-Oil on it, but after a review I saw recently, might be looking for a new oil/rust preventative.

Wipe down whole gun, inside and out with silicone-impregnated cloth.

 

[Walter Zoomie]

The poor man's method:

Aerosol carburetor cleaner (Gumout...removes carbon/deposits, but also has a light lubricant in it and will not harm wood/plastic) and then wire/plastic brush, followed by cloth patches until they come out clean, then run a patch soaked with CLP through the barrel, then a couple more cloth patches until they come out clean.

It doesn't take as long as it sounds, and it is cheap.