1960 M1 Barrel cleaning

R

Rome

New member
I just read the previous thread from Jeffly about barrel fouling and wonder what the inside of an old M1 barrel should look like. I've scrubbed it a few times and always pull out slightly dirty pads after scrubbing it with cleaner and brass brushes. I've cleaned other rifles and their barrels are bright just like pistol barrels. Is the M1 any different? Just how clean should I get it? If it's supposed to be shiney, and the pads are black (not green) should I use a stronger barrel cleaner and if so, what would you recommend?

Any help will be very much appreciated.

Rome
 
Rome, it might get shiny but it might not too. I would think that eventually it would but I've seen some barrels on older guns that no matter how much you clean them they still look like sewer pipes. I like the JB Compound and Shooter's Choice. George
 
A clean barrel and a pitted barrel are different things. Even a pretty badly pitted barrel can be cleaned. It will not be shiny, but it is possible to get almost all the crud out of the pits. The Outers electronic cleaner does this well, and the barrels are clean! They still don't look good but they are clean. No amount of cleaning with anything will restore metal that is rusted away and make a pitted barrel shine.

Jim
 
I've inspected the barrel pretty thoroughly and don't see any pitting. It just isn't shiney like the SKS or other rifles. I just want to know how much attention to pay to cleaning it. I'll use a more aggressive cleaner and do some scrubbing tomorrow. As long as the patch comes out clean, I'll be happy.

Thanks to both of you for your help.

R
 
Depending on the exact condition of the barrel, you may wear out several cleaning rods trying to get a patch to come out perfectly clean! If the barrel is somewhat rough for some reason, one possibility would be to firelap it to smooth things out. All of this is just speculation, since we can't see the gun from here. :)
 
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