Am I Harming My Gun ?

M

Mike H

New member
When I clean my pistol, I go through the usual solvent and bronze brush work, it's my use of patches that may be poor practice on my part.

My cleaning rod had an eye for use with a large patch (as is usual), but cleaning the bore by "tickling" it with a patch in this way never gets it properly clean and takes forever.

So I fold the patch into a wad and force it through with the tip of the cleaning rod. This gets the bore spotless and I repeat the process until the patches come out clean. I always clean from the breach to the muzzle, so no problems there.

Thing is, I caught the neck of the rod on the chamber rim the other day as I was forcing the patch "bullet" down the bore and took a little nick out of the seating rim where the case neck sits.

I have always had doubts about cleaning the bore in this way, but the results have always been good.

Any thoughts or suggestions.

Mike H
 
Take all bronze brushes and hide them in the closet. Get nylon bore brushes and clean your bore as follows:

1) Run a patch through wet with solvent to get the black crud out.

2) Use the nylon bore brush (on a rod) with the tip dipped in Automotive Chrome Polish to scrub the bore. It will get out lead and copper fouling fast.

3) Pass swabs through to get out the polish. Run a clean patch with light oil through and you are done.

Cleaning a gun is like sex: if you find it to be difficult, you are almost certainly doing something wrong.
 
Use a jag of the proper caliber to push your patches through.Start from breech end unless impossible.Throw away the end with an eye in it-it's useless.

Push a patch saturated with solvent (I use Hoppes #9,but there are many good ones)through first.Let it sit for a few minutes,then do the bronze brush deal-push it through a few times.Push a few patches through.If you still get dirt,try wrapping a patch around the brush,saturate it with solvent,stick it through a few times.

Repeat until a)you go out of your mind or b)you get a clean patch out the other end.
 
What's supposedly wrong with bronze bore brushes?
Click to expand...

They are harder than the steel of some guns, especially .22 rimfires and older revolvers. So they score the barrel. Personally I use undersized bronze brushes wrapped with patches soaked in Birchwood Casey (or Rem Clean for really fouled barrels) except in .22s. But an oversized nylon or works as well.

Bronze flat brushes are harder than the alloy in modern alloy framed autos so it is best to use a toothbrush as crevice brush.

There are also bronze or copper patches designed to remove heavy fouling. These are round patches with holes in the middle. They are best buried in the garden to keep away witches and other halloween ghouls.
 
Isn't it funny how everybody's different

After I brush out the bore with a clean brush, I use a wooden dowel of the appropriate size to give a tight fit to the patches I run through afterward.

Nylon picks up and holds grit worse than bronze. Keep nylon brushes and toothbrushes clean with brake cleaner. I'm intrigued by the statement that phosphor bronze is harder than gun steel and am interested in your source.

Clean your bronze brush with brake cleaner every 5 or 10 passes (5 for me). Keep it clean. WIPE OFF YOUR CLEANING ROD. It collects grit. Use a good bore solvent like shooter's choice. Give it time to work. Use copper or lead solvent when necessary. I also use Rocklobster's method of using a patch wrapped around a clean brush. Use bamboo skewers to clean corners.

regards.
 
Interesting

How can stell be softer than a bronze brush?

I don't have use for nylon brushes because they don't remove deposits from the bore. Never had any trouble with bronze brushes.

Lose the steel cleaning rod and get a plastic one or at the least a plastic coated rod. :)
 
Dewey makes an excellent coated rod with a handle that runs on bearing races. Worth the money.
 
I confess to not being a metallurgist, but if bronze is harder than steel, I sure have been misled. Barrels for .22 LR are generally softer than those for .22 Magnum or center-fire cartridges, but they aren't that soft. And no, a folded patch is not going to harm the barrel unless cloth is also somehow now harder than steel.

Nylon brushes just won't do the job, but a nylon rod is OK. Steel rods are OK but one needs to make sure that there are no sharp edges that can damage the muzzle or chamber.

Jim
 
Good advice on the Dewey cleaning rods. Those are all I use. Uncoated steel rods are dangerous in most peoples hands. I have no doubt Jim can handle them though.

Use a solvent or cleaner designed for your guns.

You aren't cleaning a car bumper here!:rolleyes:

I'm sure my dad, the metallurgist, is rolling in his grave now that bronze has become harder than steel. :barf:
 
Ledbetter, I had to do a double take after reading your post, thought I had posted it...I do the exact same thing.
 
BoreSnakes No, Otis System Yes

Boresnakes just run the embedded crud back through your barrel. Use the Otis system if you need to clean guns from the breech that can not be done with a regular cleaning rod.
 
I've been using aluminum rods

for most of my life. Would they have the same problem as brass, allowing the grit to become imbedded? If that's the case, would the plastic coating of the Dewey rod be even worse in that regard?:confused: I've always felt that alloy was safe against inadvertently dinging it against a muzzle crown, or in Mike's case, the chamber shoulder.
 
Great advice, thanks.

But can soemone tell me what a Jag is, it's a car where I come from.

If it's a device that keeps the rod straight when pushing through the bore I'm interested, because contact with the bore is what concerns me.

Thanks,

Mike H
 
Two, no three, things

Brownell's sells a graphite (not coated, ALL graphite) cleaning rod for long guns. Works good.

Mike H--the thing you wnat is a bore guide/rod guide/muzzle protector, etc. It is a piece of nylon shaped like a cone with a hole through it for the rod. It protects the muzzle from contact with the rod.

Snappy, you are obviously very intelligent.

Regards to all.

P.S. I sharpen wooden dowels in the pencil sharpener or whittle them to a flat shape for cleaning crevices (with a patch over them).
 
Mike H.

A jag is a (usually brass) attachement that screws onto the end of your cleaning rod. It used to pass a rag through the bore. By selecting the jag of proper size for your caliber, it helps insure a proper fit. I've attached a picture of a jag.
 

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Thing is, I caught the neck of the rod on the chamber rim the other day as I was forcing the patch "bullet" down the bore and took a little nick out of the seating rim where the case neck sits.
Click to expand...

Were you using an aluminum rod? Is it possible to nick a steel barrel with aluminum rod? I thought bore guides and Dewey rods are mostly to prevent damage to crown? You damage crown and accuracy is lost.

Shok
 
Cleaning a gun should be like sex: If you find it to be very difficult, you are not doing it right.

Be warned about bronze brushes: the rubbing breaks the bristles off which end up in your gun. Almost all new bore cleans attack copper (which is part of bronze) so you can't use bronze with most of the new cleaners.

Nylon brushes will work very well with the right cleaner (nobody believes chrome polish is the way to go...)
 
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