Careful what you use to clean your bore

I understand heat checking is the typical way nearly ALL stainless barrels eventually give it up. At some point a scale flakes off,and the barrel is done.
I understand it has to do with approx. 4500 deg f gas flash heating a microscopic depth of surface steel.As stainless is not as good of a conductor,a marked temperature differential between the very surface and the substrate at an ambient temperature will inevitably result in shear stresses at the surface.
I get that.
But down at the grain structure level,,the threads of sulphur being attacked by chemicals also has a micro-fissure effect on the steels surface.
There was something in the article about a PhD Chemist explaining how extremely corrosive chlorate salts being formed in these micro-fissures due to ammonia and chlorinated hydrocarbons mixing together.
I do not pretend to be a metallurgist or a chemist.
I have read a lot of articles by Mr Borden in Precision Shooting,The Accurate Rifle,and other serious shooting publications.

He does know a thing or two about rifles.

And Mr Sceumann knows a thing or two about handgun barrels.That Kunhausen guy seems to think highly of him.

Here are a few things I find interesting about the responses.There was a focus on the apparent shortcomings of a barrel maker's literary composition skills versus what he was trying to tell us. Mr Scheuman simply gathered a collection of comments from some of the knowledgable people in the field of rifle or pistol barrel accuracy.

IMO,how his work would be graded as a school paper is irrelevant.

The commentors who suggested my aquaintances rate of fire is the issue have never met my friend,never watched him shoot,and they have no idea of his rate of fire. You explain away new information by invalidating it with your own head fantasies.
Mr Frankenmauser: I did not indicate that my friend blamed anyone or anything.He made excuses for nothing.You don't know him. Could it be you are trying to fil in the blanks by projecting your own process?

All my friend did was ,with an open mind,humbly ask "What is going on?"
When I learned he was using Brake Clean,I passed on to him what I had read years ago.
Kind of stupid of me,but I thought I'd share here,thinking I might help someone not scrap a barrel. And I did clearly state"You do whatever you want"

Its rather like when I recently lost a lovely young 35 year old woman friend to a really stupid house fire,I put it out there that "Yes,oily rags really can start a fire"
Of course,I got unpleasant feedback for that,too.


Typically the competition this gentleman engages in amounts to very small targets at various ranges out to 1000 yds plus.Typically he is only allowed a max of two rounds per target.Then there is a move toa different stage. He does not shoot strings.These are sniper competition type folks,many of them SWAT team people.
He's also a very technically minded engineer,who is quite aware of the $6000 or $7000 he paid for the rifle.
To say it another way,you don't know what you are talking about.You make up things in your head to explain what you don't understand.

I know when I was making aircraft,submarine,etc parts,the chlorinated hydrocarbon tapping fluids (like Rapid Tap,old formula) were forbidden because they affected some steels.

Back to heat. I'd agree,don't get your barrel too hot to comfortably hold.. How hot is that? 150 deg,160? Might a barrel get pretty hot in the sun?
So,a 90 deg barrel ,in the summer,would heat up what? 60 deg before the "experts" say heat is going to damage the barrel?
I call BS. IMO,you could boil that barrel before you started a string and it makes no difference.

A uniformly warmed up barrel is not the problem.The problem is a layer of steel,maybe a half a thousandth deep,is heated by 4500 deg gas.I do not care a bit if the steel .005 deep is 100 deg or 200 deg. The problem is that the surface .0005 of steel is a LOT hotter than the steel at a depth of .002.Due to expansion,there is a thin zone of stress a couple of thousandths thick. Its there for a 100 deg barrel,and its there for a 200 deg barrel.

But I'm tired. I'm laughing,I remember a school I used to work at got evacuated and some folks went to the mergency room because...Guess what happened? Some MORON mixed CHLORINE BLEACH with AMMONIA in a bucket. Quite reactive.Makes gas that can kill you. Sure,go ahead,mix them in your rifle bore!

I really do not care a rats hiney hair about what you do with your barrel.

As a matter of fact,to the skeptics,please do,get that good red can brake fluid,some Sweets,and some...What was the other? M-pro 7? Throw in some Tetragun,Barnes Copper remover,Butches Bore Shine! Make a cocktail! If a little is good,a lot is better!And soak it over night.In YOUR barrel,not mine

Have fun with that.

Sometimes...I don't know why I waste my time on people.

'Bye
 
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As near as I can remember, CFCs have not been in brake cleaner for 10-15 years.

They were regulated out.

What is called break (and electrical) cleaner is not non CFC.
 
Back to heat. I'd agree,don't get your barrel too hot to comfortably hold.. How hot is that? 150 deg,160? Might a barrel get pretty hot in the sun?

Rule of thumb is if you can't hold it without burning your hand for 10 seconds its around 180.

Not super technical but you can get a pretty good gauge of a pipe temperature that way sans a thermometer in it.
 
[QUOTEAs near as I can remember, CFCs have not been in brake cleaner for 10-15 years. ][/QUOTE]ff
That is something I have been told several times here on this forom,usually after I suggest not putting Brake Clean in a bore.

I've read the label before.But I humbly accept that I am fallible.

So I went out in the shop,and brought in a recently purchased red can of CRC Brakleen

The label says :Warning: Contains tetrachlorethylene and carbon dioxide.

OK.I'm not a chemist.I agree its not TCE.

I assume the "ethylene" is about an alcohol.
But since chlorine is,IMO,more important to this discussion than hydrocarbon,may we agree that its a chlorinated solvent??

And may we agree there MAY be a problem with Ammonia and Chlorine in a riflebore?Once again,my chemistry knowledge is poor.

I'm asking.

I'll take your word for it on the 180 deg.

I've been told hot salts bluing temps don't hurt a barrel.
Those are over 300 deg.So is a cerrocoat cure

I'll say it another way. My older brother had a nice Royalex Mad River canoe up in Montana. It got cold in the winter. The gunwale co-efficient of expansion was different than the Royalex coefficient of expansion. There were screws through the hull and the gunwale. The hull developed about a 5 in crack at each screw.

IMO,it is not the cold that cracked the hull. It was the temperatire change and the difference in expansion between the materials. The hole pattern changed dimensionally. The stress cracked the hull.

If the thin skin of the bore ID is dimmensioally different,via sharp temperature differential,something has to break after a while.

A hot barrel is not the problem. A hotter bore is one problem. In time,it will cause the bore to fail.No argument. 2000 rounds of 6.5 x 47 IMO,indicates to me something accelerated it.The heat in btu's is in the size of powder charge. Its not a .264 Magnum.
Some chemicals compromise the surface integrity of the steel.

Even shooting serious,accuracy driven sighting or load evelopment strings,its not battle rattle mad minute stuff. This guy is not stupid.
His competition stage is typically a max of two rounds.

IMO,there is tunnel vision on the wrong cause.
 
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As pointed out earlier, it's hard to draw many good conclusions from the articles linked in the OP. After reading the articles several times, my simple takeaway would be...

Don't mix gun cleaning chemicals (or use them in tandem), and stay away from the use of chlorinated aerosols.

Using Sweet's might shorten barrel life compared to other gentler cleaners like Hoppe's 9.

That is very broad, but that's the best I've been able to conclude from it all.

Obviously, some gun care chemicals can be used in tandem, and some areosol products are fine as well. But the OP links don't offer much in the way of positive recommendations other than not cleaning the barrel and scraping the crud from the chamber with a brass rod occasionally.

Edit: changed "aerosols" to "chlorinated aerosols" above.
 
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Barrels are consumable items, either set it back or just install another barrel.

There's no sense in over thinking the problem, just replace it.
 
The craziest witches' brew I have used was Kroil + Shooter's Choice = "benchrest blend." It is pretty mild.

Type 416 SS is a fairly mild grade of stainless, chosen for easy machining, not extreme corrosion resistance. Type 416R is better but not as free machining. I think there used to be some 410 barrels and I have a pistol barrel made out of 17-4 PH which is tough stuff. So tough that the maker has gone over to 416.
 
BBarn,I agree with your post.

On the cleaning recommendation at Scheumann,remember he makes pistol barrels,not rifle barrels.

A 9 mm race gun bore may have different cleaning requirements than a rifle.
You have brass rod access to carbon deposits.
Whether I agree with the cleaning/not cleaning advice is irrelevant.

IMO,a good,clean straight one piece cleaning rod,a bore guide,a Montana nylon brush,and pick ONE of you favorite cleaning formula. I've been known to use Bore tech eliminator,or Patch out,and of course,Hoppes.

Hoppes Benchrest has a little ammonia in it. IMO,not a big deal.Its mild.

But I don't shoot carb cleaner in it.

FWIW,if I want to spay degrease gun parts,I have a little Binks type touch up spray gun and a can of lacquer thinner.
 
Jim,I have machined a LOT of 17-4.Mostly lathe. Crank up some speed (in the chart range) and with the tools I was using,about a .010 to .012 chip. Turns blue and comes off in little curls like popcorn.

I like the stuff. Its easy to get a clean,sharp looking part.I also really like that a couple hours at 900 deg f will get you over Rockwell 40 C.

Per the article on "Steels" 416 R ,the "R" is Rifle.And,per the article,sulphur is among the free machining additives.

Scheuman does agree,its NOT a particularly great steel. It is a steel you can get a very good tool finish in.

I buy Kart carbon steel 1911 barrels
 
IIRC, In SOTIC we used Shooters Choice bore solvent and Sweets copper solvent. Some wet patches with Shooter Choice, followed by Sweets as Directed, then wet patches of Shooters Choice again.

It is very important that you follow the directions on any copper solvent and it will work fine. The issue comes when people do not follow instructions or use some homegrown wisdom that is plain wrong. At the end of the allotted time to allow the copper solvent to work, a second run of shooters choice was used to neutralized the copper solvent.

It was only on the M24 SWS and they did not have SS barrels.
 
The way I had understood it --standard 416 has no upper limits to sulfur [???]
High sulfur will be rather brittle for firearms ! So Crucible put a limit making it safer though lower machinability.
There was a European rifle maker that had serious accidents but I never heard the reason though I thought it a sulfur problem !
 
I rarely ever take the copper out of my hunting rifles. I get the powder, and given a little bit of CU, out with Rem clean. Then a few patches of Kroil. A dry patch if going to shoot soon. A patch of Mobil1 0W-20 if long term storage.
 
Mete: Once again,the Scheumann article on barrel steel addresses this.

At least the 416 R he uses has an upper limit on sulphur.He acknowledges the sulphur stringers are oriented longitudally in a 416 R barrel. He says the steel is not all that strong .Its less strong in extreme cold.

He mentioned on 1911 barrels,it tends to shear off locking lugs and the underlug.

He said that's why when a 416 rifle barrel fails,it opens up like a flower instead of fragging like a grenade.

You may notice some barrel makers do not offer 416 R barrels in the lightest contours /larger bores,when they do offer carbon steel.

Barrel steel,fromObermeyer's web page

http://www.obermeyerbarrels.com/steel.html
 
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Being " out of the loop " is a frustrating situation for a metallurgist !
The links don't mention effects of Calcium on sulfur inclusion shapes unless I missed it. Ca would lower the brittle effect of typical stringers by making them more spherical .Has that been mentoned ?
 
I was a machinist,not a metallurgist or a chemist.
On the subject of barrels and barrel steels,I'd give credibility to a metallurgist.If you say Calcium might be the answer,maybe so.I don't know.

I also listen to barrelmakers. Its fair to say barrelmakers disagree on some things.
I have read "The Wisdom of Gayle McMillan "sticky several times.He knew barrelmaking. I won't argue with him.

As far as the shooter or amateur smith is concerned,Mr Kreiger and Mr Mcmillan agree on this: Its unlikely the customer can/will do to a McMillan,a Krieger,or other quality,hand lapped custom barrel anything that will improve on what the barrelmaker has done.
The longitudal "lay" of the hand lapped barrel does not particularly require break in.I agree.
But where they differ,Kreiger notes that the chamber reamer and its cut are not part of what the barrelmaker does,and there are inevitable burrs and toolmarks left by the chambering process.These carve copper dust off the bullet that is deposited in the bore.While the high spots are being smoothed off the chambering tool finish,its not good to shoot more bullets over this copper.I agree with Mr Kreiger.

But now what about Mr Tubbs,who is among the best in the world at getting results from these barrels? His "conditioning" firelapping? IMO,if I have problem,and nothing to lose,I'd try it.But not to a brand new Kreiger,Obermeyer,Bartlein,Lilja,etc barrel.Not even a Douglas.Maybe a "Midway" or "Brownells" generic.

And I absolutely believe anyone can disagree with me about any thing.I absolutely believe you can do anything you want with your barrel.

I believe it pays to be aware that some products and combinations can hurt a barrel.You may disagree.
And the folks who dismiss my friends barrel to his rate of fire don't know his rate of fire,.
 
Google "Calcium in steel " will give lots of info.
But the questions , as posts here have mentioned ,include other practical things like is it worth the time, energy and money to produce the alloy ?? :)
 
But where they differ,Kreiger notes that the chamber reamer and its cut are not part of what the barrelmaker does,and there are inevitable burrs and toolmarks left by the chambering process.

Probably why Harry Pope cut the chamber first, then rifled with a bushing in the chamber.
 
I will note that over the years I have cleaned barrels many different ways. The only way I have ever messed one up was by shooting it out. If a barrel has to be "broken in" it was a piece of junk in the first place.
 
The only way I have ever messed one up was by shooting it out. If a barrel has to be "broken in" it was a piece of junk in the first place"
Well,I'm thinking a debate on barrel break-in has been done several times.Its a lot like arguing politics and religion.Its substantial thread drift...and If we really want to get into it,
Its probably time to start a new thread. I'll pass.
You do it your way. I'll do it mine.

I'll even just shrug if you want to call a Krieger barrel a piece of junk.
IMO,they are among the best.

But,as I said,and as Mr Krieger said,with a quality hand lapped barrel,and Mr Krieger said with ANY quality hand lapped barrel,not just his,the bore,the product of the barrel maker's work,does not particularly require break in. Its good already.
But Mr Krieger explains it all very well here:

https://www.kriegerbarrels.com/faq#breakin

It has to do with the chambering process,that the barrelmaker often has nothing to do with.

Another FAQ that is not off topic is "Can I damage my barrel cleaning it"
 
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