Average Joe
New member
The answer to your question is. YES
I can clean my 9mm with my .38 bore brush right?
- Thread starter Delaware_Dan
- Start date
NO! Don't do it! The difference between .357 and .355 is far too great to risk it.
O.K., so I couldn't resist having a little fun.
If I need extra scrubbing, I'll run a .40 brush thru a .38 and a .45 brush through a .40.
Best brush for cleaning .45's is a .50 cal. IMO. I'm not a fan of steel brushes.
O.K., so I couldn't resist having a little fun.
If I need extra scrubbing, I'll run a .40 brush thru a .38 and a .45 brush through a .40.
Best brush for cleaning .45's is a .50 cal. IMO. I'm not a fan of steel brushes.
I apologize for bumping this, as the part of this thread you've responded to is old.
I bumped it because I was reading this thread and a couple of guys in here said you should always scrub from the chamber towards the muzzle. What difference does that make? What happens if you don't do this?
I think the cleaning rod I use is brass, so I should be okay regardless right?
Also, is it true that a brass/bronze brush can scratch a barrel if it's dry (you don't dip it in the solvent)? One when I first bought my handgun I started to put the brush in there dry without thinking, and took it out, but I've been worried that I scratched it ever since.
scottaschultz
New member
The main thing you really have to be concerned with when using the brass brush is to push it all the way through the barrel before pulling it back. In other words, don't reverse the direction while it is in the barrel. Actually this has more to do with the health and longevity of the brush rather than the barrel.
Happy Plinking!
Scott
Happy Plinking!
Scott
It's because, if you aren't careful, the cleaning rod can damage the crown. That portion of the rifling at the end of the muzzle. Clean from the breech end.
For rifles, like some semi-autos (M1 Carbine, Mini 14, etc.) you have to clean from the muzzle. There's a device you can use that keeps the cleaning rod straight and prevents the rod from damaging the crown.
orionengnr
New member
This is a carryover from rifle owners. They cannot remove the barrel from the action, so they don't want to shove the crap from the chamber into the action.
For a pistol, where you can remove the barrel, there is no practical concern. Shove the detritus either way, as long as you shove it out.
As far as scratching a steel barrel with a bronze brush, I'm calling BS. If you can read, you can understand that bronze is softer than steel.
Now the core of the brush may be steel as well; in which case it is possible that you can damage the steel barrel. Although a $1.50 bore brush is likely to be cheap crap steel, and not harder than your quality steel barrel.
scorpion_tyr
New member
Yes.
In general you want to clean from the rear of the barrel if you can.
As someone else said, it's better to push gunk out of the front of the barrel than back into the chamber or action. That's one reason.
Another is that cleaning can wear the barrel. Some of your brushes, especially the steel ones you might use for serious lead removal, can scratch it. Supposedly a bronze or nylon cleaning brush wouldn't, and a brass or aluminum cleaning rod wouldn't, but let it pick up some grit and it might.
Because the barrel crown and rifling there are so critical to accuracy, if you must have some rifling wear from cleaning it is better to have it at the rear of the barrel than at the front.
Of course I've never figured out how to clean a revolver from the back end of the barrel-- none of my cleaning rods are flexy enough. I've used bore snakes that way but it hardly counts. You can clean from the muzzle end without damaging anything, methinks-- in my crackpot opinion, it shouldn't cause problems, especially if you try to keep the cleaning rod centered, don't let it rub on the lands and grooves at the muzzle as you clean.
As someone else said, it's better to push gunk out of the front of the barrel than back into the chamber or action. That's one reason.
Another is that cleaning can wear the barrel. Some of your brushes, especially the steel ones you might use for serious lead removal, can scratch it. Supposedly a bronze or nylon cleaning brush wouldn't, and a brass or aluminum cleaning rod wouldn't, but let it pick up some grit and it might.
Because the barrel crown and rifling there are so critical to accuracy, if you must have some rifling wear from cleaning it is better to have it at the rear of the barrel than at the front.
Of course I've never figured out how to clean a revolver from the back end of the barrel-- none of my cleaning rods are flexy enough. I've used bore snakes that way but it hardly counts. You can clean from the muzzle end without damaging anything, methinks-- in my crackpot opinion, it shouldn't cause problems, especially if you try to keep the cleaning rod centered, don't let it rub on the lands and grooves at the muzzle as you clean.
I've been cleaning my revolvers vigorously with bronze bore brushes for years without any visible damage. Obviously, I can't clean the barrel with a bore brush starting from the breech end. I start from the front and work the brush towards the rear. My preference is for a brush with a marginally larger diameter than the barrel. These things work on friction, obviously, and if the brush goes through too easily it defeats the whole purpose of brushing. My technique has been to enlarge the diameter of a brush slightly by wrapping a little bronze wool around it. But, I like the idea -- suggested by some -- of using a .40 caliber brush in my 38/357 revolvers. I've heard also that some people use a .223 rifle brush on .22 caliber handguns and I've been meaning to try that. That would be especially helpful for cleaning cylinders inasmuch as they have a slightly larger diameter on most guns than the barrel (that's what the forcing cone is for).