rusting in my USP's barrel, pt 2: "A Strange Thing"

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hologon

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So I followed the advice of my extremely experienced and intelligent compatriots and took the brush to my bore again.

Egads! Zounds!

I never realised that I needed to KEEP brushing the bore until it gets clean!

Last night I did the bronze brush 30 times (30 in-and-out) and then ran some Remington Bore Cleaner on a patch (wet patch) twice --

-- and repeated this process 23 times, until I ran out of patches. (Being the newbie that I am, I only had the first set of patches that came with my Hoppes No.9 cleaning kit. Whereupon I let the barrel "cook off" by standing for about 15 minutes, and took my last patch and oiled the bore.)

And still the patches were coming out black black black -- as black as the first patch. I have put about a sum total of 300 rounds through it (granted, mostly consisting of the nasty dirty Winchester USA stuff...)

Does it EVER get not-black anymore? How many patches should I expect to use? (Yes, I cleaned her after ever session before, just apparently, not well enough.) Can I coat the entire barrel/bore with remington bore cleaner/hoppes no.9 and let it sit overnight? Would that help, or would it be too corrosive?

And how often do you replace your bronze bore brush? Mine was starting to shed after just this one session -- I think I lost about 1/3rd of the bristles onto the floor by the time I ran out of patches.

Also, how do you clean out the firing pin hole? It looks like there's a whole bunch of that red Winchester primer crud in there along the edge that I can't quite scrape off with a needle. Do I need to worry about all the crap that falls INTO the hole (and presumably into the dark la-la land that is inside my slide assembly?)

Thanks!

-Jon

P.S. No Glocks for me -- the 9mm ones jump out of my hand when firing (weird hand structure), the .45's are way to fat (weird SMALL hand structure), and they bite my web. Not to mention I like a slide release that I can activate without a empty clip, not just a slide lock...
 
You don't have to keep using patches until they are completely white coming out. When they get to be a very light gray, that usually does it. Do a good visual inspection by holding the barrel up towards a good light source and *see* if there are any carbon-looking streaks between the polygonal rifling.

I would not suggest soaking the barrel overnight. IMO, about 10 minutes will do as good as an hour. If that brass brush is shedding as you say, it's probably a P.O.S. Replace it and have several extras. For really nasty cleaning sessions you can also get a stainless steel bristled brush. I do not know if prolonged use of this would be detrimental or not (comments anyone?) but using it for the nasty stuff is just fine. I use the brass or copper brushes unless, as I said, it's really gummed up.

About the firing pin hole, you can liberally drip Hoppy's into the rear of the pin housing (where the hammer makes contact) or you can do it the easy way - use a spray automotive carburator cleaner ("Gumout" is a good brand). That little straw allows for good control and it WILL remove anything that is on there. You get the solvent benefits as well as the pressure of the spray to dislodge any "chunks" that may be in there. One word of caution - try not to get this cleaner on the painted "safe" and "fire" marks that are on the frame. It *may* take off the paint.

Get some more brushes, including a SS one, a huge bag of patches and get to it. I have about 1500 rounds through my USP and still have no residue in the barrel.

CMOS

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Join GOA, NRA, LEAA and vote.
 
I may be out of line here because I don't have a USP or a polygon barrel. I use Ed's Red for cleaning all my pistols. Wet the bore then run a bronze brush through 10 to 15 times. Hose the bore and brush with O-Riely's Brake Parts Cleaner. Wrap a patch around the brush and wet with Ed's. It seldom takes more than 4 patches. If I have been shooting cast, I preceed the above with a dose of the 50/50 vinegar and peroxide.

My version of Ed's Red
1 part by volume Dextron III ATF
2 parts by volume mineral spirits (paint thinner)
1 part by volume acetone (finger nail polish remover from Wal-Mart)

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"An unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

Cesare Beccaria, the father of modern criminology
 
Hologon: I clean until the patches are coming out gray instead of super black.

Something that helps is spray some oil inside the bore and let it sit for a while before wiping it dry and start bronze brushing. This is like filling a rice pot with water after dinner. If you let it get dry and hard, it will be MUCH tougher to clean out. Don't forget to wipe out the oil before starting with the bore cleaner.

I plan on a bronze brush lasting 2 cleaning sessions at the MOST.

I have heard don't use stainless steel brushes unless you don't care about the inside of your barrel. It may be not as critical with pistol barrels but I've never had the guts to try one, anyway.

As for the firing pin tunnel, assuming you can't learn anywhere how to disassemble it and swab it out with cotton swabs:
-If there is an exit point, flush it out with gun scrubber or maybe carburetor cleaner (don't use carb cleaner if your gun has a painted finish)

Fortunately, most firing pin systems can go a long time before crud becomes a problem.

Final note: If you get a jag tip for your cleaning rod, they tend to get a much more snug fit of the patches to the bore than just slotted tips. My favorite are Pro-Shot spear tip jags.

If you can't get a jag tip, an old worn out brush with a patch over it works pretty well, too.

Edmund
 
I swear to God, I'm able to clean pistol
bore to the degree when patches come out
clean...not grey, but white. I just clean it
every time after I shoot my pistol. It takes
between 6 to 8 patches soaked in Hoppes #9.

I do not use brush at all...guess, I was
born being such "lucky cleaner"...

This is the usual procedure for my CZ-75.
For my Mak, I do use extra 4 patches soaked
in Windex before Hoppes #9, to remove effects
of shooting corrosive military ammo...

I do not oil pistol bores, because Hoppes #9 does protect metal from oxidation, at least short term and does not collect dirt as bad
as oil.
 
Another good method is dropping the pistol into a bucket of solvent. Remove wood grips and dunk the sucker. Leave it for a few hours. Then shake her, wipe her down and swab out the barrel and reinstall the grips. Done.



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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
 
Oris:

That's what I thought too...

All my wet patches came out white after maybe 5 patches.

Then I found out if I did the bronze brush another 20 times, the wet patches came out carbon black again.

Oops. Sigh. Back to work.

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CMOS:
Oddly enough, I've never seen any "streaking" inside my barrel -- it's always been "shiny mirrored", even after a few wet patches and no bronze brush. Odd, what?

I plan to stay away from the SS brushes -- I dont think I put enough rounds through to warrant scraping up the inside. A bottle of carb cleaner and a huge ass bag of patches, I will buy ASAP, though. And some elbow grease. *sigh* ;)

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Edmund Rowe:
Good idea about presoaking... I'll try that as soon as I can buy more patches. ;)

You're serious that a bronze brush lasts only TWO sessions? Oh, dear. Oh, oh, dear. This hobby of mine is getting downright spendy. :(

I've been using...I forget what brand, but those copper jags with the sharp tip and the "ridges/barbs" that fit awfully tight into the bore. Very nice stuff - a LOT better than the crappy loop-only plastic things that come with the Hoppes cleaning kit.

It looks like the slide/extractor/firing pin is connected together with two pins that require a "drift punch" (huh!? or something like that) to take out. Doesn't look like something I want to play with. I think I'll go get a bottle of gun scrubber.

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Mr. Hill:
What kind of effect does the solvent dunk have on the grease/lubrication of the trigger system? It looks like there's a liberal gob of grease on the assembly that the hammer itself rides on...?

How about just soaking the barrel itself in Hoppes? will that work or will it take off the finish? (not like there's too much left on the locking block ANYHOW...)

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All:

How well do those bore snakes clean? It sounds like one of thsoe "too good to be true" doohickeys -- spend $20 and save 2 hours...Although if they do a great job and get the bore as clean as by hand, I might as well.

Is the "HE" finish considered "painted"? I suppose not, right? Hello, carb cleaner! Woohoo! :D

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Thanks everyone!

-Jon
 
Again, I think you are creating a problem here that may not exist. Keep it oiled and shoot it. If accuracy or reliablilty starts falling, then worry about it.

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
You may be putting the gunk back in with a dirty bore brush. I'd hose the brush down with cleaner before I ran it back through.
 
Hahaha. Remington Bore Cleaner always turns black, when used. That's just the way it works. Be sure to use solvent of some kind after the Remington Bore Cleaner, as it's an abrasive, and you don't want to fire a round with ANY of it in your barrel.
 
Well, now for a dissenting opinion. Most of you will agree, I think, that the rate of attack on phosphor bronze is about the same as the rate of attack on gilding metal. Well, if you wash your bronze brush with soap and water, and rinse with hot water, within an hour of using it with solvent, doesn't that keep your brushes nice and shiny?

One hour may be as good at removing gilding metal fouling as is 10 minutes, but 24 hours is better. Copper, after all, is not an extemely rapidly reactive metal. I discovered this when I used bronze brushes and solvent and then patches, got my bore squeeky clean, and then put just solvent in the bore of the gun and put it away. Doggone it, when I looked down that bore a few days later, it looked fouled! Cleaning again made it squeeky clean looking, but the fouling was not completely removed. I now routinely leave solvent in the bore until doing so doesn't loosen up any more fouling. Then I coat with a rust preventative.

BTW; I use only nylon brushes now. They work just fine. For persistant difficult fouling, especially lead fouling, I have found that the Kleen-Bore Lead Away cloth, cut into patches, and tightly fitted over two cloth patches soaked with solvent, will scrub the bore clean. I still let it soak overnight with solvent in it and check it again the next day. Chemical reactions take time; don't be in a hurry.

Don't despair if you find a pistol with lead fouling in it which has been there for some time. I purchased a Gold Cup made in 1957. It had moderate lead fouling, and since only about 100 rounds had been fired through it, I knew the fouling had been in there a long time. The Lead Away cloth, and a few days' time left the bore sparkling clean with absolutely NO pitting.

Hope this helps, Walt
 
I have had good luck with M-Pro 7. It was developed to clean the barrel of the gun on the F-16 fighter. I buy the gel, which you can heat in the microwave, and then coat the barrel. Let sit for 10 minutes and brush 10 times. I then run patches with Hoppes to get the M-Pro out (about 4 patches), and then oil with REM-Oil. I have had good luck with this system.
 
Walt Welch,

Just for the sake of nit-pickery, you need to know that copper is a highly, highly active metal. This explains it's rampant use in DC drive electrical products and wiring. If you take copper dust and throw it on a threadlocker or retaining compound. it will cause it to cure very rapidly. Aluminum is not hightly active but copper certainly is.

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."


[This message has been edited by Will Beararms (edited November 11, 1999).]
 
Hologon:

Stay away from Carb Cleaners! They usually contain toluene and toluene is highly detrimental to polymer-------be it a polymer finish or a polymer frame. This is my business. I know from bad experiences!

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
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