Share your process for cleaning your Rifles

B

BJE80

New member
It sounds simple and universal. But ask 10 people and you very well may get 10 different responses. Please share your process for cleaning your rifles.

Bore snake? Brass Brush? Bore Guide? Jags? How often do you clean for carbon? How often to you clean to remove copper fouling?

Discuss and share the steps you take when cleaning. What are your do's and don't?

I'm interested in hearing some different opinions and hopefully learning a thing or two.
 
I've found that using Wipe-Out, a foaming bore cleaner, is the easiest way to clean carbon and copper fouling. Set my gun in a rest to hold the barrel horizontally, spray Wipe-Out in the bore, leave it overnight as Wipe-Out does not contain ammonia and does not harm the barrel. The next day, using a jag with a tight patch, patch out the barrel. Three dry patches and I'm finished. On an extremely fouled bore it may need another cycle, but that's as simple as it can be, the bore is clean without the obnoxious odor of many cleaners.
 
Swab with solvent and let set for 15 minutes, brush 2 or 3 times, jag with dry patches until patch comes out clean. I'll repeat the process if copper fouling is present in the final few dry patches.
 
Wipe-Out. Jag/patch only.

The only consensus, that everyone should agree on, is to use a bore guide- and a quality, one-piece ball-bearing rod.

Throw away those two or three piece Hoppes cheap aluminum rods. They will flex and scratch the inside of the bore.

A good bore guide will keep the rod centered and prevent it from sliding along the rifling- in addition to protecting the chamber area.

If you choose to use nylon or bronze brushes, they say not to run them back through the bore, as reversing them will scratch the crown. Now, I don't use brushes- just jags/patches and Wipe-Out as mentioned above. But, I never have figured out how a brush could be "safe" to run down the bore, but could scratch the crown...

The rest, is subjective and dependent on YOUR barrel.

The most common school of thought these days is to remove powder fouling, but leave copper until accuracy degrades. There's a lot of guys that don't even remove powder/carbon until accuracy degrades. You've got to find out what works for your barrel.

Try a search, this topic goes to four or five pages every couple of months.
 
Wipe-Out. Jag/patch only.

The only consensus, that everyone should agree on, is to use a bore guide- and a quality, one-piece ball-bearing rod.

Throw away those two or three piece Hoppes cheap aluminum rods. They will flex and scratch the inside of the bore.

A good bore guide will keep the rod centered and prevent it from sliding along the rifling- in addition to protecting the chamber area.

If you choose to use nylon or bronze brushes, they say not to run them back through the bore, as reversing them will scratch the crown. Now, I don't use brushes- just jags/patches and Wipe-Out as mentioned above. But, I never have figured out how a brush could be "safe" to run down the bore, but could scratch the crown...
Click to expand...

I use a dewey coating clearning rod which I've always thouht were very good. Ball Bearing? :confused:

So you don't run a brush at all? Are you able to get all copper fouling out with just jags and patches? Have you not cleaned your rifle for a week or two after shooting and are still able to get all of the carbon out?
 
1. Wet a patch with solvent
2. Push wet patch through barrel
3. Let it sit for 10-30 minutes while I clean the rest of the rifle / parts. (Follow manufacturer's recommendations on how long it can stay in barrel, some solvents can attack barrel steel so be careful!)
4. Scrub bore brush with bronze brush
5. Wipe bore with clean patches
6. Use another solvent coated patch if needed.
7. More dry patches until clean.

The rest of the rifle gets a wipe down or light scrub with a tooth brush, then a light coat of oil.
 
Heat the barrel up with a torch to melt the copper, then dunk it in a bucket of water to cool it down, then clean like normal.:)
 
Striker 1 cleans like I do. Brushes will not hurt your bore or your crown if they are high quality and your rod is turning as it should.
 
I wipe down the exterior and clean any gunk from the action after every use. I don't touch the barrel until 200 or so rounds, if it gets rained on, after deer season or if accuracy starts to degrade. When I do clean the barrel I use a patch soaked in a good solvent and let it set 15-20 minutes to soak. Since I'm usually cleaning multiple rifles this gives me time to do several. I then run dry patches until they come out clean. I repeat as many times as necessary, but usually 1 time through does it, rarely more than 2.

As soon as possible I get back to the range and foul the barrel with at least 10-12 shots.
 
I wipe down the exterior and clean any gunk from the action after every use. I don't touch the barrel until 200 or so rounds, if it gets rained on, after deer season or if accuracy starts to degrade. When I do clean the barrel I use a patch soaked in a good solvent and let it set 15-20 minutes to soak. Since I'm usually cleaning multiple rifles this gives me time to do several. I then run dry patches until they come out clean. I repeat as many times as necessary, but usually 1 time through does it, rarely more than 2.

As soon as possible I get back to the range and foul the barrel with at least 10-12 shots.
Click to expand...

Interesting.
 
Wow! So many different approaches. If I'm after maximum accuracy, I clean the bore after about 15 rounds. Yes, many folks, including me are thinking that you need some amount of copper in the bore. How much copper is the tough question, and I think it varies with the rifle barrel. This is something you need to determine with your specific rifle.

I spent the last two days shooting my 220 Swift and I laid down a lot of copper. From the patches, cleaning with Boretech Eliminator, I think I could have made a copper bracelet. Hoping to start from zero copper, I cleaned the rifle and shot a fouler or two and then some groups, and the old rifle shot great. I have a rifle or two that want more copper in the bore than that.

As for cleaning, I'm a Boretech Eliminator fan. That stuff will clean out the copper. First I do a light cleaning of the bore with Butch's Bore Shine to get the carbon fouling and some of the copper. On some rifles, that's where I stop. On other rifles, I'll work em over with the Boretech to get most of the copper. As for the Butch's Bore Shine and how good that is, I think I slightly prefer Shooter's Choice, but I have a big bottle of Butch's to use up.
 
I clean the powder out of the bore with non Chlorinated brake cleaner. I then get the copper with Montana extreme. No need wasting high dollar Copper killer on powder.
 
JMR 40, I need to start buying my barrels from whoever is making yours. I dont have a premium hand lapped barrel that can go 200 without being Copper fouled beyond function.
 
Swab with solvent and let set for 15 minutes, brush 2 or 3 times, jag with dry patches until patch comes out clean. I'll repeat the process if copper fouling is present in the final few dry patches.
Click to expand...
the same way but I use a bore snake first
 
Oh Lord, the dreaded cleaning thread

I like to wipe out the receivers bolts etc using Mpro7 in the squirt bottle. I run two wet patches with Mpro7 down the bore, and follow with a bore brush with Mpro7 bore gel on it. Stroke 3 or 4 time, add more bore gel to the brush. Stroke some more. Let sit for 10 minutes. Run dry patches on jag until clean.

Use grease or CLP for lube, reassemble. Wipe down with chamois saturated in CLP.

Use lens pen on optic lenses. Recap.

Place in safe.
 
Depends on the condition of the barrel for me ... 99% of my rifles are Military so some need a different method than others depending. The basic pattern ...

# - Short Scrub is a multi use cleaner I use ... you can leave in the bore indefinitely and it will keep on working without damage or etching.

1 - Wet patch or bore mop ( I use either )
2 - Push patch/mop through
3 - Stand rifles upright on paper so solvent runs away from chamber and leave overnight ...
4 - Day 2 ... patch out until clean.
5 - If still dirty, hit with bronze brush, 10 passes
6 - Leave over night ... repeat until clean.
7 - When done, run oil on patch through bore and put to bed.

No mystery ... just patience and time/effort.

Tiki.
 
I use a dewey coating clearning rod which I've always thouht were very good. Ball Bearing?

So you don't run a brush at all? Are you able to get all copper fouling out with just jags and patches? Have you not cleaned your rifle for a week or two after shooting and are still able to get all of the carbon out?
Click to expand...

I use a Dewey (nylon coated) rod as well- the ball bearing is in the handle which allows the rod to spin without resistance conforming to the twist of the rifling :D

No brushes for me. But, that's just personal preference, out of an abundance of caution. Here's an article polling top shooters and manufacturers, and there's a reference to Wipe-Out as well at the beginning.

http://www.6mmbr.com/borebrushing.html

We generally shoot once a month (sometimes more if we can, but it's a two-hour drive each way to the 1000 yard range), and depending on my round count, one of the rifles may get cleaned after, others not. Leaving carbon/powder fouling in the rifle (we're not talking corrosive primers here) has no adverse affects- especially when they're stored in conditioned (cool, dry) spaces. Might go two months between cleanings, might get cleaned when I get home- depends on the rifle, and how it was shooting. If I put fifty rounds down the tube and it was really in the groove when I packed it up, I usually don't mess with it.

OTOH, if accuracy was beginning to drop off- it gets a going through.

"Stubborn" carbon fouling is another issue. I had never seen "carbon ring" before until last year. My son's AR-15 is chambered in 6.5 Grendel for long-range target. He had been "cleaning" it- but had neglected to do visual inspections of the bore after. Accuracy had gone in the crapper, gradually then increasingly worse over two range trips.

I pulled the BCG and looked down the bore. There was this thick black ring, just ahead of the chamber. You could actually feel the restriction running a patch/jag down the bore. I can only contribute it to the powder (8208) as I've never had an issue like that with any other powder (and his loads aren't particularly hot).

It took an entire night of Carb-Out and JB Bore paste to get it cleaned up. Moral of the story- however /whenever you choose to clean, do a visual inspection of the bore if possible after.
 
I use G-96 to get the carbon out,( usually three wet patches) then I put three wet patches of Bore tech Eliminator through, then dry patches until clean, if it's clean I use one more wet patch with G-96, followed by a dry patch. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top