What are your thoughts on steel wool?

C

cdoc42

New member
On page 29 of "Gunsmithing Fundamentals, A Guide for Professional Results" by Franklin Fry, he offered the following lead removal mechanism for revolvers (and later in the book, for .22 rifles):

He mentions the brass screen drawn through the bore, but opines a much less expensive and quicker method is a caliber specific, worn-out cleaning brush, wrapped in 0000 (4-0) steel wool, saturated with any appropriate cleaning solvent, stroked back and forth 4-5 times or until all evidence of the lead is removed. He doesn't feel the steel wool rounds off the rifling nor does it damage the bore.

Any thoughts?
 
Use copper only "Chore Boy" from the grocery/hardware store. Take a small magnet with you to check against imposters.

Remove a few threads and wrap around a brush.
 
I think steel wool is the perfect tool for many jobs but there are much better tools for bore cleaning and lead removal. See above as well as time and chemicals.

On the other hand, I like knowing arcane skills, tips and hacks from days gone by.

My dad gave me a classic reloading book by Phillip Sharpe published from 1937 to 1953. I have the ‘53 version. I learned about how fellas reloaded before buying a Dillon progressive press was simply a matter of getting online, waiting, then making excuses to the wife about the price being worth it. (It’s worth it.)

If we ever can’t get lead shot, I learned how people made it in the depression! Pound lead flat with a hammer, cut in to cubes with a knife, and it’ll work but sound funny in the air.

If you ever can’t get Chore Boy and an emergency requires a clean bore... a few passes done carefully with steel wool won’t make your barrel fall off.
 
cdoc42 said:
On page 29 of "Gunsmithing Fundamentals, A Guide for Professional Results" by Franklin Fry, he offered the following lead removal mechanism for revolvers (and later in the book, for .22 rifles):

He mentions the brass screen drawn through the bore, but opines a much less expensive and quicker method is a caliber specific, worn-out cleaning brush, wrapped in 0000 (4-0) steel wool, saturated with any appropriate cleaning solvent, stroked back and forth 4-5 times or until all evidence of the lead is removed. He doesn't feel the steel wool rounds off the rifling nor does it damage the bore.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Steel wool is low-carbon steel it will be slightly softer than typical barrel steel. Some may contend that being softer, it cannot wear steel that is slightly harder (barrel steel). However, I will point out that a softer substance can wear away a much harder one. Consider that diamonds (often said the hardest substance known to man) must be cut/polished with other diamonds because they are so hard. Nevertheless, as any machinist will tell you, the diamond used to dress an Aluminum Oxide grinding wheel will wear smooth despite being harder than the wheel.

Therefore, I will not use steel wool in any of my gun barrels. I could be wrong (and frequently am), but will not risk it inasmuch as Copper Choirboys are readily available.
 
It's not so much a matter of softer vs harder, its the amount of contact (and pressure) over time that creates the wear.

Water wears away rock. SLOWLY over a LONG period of time.

A few passes with steel wool won't harm your rifling. CONSTANTLY doing so, over time, will.

If you can get copper, brass, or bronze, use it, by all means. If all there is, is steel use it, sparingly.
 
Water wears away rock. SLOWLY over a LONG period of time.
Click to expand...
Although I am posting a non-gun response, I respectfully don't agree that water can wear away rock. It is more likely the hard partials (sediment) carried in running water (the Grand Canyon for example) that wears away rock. Nevertheless, if you can show me some data or evidence than pure water can wear away rock, I will humbly digress. Someone is going to have to prove it to me. And, I will not be using any steel wool in any of my guns anytime soon.
 
I won’t put steel wool in rifle or pistol barrel. Brass wool is more expensive, so what how much of it are you going to be using? I have used steel wool in rusty shotgun barrels. Along with solvent and not 4/0, it’s to fine.
 
Water is called "the universal solvent."

0000 steel wool won't hurt your barrel, used occasionally. It will strip lead out quickly, and will remove copper and rust.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the tips. I'll check out "Chore Boy" at the hardware store as soon as this massive snow storm going on right now blows out.

Let me clarify the post. In the book to which I referred the recommendation did not include rifles other than .22 caliber;it was principally directed to revolvers.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Water is called "the universal solvent."

0000 steel wool won't hurt your barrel, used occasionally. It will strip lead out quickly, and will remove copper and rust.
Click to expand...
Will water dissolve rock?

Do you have a link to where there were tests done on the effect of using steel wool in a gun barrel? I did a search and could not find any such tests.

There did seem to be some concern about using steel wool in stainless steel guns though.
 
No links. My personal experience working with metals for 50 years.

Water will wear rock.


The only concern about using steel wool on stainless guns is that you have to be careful to get it all off of the gun. Steel wool will not embed in stainless.
 
Since the emphasis of the use of steel wool or even Chore Boy is to use it to remove lead from cast bullets or simply lubed .22 cal bullets, any attempt to "completely" clean the weapon may be inhibited by the discovery of typical blue/green color when using Chore Boy, which may provide traces of copper as a contaminant.

Of course, in that case, just clean until no trace is left. Bt if you inadvertently use Chore Boy to clean a rifle from which you have fired copper-jacketed bullets, might you find persistent traces of color on your patches leaving you believe you have yet not perfectly removed the copper?
 
Shaft packing

Anyone who has wrenched on inboard boat engines, or large irrigation pumps has seen what soft graphite impregnated shaft packing will do to a stainless steel shaft given enough time, and an overzealous owner who over tightens the shaft packing.
That packing is very soft, the shaft is very hard. I have seen 3/4 inch steel cut completely in two that way. Very common to see deep grooves in propeller shafts.
 
both work just fine

He mentions the brass screen drawn through the bore, but opines a much less expensive and quicker method is a caliber specific, worn-out cleaning brush, wrapped in 0000 (4-0) steel wool, saturated with any appropriate cleaning solvent, stroked back and forth 4-5 times or until all evidence of the lead is removed. He doesn't feel the steel wool rounds off the rifling nor does it damage the bore.
Click to expand...
I use this method when I have a real problem and stick with 0000, over that worn brush. However, I to not go back and forth; mostly from breech to bore. If you want a reference on any damage to bluing, there is a video where Larry Potterfield states that 0000 will not remove a "good" factory bluing. The only minuses to using ChoreBoy, is the expense and hard to work with as it starts falling apart into little flakes. ..... :)

A safety note for us "Vintage" folks is the skin on your hands and fingers, is getting thin with each passing day and sometimes you can get a tiny sliver in you finger that is hard to locate and remove. That is why I were a "light" pair of work gloves, from Harbor Freight ..... :)
 
"Make sure the Chore Boy is PURE copper, and not copper plated steel, because they make both kinds."

How can you tell from reading the package, aside from taking a magnet as suggested above?
 
"I use this method when I have a real problem and stick with 0000, over that worn brush. However, I to not go back and forth; mostly from breech to bore. If you want a reference on any damage to bluing, ...."

Pahoo, the author of the book I referenced spoke to stopping the process just at the muzzle (if I understood it right), then reversing direction. The reasoning was that would reverse the bristles and grab more lead on the way back out at the breech, and vice-versa. However, he did not mention anything about dropping all that stuff into the magazine well - preventable by using a bore guide. Since the bluing is on the outside of the barrel, why would it get damaged?
 
cdoc42 said:
"Make sure the Chore Boy is PURE copper, and not copper plated steel, because they make both kinds."

How can you tell from reading the package, aside from taking a magnet as suggested above?
Click to expand...
A pure Chore Boy says pure copper on the package.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top