Thread: Barrels ruined by cleaning

Originally Posted by gundoc

Over cleaning or wrong cleaning technique has led to the early demise of many barrel. Cleaning from the muzzle with aluminium or plastic coated rods can cause muzzle wear due to fine abrasive dust trapped on the surface of the rod. Bronze brushes should always be pushed completely through the bore before pulling them back, on the few occasions that you need them. The correct cleaning technique is to push a wool mop that has a liberal amount of good quality bore solvent on it, right through the barrel from the breech end. Blued rifles need to have the surplus solvent wiped off the outside of the firearm with a dry cloth, then leave the gun for about 30 minutes or so before wiping out with a dry patch, followed by a lightly oiled patch. Job done! Push a dry patch through the bore before firing.

@gundoc are there any particular solvents for cleaning carbon and/or copper that you've found to be better than others?

Originally Posted by Seventenths

@gundoc are there any particular solvents for cleaning carbon and/or copper that you've found to be better than others?

I have always been a fan of Hoppes #9 (especially the original formulation), but Sweets is OK, and there will be others that are suitable. It is important to use a product that contains a metal fouling solvent (eg; ammonia or similar).

Old School cleaning solution.

Mix equal Parts
Heavy mineral oil
Distilled turpentine (vegetable turpentine)
Acetone

Keep mixture sealed so acetone does not evaporate

Originally Posted by gundoc

I have always been a fan of Hoppes #9 (especially the original formulation), but Sweets is OK, and there will be others that are suitable. It is important to use a product that contains a metal fouling solvent (eg; ammonia or similar).

You've got to be careful with Sweets as it contains a lot of ammonia. Some years back I saw a fairly new stainless Shilen select match barrel that was completely rooted because the owner left Sweet's in it and forgot about it until the next day. It was darkish grey to look at and even after extensive cleaning and using JB paste it wasn't able to be saved. Expensive mistake.