Thread: Barrels ruined by cleaning

Has anyone here actually seen this ?

What did you see through the borescope ?

it was common in day when pull throughs were the norm and folks would drag it out on angle..apparently.
Ive always been cautious so dont know anymore than that.

Load of rubbish people claim a brass brush will damage a steel barrel. Yeah right. Use a bore guide to protect chamber from the rod. People claim drawing the brush back down the bore on the back stroke will damage the crown another old wife tale. I've looked down my so called over cleaned barrel with a borescope no damage. If you don't want to wear your barrel out cleaning it fine corrosion will do the job for you. And yes stainless barrels do corrode.

Have you ever tried to push a projectile (that is the correct size) down a barrel? And then follow it with a bit of carbon etc. Good luck. Every shot fired through a barrel does a lot more damage than any amount of cleaning ever will...in my opinion anyway

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I’m sure it’s possible with poor quality cleaning rods, aggressive solvents and poor processes, but I also think too many shooters baby their barrels. A brass or synthetic brush is much softer than barrel steel and only likely to cause damage in the hands of someone with no understanding. Personally I use bore guides and remove my brush if it passes the crown. Other than that I clean regularly and leave a light coating of CRC Long Life in the bore.

It probably more the case that insufficient cleaning causes more problems. There are often threads on here regarding carbon rings and barrels suddenly coming good after a real rod out to get carbon out of the grooves and copper off the lands.

I’m also a believer in a light polish of the throat with Autosol every couple of hundred rounds.

This is an emotive subject, and, like religion or1080, not worth arguing about. Find what works for your needs in your rifles and get out to shoot.

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.

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?

CLR will remove Carbon extremely effectively, for copper I just use Boretech or whatever it's called

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 Mauser308

Ay?

This is a really good topic to start a serious slanging match - but in no order the things that will stuff a firearm right pronto are:

Jamming a too-large patch down the tube and forcing it with a crap rod (ali, plastic coated, or multi-section steel that are covered in abrasive crap)
Rod not aligned and running down one side of the chamber - uneven wear
Pull through or snake not aligned - uneven wear at chamber or muzzle
Leaving half a patch or brush etc in the bore and shooting it out
Leaving a heap of oil in the bore and shooting it out - hydraulic bulge ring
Leaving aggressive chemicals in the bore and forgetting to patch out - corrosion nightmare
Shooting corrosive primed ammo, and either not cleaning properly or not cleaning
Turning a brush around while it is in the bore, and leaving the bristles behind snapped off in the grooves (pit damage in the bore)
Shoving a scotchbrite into the muzzle to get the visible copper out (yup)
Allowing solvents to drain into the action and destroying the bedding
Getting solvents into the scope - they love that
Pulling rods back through carelessly and donging the tip into the muzzle and needing a recrown
Not patching out the chamber after cleaning the bore, leaving chemicals in the chamber and creating a rusted mess behind the beautifully cleaned bore
Cleaning the barrel out mean, then screwing the dirty and damp suppressor back on for storage and rusting out the muzzle

I've seen all those - there are probably others!

How? lol

Originally Posted by Mauser308

Ay?

This is a really good topic to start a serious slanging match - but in no order the things that will stuff a firearm right pronto are:

Jamming a too-large patch down the tube and forcing it with a crap rod (ali, plastic coated, or multi-section steel that are covered in abrasive crap)
Rod not aligned and running down one side of the chamber - uneven wear
Pull through or snake not aligned - uneven wear at chamber or muzzle
Leaving half a patch or brush etc in the bore and shooting it out
Leaving a heap of oil in the bore and shooting it out - hydraulic bulge ring
Leaving aggressive chemicals in the bore and forgetting to patch out - corrosion nightmare
Shooting corrosive primed ammo, and either not cleaning properly or not cleaning
Turning a brush around while it is in the bore, and leaving the bristles behind snapped off in the grooves (pit damage in the bore)
Shoving a scotchbrite into the muzzle to get the visible copper out (yup)
Allowing solvents to drain into the action and destroying the bedding
Getting solvents into the scope - they love that
Pulling rods back through carelessly and donging the tip into the muzzle and needing a recrown
Not patching out the chamber after cleaning the bore, leaving chemicals in the chamber and creating a rusted mess behind the beautifully cleaned bore
Cleaning the barrel out mean, then screwing the dirty and damp suppressor back on for storage and rusting out the muzzle

I've seen all those - there are probably others!

Have you got photos of any of those you could post ?

Any idea what the solvent was that caused the damage ?
I would suspect sweets or something else with a lot of ammonia ?

A good mate of mine who is a qualified chemical engineer looked at me sideways and suggested it's not the most brilliant thing to do as it reacts with steel.
When I read about it I was keen as to try it.
I will stick to the best cleaner I have ever used which is wipe out combined with accelerator.
Unbeleivable!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

I heard the other day Acetone makes you go deaf if it gets in your system.

That applies to most organic solvents, including white spirits.

I don't think acetone is high on any list for causing toxicity to your ears or balance, but in industry it's often mentioned because it gets used alongside nastry stuff like xylene and styrene and so gets a co-mention. Acetone does seem nasty. It will burn, get it on your hands it truly dries the skin more than alcohol will (a very useful and potent degreaser!), it dissolves plastics and polystyrene and some varnishes so you really have to be sure before you use it. But Acetone is actually a very safe solvent to inhale and get on your skin except for getting dermatitis because protective oils get stripped. Safer than alcohol which IS a carcinogen and which we drink. Wearing rubber gloves is a great idea no matter what solvent you use.

If you go past your mealtime you actually have natural acetone in your blood stream as it's one of the chemicals we refer to as "ketone bodies" and which come from fat breakdown and our body uses them for energy. But again, in very high amounts bets are off.