I have an old Weatherby that the barrel was getting a bit tired on. It is booked in for a re-barrel so thought I would try and clean the barrel out as much as I could and then shoot it.
I first poured a quart of boiling water down the tube and then spent an hour with a patch cover brush with brass polish on it. I was still getting very black residue from this even after this time. After that, I then used boiing water again and then another hour with bore paste until the paste was no darker than it was in the pot.
I rinsed this out with boiling water and a brush until everything was clean.
I'm at the range tomorrow to see what the old barrel now does.
Should be interesting!!!

DW,
Quote: "I was still getting very black residue from this even after this time"
I expect you will get the black color whenever you use a metal polish. This is de rigour(SP) when using JB paste.
I recently had to clean a barrel absolutely clean - twice! I used a carbon cutter (slip 2000) twice, followed by a copper solvent (Montana Extreme). I finished up with JB. After the first regimen was complete, I did it all again.
When the second session was complete, I could remove no sort of fouling - copper or carbon - no matter what solvent I used. That barrel was CLEAN. Had I gone back in with metal polish (Flitz or JB), I would have expected to get black color. It's just the nature of the beast.

Maybe the ole girl just needed a bath to get back to where she was

Interested in hearing the range report

I once cleaned my BRNO 30-06 back to virgin pitted metal. Accuracy disaster! Took 40rounds to get it back

DW

If you want to get that barrel "perfectly clean"
Get some J&B Bore Paste.

Baised on tests I have done with a bore scope, J&B will "Get er Done".

Well, assuming bore solvents work, and are used by soaking, ie given time to work, and patched out eventually getting a clean patch, and done over the life of the barrel, why do people need to scrub,polish,borepaste, and so on.

And water? I thought that went out with corrosive primers??