Fouling /Soaking/Cleaning

12 December 2001, 12:28

As it relates to bbl cleaning and break in......In this forum as well as others I have seen people repeatedly mention the fact that they take their "favorite bore cleaner" plug the chamber, and let it soak overnight. Now, I may be looking in the wrong place but I have not seen any bore or copper solvents with these directions. Just the opposite, most say to avoid prolonging contact with the metal. Five or so minutes max. What is the deal here. Am I missing out on an easier way to remove fouling? Thanks.........C

12 December 2001, 13:56

DB Bill

Try Butch's BoreShine...clean out the regular fouling and then brush it thourougly with Butch's...patch it dry....then run a few patches soaked with Butch's down the barrel and let set overnite. I leave the rifle in my cleaning cradle with the muzzle slightly down...the next night I patch it out and 99% of the time it's clean. Run a patch down to make sure all the Butch's is out and then use Butch's oil to store.

12 December 2001, 15:21

<sure-shot>

I do the same as DB Bill, excellent method. sure-shot

12 December 2001, 19:08

Carnivore

Alright fellas, I have two mausers, unfired with douglas premium bbls. I will try one the regular printed direction way and I will try the way y'all suggested. Thanks for the advice. How does Butch's differ from CR10 or Shooters Choice, or for that matter Sweets 7.62?

13 December 2001, 03:00

Zero Drift

Butch's is a step above Shooters Choice and a few steps below CR-10 and Sweets on the aggressiveness scale. Butchï¿½s was developed by Butch Fisher, a competition bench shooter. Butchï¿½s is safe for an over night barrel soak. I would not suggest that you do this with Shooters Choice, Sweets, or CR-10. Some folks use Hoppeï¿½s #9, however I have never had any luck cleaning copper fouling with Hoppeï¿½s.

The best course of action is to follow the break in and cleaning procedure for Douglas barrels. I have seen several barrels frosted by improperly using cleaning solvents and many barrels damaged by improper cleaning practices.

If this is any help - I use Butchï¿½s at the range to clean fresh fouling between strings. At home, I exclusively use Sweets for copper removal in all my medium and big bores. I am very careful to remove all traces of cleaner with plenty of dry patches and a flood of BreakFree. The last thing you want to do is leave a trace amount of Sweets or CR-10 in your otherwise clean barrel.

I have several Douglas barrels on my 6mm varmint guns. They clean like a dream and I never need anything more aggressive than Butchï¿½s. Make sure you clean your new barrels before your first shot.

Best advice - follow the directions, donï¿½t get creative, donï¿½t mix solvents, use only the best cleaning tools, follow the directions, and donï¿½t forget to follow the directions.

13 December 2001, 05:05

Nitroman

The problem is the ammonia. It is hygroscopic and will form water. The water is bad.

You should see how quickly cooper comes out when I pour 30% ammonium hydroxide down the barrel. I can only do this outside of course. It is a cut above to say the least.

14 December 2001, 16:06

Atkinson

I would not leave amonia based cleaners in a bore more than 10 minutes....

One thing that comes to mind and any benchrest shooter will tell you that a bore need not be squeaky clean lest we would have to clean between every shot, that is why one has to fire fouling shots, to get the gun to shoot.

Most guns are overcleaned by zealous do gooders and more guns are ruined by cleaning rods than are shoot out.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

14 December 2001, 16:48

<jagtip>

Ray....Hoppes bench rest 9 instructions are to leave in the bore overnight which I've done on many occasions with no sign of damage whatsoever.Doesn't it contain ammonia.For that matter,I believe that the standard hoppes#9 contains ammonia also.Am I missing something?If I am,it wouldn't be unusual.

15 December 2001, 07:40

<bigcountry>

Ray, when you say cleaning rods, do you mean like cheap metal rods scaping the rifling?

Reason I ask, I have questioned whether a bore guide is worth it and if I should get a grafite rod.

15 December 2001, 08:14

KuduKing

I always leave Shooters Choice in overnight. NOT with a plugged bore, but just a wet bore. Next morning it's all clean. No bore damage, and my guns have all stayed accurate for years using this method. There's just enough ammonia in it to work, not enough to cause problems if you clear it all out the next day.

16 December 2001, 03:05

<heavy varmint>

Use Sweets and eliminate the need to soak overnight, it will take the fouling out quick then you can run a dry patch through it and some oil if you prefere and no worry or thoughts about what an overnight soaking may or may not be doing to your barrel

16 December 2001, 06:58

Nitroman

These commercial preparations are very expensive. You can make a good bore cleaner yourself. Here is the url for Ed's Red bore cleaner. Good instructions. If you want to use ammonia just don't put any acetone in it. Turpentine increases the flammability slightly but it smells alot better and is better at cutting than kerosene and mineral spirits.
http://www.9mmlargo.com/eds_red.htm

16 December 2001, 09:55

<Gary Rihn>

quote:
Originally posted by bigcountry:
Reason I ask, I have questioned whether a bore guide is worth it...

Definitely.

16 December 2001, 11:21

<Martindog>

Note on Ed's Red -- It's good for powder and carbon but doesn't touch copper. For that you'll need either a copper cleaner (Sweet's, BBS, Barnes CR-10) or a mechanical cleaner (JB Bore Paste, IOSSO, Rem Clean).

Martindog

16 December 2001, 12:13

HunterJim

Barrel and custom rifle maker Kenny Jarrett recommends using Shooters Choice and then Sweets to remove the general junk and then the metal fouling.

Growing up as my grandfather's powder monkey, I always loved the smell of Hoppe's #9...jim

------------------
"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

16 December 2001, 12:25

Nitroman

"Note on Ed's Red -- It's good for powder and carbon but doesn't touch copper. For that you'll need either a copper cleaner (Sweet's, BBS, Barnes CR-10) or a mechanical cleaner (JB Bore Paste, IOSSO, Rem Clean)".

Martindog, you are correct, that is why I said, "If you want to use ammonia just don't put any acetone in it".

17 December 2001, 05:22

Pecos

I use Pro Shot IV. Don't leave it in the bore overnite, but have never really had to.

It does a good job. You can tell when all the copper is out by the color of the patch, when it quits coming out blue, all the copper is gone. No idea whats in it, just that it works.

Pecos

18 December 2001, 03:57

<bigcountry>

Well, I was curious about this so I emailed Hoppes. Here is what they had to say.

Thank you for your inquiry. Both products contain ammonia but it is PH balanced so it won't be harmful to the barrels. Both products can be left in overnight. It can actually be left in until it completely evaporates and it will not harm the gun. Follow with a coat of protective oil.
Carol Chintala
Customer Service Rep

18 December 2001, 16:41

<jagtip>

Bigcountry....Thanks.That answers the question that I posted....regards....jagtip

18 December 2001, 18:20

<sure-shot>

Another company that sells a good copper remover for soaking is Bore Tech. Soak it as long as you want they say about their ammonia based copper remover. Bore Tech will replace your barrel if any damage occurs. I've never used this one but heard it works well. sure-shot

21 December 2001, 15:33

ACRecurve

I get good results with the Iosso bore paste after I get the powder residue out with Shooter's Choice (not the copper remover). I guess I live in a strange part of the world--a lot of the people I visit with at the range seem to think that 3 or 4 wet patches followed by a couple of dry ones have their rifle barrels squeaky clean. It's a shame their groups seem to get bigger every time out!

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Andy Cooper