There are many great discussions here on how to clean a rifle barrel, and what type of cleaner to use.

I am curious what tools you use. I am sure there are probably a lot of brands of cleaning rods and other various cleaning tools to recommend.

Ruined the ball bearings in a couple ProShot stainless rods. I now use coated Tiptons and various jags from Midway. They also have Dewey and spear jags, but they just look like trouble to me. Loops for patches are fine for some products, but I don't routinely use them for getting carbon and copper out. The K-G line is another option. Since I do not need squeaky-clean bores, WipeOut is too much hassle for me.

I apply BoreTech Eliminator with nylon brushes, then use a patch over top of that to sweep with KROIL in between, before going to bronze brushes. That's a whole 'nother regimen. J-B Bore paste goes on a patch rolled around a nylon brush for me.

You'll get a thousand answers and will wind up "rolling your own" anyway. Just keep solvent away from finishes and out of actions. Bore guides rule!

2 cents

Nylon bore brushes.....Shooters Choice
Nickle plated jags.......Tipton
Round die cut cotton patches
Stainless steel rods.....Shooters Choice
Kroil
Whipeout foam

I have a Tipton bore guide but don't always use it

For my hunting rifles, where I hardly have to deal with excessive copper:

Dewey BRASS rods ( no Adapters necessary, they are already 8 - 32 )

Pro Shot BRASS jags - they are simply better than the Tiptons. And tehy are available in 6,5 mm ( NOT .25/6,5 ), 7 mm ( NOT .270 / 7 mm ) and 8 mm ( NOT .30 / 32 ), too!

Muzzle guards when cleaning from the front. Brass, of course.

Bronze and plastic bristle brushes: only ones with brass core and loop end, not twisted and cut off. Dewey, Pro Shot ... rather NOT Otis. They ( Otis ones ) are not as good, as they used to be. And no brass core anymore, only plastic coated bore.

And cotton patches of course, square ( they are cheaper ), 3/4, 1 1/8, 1 3/8, 1 3/4.

For shotguns: Otis System.

For .22 lr rifles: Otis System.

For carry along: ALLEN makes an excellent kit, for Ruger semi Autos ... contains rod AND pull through.

And special recommenation for the Pro Shot tactical jags, they really beat the Otis sytem.

Hermann

Just broke in a new Lilja barrel (7 mm Weatherby) following my 'smith advice EXACTLY. The idea is to micro-fill the variances from absolute smoothness with copper. I was quite impressed that carbon was far greater a barrel's enemy than coppering it up.

[thread modified from response on another]


Switched to Tipton jags, new stainless cleaning rods (Shooter's Choice -- look like tipton design to me), range box sloped cradle rather than Tipton gun vice, round patches only, etc.


The process involves -

1. dry patching out carbon from action to crown, once. (I used a nylon brush with a round patch over it.) A good bore guide is a must.

2. push bronze brush once, same direction. Watch the little cloud of carbon that goes with it! At a tilt/in a cradle with good slope, apply Butch's Bore Shine and make eight back-and-forth strokes, then re-soak and do it again, beginning and ending at the crown.

3. screw the brush off, remove the rod and let it sit while you do some other chore, shoot another gun at the range, etc.

4. using a next bore size down nickel-plated jag and a round patch, push the patch through from action to crown once, then dry patch.


You can do this for maybe up to eight shots, cleaning between each, until the last dry patch seems to all of a sudden "get real easy". Oil and put up if done, other wise fire your groups and re-clean, always pushing carbon away first before going home or doing the cleaning at the range.

All I can say is it has worked a treat for me, even when applied to guns I have used for years.

Cheers!

Barry