I've seen different types of foaming bore cleaners on the market but I've never tried them. Right now I'm using Butch's Bore Shine which seems to work quite well, but I'm looking for something to reduce the amount of labor on copper and lead fouling. It seems simple, just plug the muzzle and let it soak over night. I've read conflicting reports about leaving metal exposed to ammonia based cleaners so I'm a little wary of leaving it in for that long but I don't know what to beleive.

Do these products work well, or am I better off sticking with patches and a brush?

I use a lot of Wipe Out on guns which shoot jacketed rounds. I always clean first with Hoppes, then fill the bore with Wipe Out and leave overnight. Works great for copper fouling, but has no effect on lead.
Pete

quote:

Originally posted by PJ:
but has no effect on lead.
Pete

That's not true exactly, it works great on alloys in lead and will make removing lead fouling easy, it came out in loose flakes with just a patch after a good soak, used it on my badly fouled muzzleloader barrel.

http://www.sharpshootr.com/wipeout.htm

quote:

SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALL SHOOTERS SHOOTING LEAD BULLETS.

We specifically state that Wipe-out does not dissolve lead. Most chemicals that dissolve lead produce a galvanic reaction. This reaction in effect acts like a battery. In most cases it will etch steel ( both stainless and carbon steel). It is for this reason that we don't use chemicals that specifically work on lead.

We use chemicals that will dissolve the other metals ( tin , antimony, zinc, etc.) that are incorporated in most bullet alloys. So we work to destroy the integrity of the bullet alloy, and it begins to come apart in small black flakes. This process takes about 24 to 36 hours.

So while Wipe-Outâ„¢ does not dissolve lead , it will degrade the alloy so that it can be pushed out with a tight patch.

Thanks, I learned something today.
Pete

I don`t believe Wipe Out contains ammonia, at least there is no odor when useing it. I leave it in my barrels over night quite often and have`nt seen any harm yet. The wife doesn`t gripe about the smell when I`m useing it in the basement like she does when I use other cleaners, it is almost odorless.

It does seem to me though that a patch soaked in Butches or two before the WipeOut is applied will loosen the carbon layer on the copper and aid in cleaning. I make sure I patch it out well before applying the foam. Wipe Out isn`t the best on carbon, although it does remove it, it`s just that other cleaners seem to remove it quicker. As for copper it works great!

BTW, I believe Wipe Out now has a cleaner just for lead on the market. I`ve yet to try it but if it is 1/2 as good on lead as regular Wipe Out is on copper it will be worth useing.

get a food grade plastic jar, and put either paper towels or a shoprag in it...

squirt the cleaner into both ends...

let sit for 2-4 hours, muzzle down

brush and dry patch till clean

jeffe

Ol Joe is correct in that Wipe-Out does not contain ammonia. I also leave Wipe-Out in my barrels overnight and patch it out the next day. I believe the Wipe-Out instructions recommend laying the rifle in the horizontal position. That's what I do and haven't used a brush since. Highly recommend Wipe-Out.

Butches Bore Shine is pretty weak stuff IMO...

I use Wipe Out most of the time..I have a 16" rubber tubing connected to my Wipe Out nozzle..I run it down and give it a quick shot or two as the pressure runs the hose out. I use a plastic bottle with a 516 hole in the bottom for the tube to go through and slip the end over the barrel to catch the overflow or spurt, or if I'm in a hurry I just toss a rag over it.

For a really old fouled barrel I have some homemade tough stuff..A quart of "commercial amonia" and a cup of Hydrogen Peroxide with a penny or copper bullet tossed in for color..It has been traditionally called BLue Goop by the benchresters for years and is strong stuff..don't leave it in your bore for more than 15 minutes then be sure and get it all out and oil the bore when done, this is a must.

Does anyone who makes claims about the effectiveness of foaming bore cleaners have a borescope? I have used Montana Extreme BMG, Sweets, brushes, and almost every abrasive cleaner on the market and not one of them will completely clean a barrel with just one application. I just find it hard to believe that spraying this stuff in a barrel and leaving it overnight (who has time for that?) will remove all of the fouling. I am still experimenting with my borescope to find the best method, and so far Sweets is working the best for me. I havent used any other product that is safe to leave in a barrel overnight that didnt need at least brushing to help it.

FC363: Just curious, how exactly are you using/applying the Sweet's? Thanks.

I read on here that working it in the bore with a brush really helped it to work better, so i took a nylon brush and ran it through the bore for about a minute, soaking it a couple times, and it worked way better than one pass with a patch. I bought a brand new .375H&H and wanted to clean the barrel before I shot it. There were two grooves filled with copper from 6inches in front of the chamber to within about 2 iches from the crown. I used the brush/Shooters choice which is my normal cleaning solution and had little effect. A patch with JB and about 100 strokes and still nothing. Then I tied the Sweets, let it sit for 15 minutes, and almost all of it was removed. I had gotten away from Sweets becuase of all the horror stories about pitted barrels, but it cleans out copper too well for me not to find some way of removing it and the worry of damaging a barrel. Hope this helps.

Has anyone used the EJS chamber plug? It looks like a dummy round with an O-ring that seals the chamber. Just lock it in the chamber and fill the bore with solvent, then let it sit overnight. Seems like a good idea but if it leaks you would have a big mess on your hands and could possibly damage a stock.

Sealing the chamber "airtight" will make it difficult to spray the foam completely down the barrel.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I cannot get Wipe Out over here in South Africa, but I can get Forrest foam bore cleaner, which is sold in the USA as Gunslick foam cleaner. How does this product compare to Wipe Out?

Depends on who you ask!!

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/645100744/m/762105235

Thanks for the link wrongtarget, have a good one!

Wipe-out disappointed me. I've got quite a collection of cleaning agents. Wipe-out will remove a lot of stuff, however after the fourth night (cleaning with jags till dry each day) I was still getting copper streaks. Not the kind from a jag leaching. Gave up on it.

Sure, it's less work, but don't think it's getting as clean as I'd like.

Regards,
Jim

I am currently conducting cleaning tests on 16 different bbls. I have a Borescope.
Calibres range from 223 to 300 Win Mag.

If time allows 375 and 416 Rem Mag will be included.

When done I will report my results.

Barrels range from factory, to custom button rifled and cut rifled, to high priced hammer forged bbls.

Some of these bbls are on semi-autos and will have high round counts between cleanings.

Wow! that will be interesting to read about.

Who says you have to get all of the copper out? Just manage it. How does your rifle shoot with one application of Wipe out? That's the bottom line !!!

Hey,

Just MHO, but I shoot highpower twice a week in the evenings.We do not get home before 11.00P.M. Not wanting to spend much time cleaning rifles at that time of night I tried wipeout.Filled the barrel full from the chamber end using a piece of plastic tubing,left it sit till morning and swabed it out.It comes out very dark blue,then I use a brass bore brush a few swipes, then patch dry.Then a very wet patch of shooters choice,let soak till evening then complete the cleaning process.But I guess my point is it makes it easier to get copper and powder fouling out at a later time.
Muskrat

Because I am a firm beliver you do not have to get EVERY LAST ONCE of copper fowling out of your barell, I have been totally satisfied with Wipe-Out. I guess it all depends on what you or more importantly you rifle wants. Mine all shoot just fine after cleaning them with Wipe-Out. I have calibers raneging from 6.5x55, 7mm, .338s, .50cal MLs and 12ga sabot bolt guns. My bolt rifles all shoot far better than I hoped for.

I will admit Wipe0out is slow for range use, but has anyone tried the Wipe-Out accelorator? I have and it makes a BIG, BIG difference.

I am 1000% certain that most rifle barrels get worn out or ruined by poor cleaning tecniques as oposed to by actual shooting, so Wipe-Out by its design eliminates IMHO, over 90% of the potential wear and tear conventional claning with bronz brushes and the hundreads of strokes needed for cleaning with them.

When you are blessed and I am serious about this i do feel blessed that my factory rifles all shoot great (with reloads I will add), I do not want them being dammaged or getting unnessasary or exsesive wear if it is avoidable.

Wipe-Out is also extreamly cost effective in that it reduced the No# of cleaning patches I used by at least 90%. Now to clean a realy fowled bore with wipe-out I use at the max 6-8 patches. Where as using my old stand by combo of Birchwood Casey 2in 1 Bore Cleaner to first remove all the non-copper fowling and then I used Barnes CR-10 to remove the copper fowling, ( this BTW is a awesome 1-2 punch that works as good a Wipe-out, but is ALOT more work)requiered I use at least 40-50 patches and countless scrubbing stroaks with a nylon bore brush. You must though not use any cleaning jags or brushes made out of bronz, or thay will leave traces of blue that you will mistake for copper fowling still in your barrel. I use exclucively nickle coated jags from Tipton and nylon brushes to eliminate this problem.

Wipe-Out as I said eliminates over IMHO 90%+ of the wear. It also greatly reduces the wear and tear on all your cleaning equipment from jags to my Dewey coated coated cleaning rods, ets, ets. Less use= less wear=lasts lots longer, period.

Oh, BTW in my experience over the last 6-7 years of using Wipe-Out it will on average remove IN MY RIFLES, over 95%+ of the copper fowling and in the case of my .338 and 7mmstw the patches will come out white.

Just my .2c worth.
Arthur.

Exactly ! It all about how your rifle shoots.

To start with a bore does not need to be surgically clean..and more barrels have been ruined by over cleaning and rod misuse than have ever been ruined by shooting.

A few passes with Wipe Out set for 20 minutes, then a few dry patches followed by a few passes with Hoppes or whatever gets them clean enough, I use the bore snakes a lot, and accuracy is back as good as ever in no time....Then fire two or three fouling shots before you shoot it.

I know some really top notch bench resters and gunsmiths that only use bore snakes. One pass with a bore snake is 106 patches.

Whew! Ya'll are wearin' me out with all that cleaning. I guess I am kinda laid back about my barrels and I just give them a cleaning at the end of hunting season or when accuracy starts to fall off. I guess I am lucky that I can go a long time between cleanings,not abuse mind you but a more laid back approach to my maintenance of my firearms. I am kinda anal about keeping them protected from rust and like to keep them as nice as I can for an average guy's hunting rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by FC363:
Does anyone who makes claims about the effectiveness of foaming bore cleaners have a borescope? I have used Montana Extreme BMG, Sweets, brushes, and almost every abrasive cleaner on the market and not one of them will completely clean a barrel with just one application. I just find it hard to believe that spraying this stuff in a barrel and leaving it overnight (who has time for that?) will remove all of the fouling. I am still experimenting with my borescope to find the best method, and so far Sweets is working the best for me. I havent used any other product that is safe to leave in a barrel overnight that didnt need at least brushing to help it.

I left Sweets in my barrel by mistake & it now looks like crocodile skin! The 222 Tikka still shoot 0.75 MOA but that was the last I used Sweets. I now use Butch's Bore Shine & Break Free CLP as the preservative.

I need to try the Kroil treatment for removing lead from my slug gun.