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I THOUGHT my barrels were clean.

8K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  open choke 
#1 ·
I ws wrong. I purchased a bottle of Shooter's Choice last night and cleaned my clean guns with it. Holy cow! The black kept coming and coming. I started to think the stuff was dissolving the barrel itself. Finally, the patches came out clean.

Please note that I have no financial interest in the Ventco company. Just commenting on a surprising experience.

Larry
 
#5 ·
Grandpa, for the next level of clean, try Sweets 7.62 solvent. I do not go to this level for smoothbores but I had the same experience with rifle barrels. Steel will sparkle like your dishes. Be sure to use appropriate oil after cleaning with sweets as it scrubs everything.
 
#7 ·
I just finished a three day battle with an un-retored Mosin Nagant from 1937. I used Ed's Red (worked well on the black fouling) Sweets 7.62 (worked pretty good on the copper fouling) some Outers foam (worked real well on the copper) Some Montana X-Treme (worked OK but nothing special) and WalMart Brake Cleaner followed by a soaking in Kroil. The barrel is clean now, but it's about as rough as a sewer pipe. I think Ed's Red is about as good as it gets until you run into copper. Then I give the nod to the Outers foam. Sweets is good, but the Outers worked really well at a fraction of the price.
 
#10 ·
They all work pretty well -- it's the elbow grease that truly gets the job done, along with nylon and brass brushes. I think 500 strokes with Dawn Dishwasher Soap and a brass brush would work quite well. The solvents help decrease the amount of times the brush needs to work the barrel....I've tried them all, so now I've got around two dozen partially filled bottles that will last me a long, long time, me thinks. Most are quality products...
 
#13 ·
"<I>A goodly squirt of WD40 in the barrel and a 3M Scotchbrite pad wrapped around a 20ga brass brush....</I>"

There is a company out in Nevada called Performance Specialties that makes accessories for model airplanes. The owner made a bunch of neat machined slotted brass jags that hold a strip of "Scotch-Brite" to clean shotgun bores (and still sells them as far as I know). He doesn't show them on his web site because he doesn't think they fit with the theme of his business.

Anyway, he can supply the right grade of abrasive with the jag and he warns that using any grade other that 3M Ultra fine (#7443) light gray risks scratching the finish of the bore. The grade he supplies can be used dry (he figures using it wet is way too messy) and the warns that no other grade can be used dry and that other grades will scratch the bore even when used wet.

Mike
 
#15 ·
I have had an experience similar to yours on several occasions but I reached s different conclusion.

I find that anytime I switch bore cleaners, e.g., from Hoppe's to gun oil to Rem. 40X, etc. after fully cleaning the bore I get very dirty patches again, suggesting that the new cleaner is much better than the old one because it is dislodging dirt, debris, etc. that the old clearer couldn't get.

What I really think is going on is that each time you switch cleaners, you are applying additional fluid to the barrel, and that fluid dislodges dirt that the old cleaner didn't, not because the new cleaner is better, but because the old fluid was quickly swept out of the bore by a succession of dry patches. And of course, the later patches soon stop bringing out any more dirt, because the solvent is now long gone. Confusion is further enhanced by the fact that the bore looks shiny-clean each time you finish with a few dry patches.

Try switching back, i.e,. clean the bore with the new stuff until the patches come out clean and the bore looks perfect. Then use the old stuff. I'll bet you get dirty patches again. It's what happened to me.

Ted K.
 
#17 ·
MKillian: "There is a company out in Nevada called Performance Specialties that makes accessories for model airplanes. The owner made a bunch of neat machined slotted brass jags that hold a strip of "Scotch-Brite" to clean shotgun bores (and still sells them as far as I know). He doesn't show them on his web site because he doesn't think they fit with the theme of his business."

I bought one of those jags and a one piece rod over 10 years ago and they are still going strong and are great. Also bought a box of the proper grade scotch brite from MSC and still have some left. Are you sure he still sells them? I'd like to get another rod & jag. Guess I should give them a call....

Larry
 
#18 ·
Larry,

The guy's name is Dave Shadel. I bought several jags a year or so ago and at the time he told me that he still had a lot of them. I guess he sells them to whoever knows he still has some to sell.

He buys the abrasive in rolls from McMaster-Carr in Jersey.

Mike
 
#19 ·
mixer,

Chrome lining probably helps. A friend got the idea to use Scotch-Brite on a stick in a drill to clean a Perrazi TM-something. He dipped the Scotch-Brite in mineral spirits, stuck it in the chamber and ran the stick up and down the barrel at low speed for about 20 seconds.

When he was done the bore looked like a perfectly honed 3/4" engine cylinder ready for new rings. I've used the 3M ultra in my Brownings quite a few times with no ill effects.

Mike K
 
#20 ·
Mixer, Hard chrome is going to be near impervious to the occaisional scrubbing. Plain steel would show some swirl marks and I wouldn't think that too much damage would accumulate over the life of the gun. Used with a 4 1/2" or 9" pad on flat steel I see plenty of sparks and used repetitively- will scarf metal away. I clean with a terrycloth patch after shooting and have never seen the need to be that aggressive. On a side note, any grit that migrates into the hinge or ejector parts is big no no in my book. Ed's red for my guns.
 
#22 ·
I like the Ed's Red myself.

I mix mine by the quart. Instead of using 8 oz of each ingredient I use 10 oz each of Stoddard solvent, Dexron ATF and kerosene but only 2 oz. of acetone. I clean my guns after each outing; the plastic buildup is minimal so a high acetone content is unnecessary.

Mike K
 
#23 ·
One of these will make the job of cleaning your shotgun a simple chore. I bought one a while back, and absolutely love it. It chucks right into a variable-speed drill. These are super heavy-duty high-quality construction, and will last a lifetime. ....Rick
 
#24 ·
VFG makes felt cleaning 'pellets' that you run through the barrel.

First time I tired them on a pistol/rifle barrel it was a real shocker. Cleanest barrel I could create, run these through and they come out black...

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=13839/avs%7CManufacturer_1=VFG/Product/WEAPONS-CARE-SYSTEM-PELLETS
 
#25 ·
The barrel looked like a sewer pie from 75 years of neglect. Ruskie ammo is highly corrosive and historically, soldiers are not always great at cleaning, especially when it takes hot water to remove the salts etc. So, that barrel is just plain old and worn. I guarantee you this, none of the solvents did this to the bore. They just aren't anywhere near that aggressive.
 
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