Best Options For Cleaning Barrels After Cast Boolits....

[UtopiaTexasG19]

Until this last month I reloaded for years with clad commercial bullets and have just now started casting my own lead boolits and applying gas checks for my rifles. In the past I was pretty hum-drum about cleaning my rifles but with using cast lead boolits have become aware that I need to do a better job and be more consistant with my cleaning regime. The catalogs and internet are chocked full of cleaning supplies and tools and it makes my head spin looking at all the options. What is your favorite/best cleaning kit/tool and what do you think the best chemical/cleaning tecnique works to keep a barrel from leading up? Also, as lead sits in the barrel is it harder to clean out as time goes on? Thanks...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Cleaning...I use Ed's Red, here is a fairly informative thread:
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...hlight=Eds+Red

when I am removing Lead fouling, I use a brass jag with a cloth patch with a tiny amount
of 0000 steel wool wrapped on it.

Copper??? I use Hoppes copper remover, any Ammonia based gun barrel cleaner will do,
follow the directions and don't contaminate to original bottle for future use.
Jon

[onondaga]

I have only used cast boolits for many years. My rifles don't have leading problems in any caliber. Boolit fit is the primary solution to avoid leading. All bores have been slugged and boolits selected as cast size or sized so that all boolits are + .002 to +.003" over groove diameter of the bores. Gas checked boolits also improve your chances against leading.

My at home cleaning is simple and easy, rarely needed at all but I do have a routine:

A Hoppe's Bore Snake for the caliber is dry pulled through the bore once every 5 - 10 rounds at the range.

Home cleaning I use Hoppe's Elete Gun Cleaner. I get the 8 ounce spray pump bottle version of Elete. I put the muzzle down in a waste bucket and support the firearm. Spray several times into the chamber and let the liquid run out the muzzle. Allow to stand for 4 minutes.. Spray your bristle brush wet with Elete , spray the barrel a couple more times then bristle brush the bore once for each shot taken and 10 times more for good measure, then patch dry. The procedure rarely needs to be repeated to get the bore clean as there is only powder fowling in the bore and a lube star on the muzzle.

Don't let leading get to be a problem, start with boolits that fit and adequate lube to get a lube star on the muzzle after 5 shots. If you have rough bores that lead and cannot be remedied with boolit fit and lube, evaluate the possibility of bore honing and the desire to get rid of the firearm against your desire to keep it and suffer the chores and nightmares of shooters that don't slug their bores and fit their boolits or just shoot rough bore firearms that are dismal to maintain..

Alloy selection is important also but the complexities of that can easily be ironed out with a little study. It is difficult to go wrong by following the procedures discussed in "Modern Reloading" Second Edition by Richard Lee and gas checked boolits greatly extend the recommendations of Lee on alloy selection proportionate to load pressure.

The Bore Snake itself does need occasional cleaning too. After about 100 uses I soak it with Mean Green or 409, let stand for an hour then rinse thoroughly by agitating it in a pail with running warm water. Hang to dry over-nite and it will be near new clean again.
Gary

[Shiloh]

Cleaning...I use Ed's Red, here is a fairly informative thread:
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...hlight=Eds+Red

when I am removing Lead fouling, I use a brass jag with a cloth patch with a tiny amount
of 0000 steel wool wrapped on it.

Copper??? I use Hoppes copper remover, any Ammonia based gun barrel cleaner will do,
follow the directions and don't contaminate to original bottle for future use.
Jon

+1

I use Ed's Red almost exclusively.

Copper Chore Boy for the Rare leading issues. A phosphor bronze cleaning brush works as well.

Any of the ammonia based products for copper. I use Sweet's 7.62 and Montana
X-treme. Any will work.

Shiloh

[winelover]

I find that Kroil works for me as a bore cleaner and minor lead loosener. Saturate a patch and run it down the bore. Let it sit a bit and follow with a brass brush. Another wet patch followed by a dry one. Works for me. Occasionally,I use JB Bore paste also. I find that Kroil also works well for removing sheared off brass cases that have gotten stuck in the action of my Marlin 1894!

Winelover

[blackthorn]

One more thing--Amonia (even the fumes) will weaken the integrity of (primer) brass!!! I do Not use any amonia product anywhere near my primer storage or where I have primed/loaded cases. I do use amonia for copper removal but that operation is done in a separate building. I do this based on what I have read and I have no first hand experience of damage because I have never allowed either primers or brass cases to be near amonia.

[dragonrider]

Outers Foul Out II is my most used cleaning device.

[sundog]

UTG19, GC'd boolits for rifles. If you are getting any appreciable amount of leading, something is not right. It is possible to shoot hundreds, and even thousands, of rounds without cleaning. No leading. Properly fitted boolits with a good loob will allow this.

When I do clean, either Ed's Red or Hoppes #9 makes a bore shine real good. The biggest problem I have ever had is a hard loob ring forming in the throat that had to be removed with a tornado brush. I guesstimated that there about 2,500 plus rounds through that barrel when that happened. Accuracy went south really fast.

[Wally]

Outers Foul Out II is my most used cleaning device.

Yes, this is a fantastic device that beats everyting else...more should have one IMHO.


Many think that their cleaning methods removes all the lead...I used to think that as well until I used the OFOII...

[mongo]

+1 on the copper chore boy pads, Just wrap some on an old brush and squirt some solvent, WD40 or what ever you like down the bore and a few swipes and the lead is gone. I would spend hours cleaning guns with a plain brush and solvent. Works like magic. Just make sure the chore boy is pure copper not copper plated steel.

[geargnasher]

Until this last month I reloaded for years with clad commercial bullets and have just now started casting my own lead boolits and applying gas checks for my rifles. In the past I was pretty hum-drum about cleaning my rifles but with using cast lead boolits have become aware that I need to do a better job and be more consistant with my cleaning regime. The catalogs and internet are chocked full of cleaning supplies and tools and it makes my head spin looking at all the options. What is your favorite/best cleaning kit/tool and what do you think the best chemical/cleaning tecnique works to keep a barrel from leading up? Also, as lead sits in the barrel is it harder to clean out as time goes on? Thanks...

First, to specifically answer your header question, if things are working like they should, the only fouling present in my barrels is light powder residue and a lube film. I clean the actions regularly as necessary for each gun, but as a rule a patch soaked with Ed's Red and a couple of dry patches is all that's needed to get the bores clean and enough to store for several months. Often, I don't clean at all, since rifle bores (except Chrom-moly and SS) tend to "season" like a dutch oven when consistently shooting cast boolits over time, and this prevents rust under reasonable, short-term storage conditions. Ed's, if not overdone, won't damage the "season". I don't interchange lead and jacketed anymore, haven't for years, too many complex fouling issues.

Now, if you shoot both copper-jacketed bullets and cast boolits, or have a gun that has been fed copper bullets all it's life and now want to shoot cast in it, you will need to take aggressive action to remove all traces of copper before shooting cast. For this, the Outer's Foul Out III can't be beat. You might have to degrease, run the FO, clean/degrease, run the FO a half-dozen times or more to finally get through all the layers, but when you're done you can manage the fouling from short sessions of copper bullets with the liquid, ammonia-based cleaners. Just be sure and decopper after even shooting two or three copper bullets and before shooting lead again.

For lead fouling, I found the Outer's cleaning set up to be less than stellar, the lead cleaning solution doesn't remove tin or antimony as best as I can tell, so the lead stays put as well. My best advice is bronze brushes wrapped with patches cut from a 100% pure copper Chore Boy pad and /or 4-ought steel or bronze wool. Use Ed's Red or any general powder fouling cleaner as a lube and solvent while scrubbing the lead out. Once you get the bore clean, lightly oil it with any kind of gun oil, and figure out why it leaded in the first place and try to correct that so you won't have to go through it again.

Gear

[jonk]

I run a wet copper brush down the bore for 3-4 passes dipped in the cleaning solvent of your choice (I use Ed's Red or surplus white can GI bore cleaner). Then 2 wet patches and dry.

Unless a neglected or heavily leaded bore this is enough to clean up anything that I shoot. For pitted old bores, or for general copper removal, I use a foaming cleaner.

[fourarmed]

I use Ed's Red as a powder solvent, but long experience has convinced me that Kroil will get lead out much better. One loose-fitting wet patch, let sit for a few minutes, then a couple of tight, wet patches, and anything but really heavy lead deposits are going to be gone. The Kroil will penetrate under small deposits very quickly. Heavy stuff needs mechanical help. There's where the Chore Boy patches come in.

[largom]

My cast boolit guns do not lead the barrels so I only clean out the carbon. For this I use KG-1 carbon remover from KG Ind. One wet patch, let stand for few minutes then use dry patches until barrel is dry. I have also used Ed's Red and Kroil for this also. I do not attempt to get the barrel squeaky clean, just remove carbon. The KG-1 will also remove small traces of copper if present.

For jacketed bullets I first remove the carbon as above. Then I use a Sharp Shooter product called "Wipe-Out". Wet the bore, let it sit awhile and then patch out with dry patches. Wipe-Out is available as a liquid called Patch-Out or as a foaming bore cleaner. I have and use both. If cleaning a customers heavy fouled barrel, I use the foam cleaner and let sit over night. These products do not contain any ammonia. If using ammonia cleaners you should never let it sit in your barrel for an extended period of time. Ammonia can and will etch steel.

Larry

[Spector]

As geargnasher stated.....''you will need to take aggressive action to remove all traces of copper before shooting cast.''

I have read many times that any trace of copper fouling will cause problems if shooting lead.

Plus one on the Choir Boy. I have wrapped a thread of copper around both patched jags and brushes. It seems to work well if leading is present.

I always had at least minor traces of leading in my Glock 21 and the Choir Boy always removed it better and easier than anything else I tried. My Vetterli rifle has showed no signs of leading on the other hand so I just go after the powder fouing when cleaning it.

Starting with a very clean bore the next thing, as many here will say, is boolit fit.

Mike

[Char-Gar]

I have leaded a rifle barrel so I know nothing about that. For powder fouling, I use Ed's Red on a nylon brush, followed by two more wet patched and a couple of dry ones and that is it.

[leadman]

Hoppe's #9 is what I use mostly. I am not into alot of labor when cleaning so use the following method.
If there is alot of fouling I will use the purple cleaner sold at Walmart and auto stores (super clean, purple power). Do not get this on aluminum and/or anodized parts. I clean the heaviest fouling out with this cleaner, then run a dry patch thru the bore.
Hoppe's #9 is then used to swab the bore. I let this set 15 minutes or so and then wet a brush with H#9 and run it thru the bore several times. A couple more patches with H#9 then put it away muzzle down for a day or a week. When you get back to it you will not believe the stuff that is in the bore.
Hoppe's #9 won't hurt the bore and is what I leave in the bore when stored. Now I live in phoenix so we don't have alot of moisture. If you live in a moist area this might not work to stop rust so finish with oil.

[onondaga]

That Hoppe's Elete pump spray I mention in reply #3 has been very good for me and it has none of the odor of #9 or any of the cleaners mentioned.
So, if you get complaints about the smell of your solvents try Elete.. I actually like the results better than #9 or even Kroil.

Gary

[btroj]

I mostly just use a few dry patches. Unless you get leading why clean? I spend more time cleaning the actions of my lever actions than I do the barrels. Revolvers get cleaned ever 500 to 1000 rounds, mostly to keep the cylinders free wheeling.

When I do clean I use whatever solvent I have on hand. I don't worry what it is, I find they all do fine on powder and lube. Last time it was Hoppes. 3 dollars more for a quart than shooters choice was for a pint. It wasn't a tough decision at all.

[725]

I use a liberal amount of Kroil with patches at the range when I'm done shooting. The warm barrel takes the Kroil very well. I leave them wet with Kroil and when I get home I do a proper cleaning with Ed's Red. Any trouble barrels get a good soaking with Kroil and after a few days, they usually clean right up.