How long did you brush for? Have you tried bronze wool/chore boy wrapped around the brush? That really does a wonderful job on lead fowling.
How long did you brush for? Have you tried bronze wool/chore boy wrapped around the brush? That really does a wonderful job on lead fowling.
The chore boy will do more than the extra fine steel wool. Coarse steel wool will clean well but also damage the bore, extra fine steel wool will not really clean, just polish what's there. I've never used chore boy brand but found some cedar brand pot scrubbers. It looks like copper chainmail when unrolled. Cut a strip as long as your brush and enough to wrap around bout 3 times. It's like tiny copper scrapers going down the bore and really gets any fowling out. Make sure it's not copper plated steel by the way.
Last edited by Bazoo; 04-25-2019 at 10:59 AM.
If you decide to use Montana Extreme bore solvent, there is a warning on the cap about the fumes-heed it. I just had to sniff it (like a dumb***) and it took my breath. It, and their brushes, is some of the best bore solvent for really powder fouled barrels around but when you smell it, you'll know why.
IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us! The more I travel, the more I like right where I am.
Take a magnet with you to check the copper scrub pads. MOST are steel. You have to find the all copper ones. Usually Chore Boy brand.
Umm, not to put too fine a point on it,
But you MUST BRUSH!
Just get comfortable and brush away.
No such thing as 'Instant' solvent that cleans years of crud... Brush, Brush, Brush!
Synthetic brushes don't bend & mat down.
Keep the bore, brush wet with solvent, you will literally have to wear some of the buildup away with a brush.
That's why you get a good cleaning rod,
The bore snake will work after a day of hunting, but there is no substitution for a good rod & brush.
Here is where I got mine.
https://www.amazon.com/Chore-Boy-Cop...A2SZ1SUT04XLWW
I have a 1895 Winchester in 30-40 Krag. Must not have been cleaned for years. It dates back to 1915. Powder and copper fouling go on in layers. Went through a frenzy trying to clean the barrel. Every time I thought I had all the junk out, I'd leave the bbl well soaked with Hoppes and let sit for a week. Green patches.Just kept scrubbing and cleaning then the Hoppes patches. Think it took about 6 months. That 1985 must have seen a lot of copper nickle bullets which are notorious for leaving fouling. Same with a Canadian 22rf martini, think copper plated 22's don't leave copper fouling in a barrel?. Guess again. Green patches Actually had lumps of lead fouling and copper fouling. Took it outside and shot about 10 rounds of old 22's I had. The lumps went away. The cocking lever was bubba'd and I got a nice one from England. Sometimes you have to tweak the horns to adjust the firing pin strike. Mine was where it was supposed to be, good rim strikes. Scrubbed the 22 barrel afterwards no green nor powder or leading. Even Butches Bore shine wouldn't remove the lumps. Frank
For cheap patches, buy a yard or two of cotton flannel at a sewing goods store, wash without fabric softener, dry and cut to size. May be even cheaper at a second hand store. Retired baby blankets (flannel) work pretty well too.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
So how's the cleaning coming Kev?
Well I went to the local powder supplier to get primers, and I saw they had HOPPE's foaming gun cleaner frrom there elite collection. I bought it. I put a few pumps of it down the barrel and passed a new nylon brush I bought. It really cleaned it out nice. I might do another pass just to see. I guess its stronger then the other liquid one.
Lots of information here.
I can tell you what I have recently learned. It has worked fantastically for me, cleaned rifles that have probably not been clean for almost 100 years.
Shooting builds up stuff in layers. As you have undoubtably learned. It usually takes a few, sometimes quite a few sessions to truly get it clean. Some of the rifles I have recently cleaned, took upwards of 3 weeks, to get them right. But they did come out clean.
Wipeout Foaming Bore cleaner. I used their Accelerator product, on a patch first. Get the patch wet with Accelerator, then swab the barrel well.
Plug the breech end with paper towel, then shake the Wipeout can very well. Insert the straw into the bore, and give it a shot. You won't need too much. It will foam up and fill the entire bore.
I let it sit for about two hours, run a clean patch or three through from the breech, if possible. Then, I repeat the process. If its at night, I let it sit all night. That stuff works, and will work on it in your sleep.
A couple of old 6.5x55 Swedes took a couple weeks. One took almost three weeks. But they are shiney and clean now.
I have quite a few other bottles of stuff, but this is the easiest and most effective I have used.
re
Well honestly the hoppe's foaming cleaner looks super strong. I had a caked up shotgun from shooting 20 shells of bp. I was scraping the fouling off with my finger nails. I sprayed some down the barrel, wait a few minutes, and used a brush to loosen stuff up. Sprayed some solvent on a paper towel patch, and wiped the barrel down 3 times. Ran 2 dry paper towels after. And BOOM. The bore is shiny... Im barely believing it.
A little late here, I’m a big fan of Kroil. The best thing about Kroil is that it will creep under almost anything. It will migrate to a 1 molecule thick film ads work under lead fouling. It’s not aggressive like ammonia and can sit and soak for days without doing any harm.
Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris
I'll have to try that foaming stuff Kev, thanks for sharing your results.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |