I thought my mosin was clean

[mac1911]

DIY electro bore cleaner and many many.....a whole ton of patches later. these where the 1st 20min runs...nasty

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t196/jrm7800/103_3101.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t196/jrm7800/103_3079.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t196/jrm7800/103_3078.jpg copper off the rod
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t196/jrm7800/103_3075.jpg

[Hamish]

Yer a dirty, dirty man, boyo!! Careful, you might get down to the *actual* lands and grooves!!

[uscra112]

Starting with a "clean" K-31 Swiss, I wanted to get it 100% copper-free for boolit shooting. So, I wetted with Hoppes #9, left it for 8 hours, swabbed it dry. Repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Took two weeks of that, twice and three times a day, before the patches came out free of any blue or grey. And that's a rifle that was taken good care of by the Swiss! Have had the same experience with all of the half dozen milsurps I've bought over the years.

Electro bore cleaning doesn't touch the carbonaceous fouling. Ed's Red does that, but it doesn't touch the copper. Brush and wet-swab, allowing plenty of soak time, with Ed's Red or Hoppes' until the patches are only grey, then use the electro system again. Repeat, and repeat, and repeat. You'll get there.

The downside is that you may find a pitted bore under all that crud. A '95 Mauser I bought years ago went that way. Still shot j-warts OK, but boolits were a waste of time.

[Jack Stanley]

I know what you mean about finding pits uscra112 . I had a nice looking Remington 1903 that LOOKED like it had a nice bore . Actually it did look nice untill I got all of the cupro-nickel fouling out of the pits underneath . It wasn't a sewer pipe but neither was it a good cast bullets slinger either ... ball ammo was just so-so .

Jack

[nicholst55]

They ALL look good until you run a borescope down them!

[mac1911]

uscar.....i went through the same thing with my CMP garand....it took so long to get clean with solvent and patches...

The mosin was a decent shooter of FMJ before I cleaned it. We will see with cast. I plan on shooting it soon. Before I started I quess I was just looking at polished copper fouling as the bore looked nice and shinny. I hope to come across a bore scope with the small head thats not expensive. I have a 8mm head on the one at work it cost 250.00 and works quite well. just to big to get in the rifle bore.

as for pitting, im sure there is some....its a mosin dated 1927! im going to load gas checked lyman#2 boolits.

side not....although the electro bore cleaner did not attract anh non metal crud to the rod. It did bubble up some nasty tar like crud through the solution.

[junkbug]

I have tried those home made rods, and am not sure, but the black bubbly foam may be small amounts of steel, in solution. If so, that means using that home-made rod kit can actually be slowly eroding your bore.

I still use my kit, but due so only in extreme cases. Still use plenty of Sweets 762, and Hoppes. And sometimes, Fitz, to follow after Sweets and Hoppes.

I have concluded some bores will never be completely clean, and as long as there in not heavy build-up, or active corrosion, it is OK. Life is too short to fight stains on patches well past the point where the "contamination" will affect how the rifle shoots.

Thats how I look at it anyway. Hope this helps someone.

Good luck, and good shooting.

[leadman]

I have been using the purple soap available from auto stores, Walmart, etc. Sold under several names but all basically the same.
It is a strong alkaly so do not leave it on aluminum or get any on anodizing.
This is the Castrol Super clean, Purple Power soaps.
I put some in a small container on the floor and stick the muzzle in it and pump a tight fitting patch up and down the bore, just like hot water and soap for corrosive ammo.
You can let it set in the bore but don't recommend more than 15 minutes.
This stuff really cleans out the bore of almost everything but some of the copper. Be sure to oil after using this.
Works great on engines, etc. Will etch concrete.