I once had a customer who complained bitterly that the match rifle I had sold him had lost all accuracy after only a few weeks of shooting. I returned it to the manufacturer for inspection. They informed me that the rifling had disappeared. This was a heavy stainless steel barrel, which truly perplexed us, so I asked the shooter about his cleaning habits. He was extremely anal in this regard. He was dissatisfied with American bore solvents, so he had acquired a high ammonia solvent from a Canadian supplier and used it exclusively. After every single shot he would run a wet patch down the bore, followed by ten strokes with a stainless steel bore brush, and one more patch of solvent. In effect he had polished his bore to a mirror shine and in the process had eliminated the rifling. The manufacturer agreed to replace the barrel at no charge and on the condition he get rid of the solvent and cease his insane fetish with dirty bores.
You mean he had to give up that finely polished SHOTGUN barrel? Now I’m not exactly comparing apples to apples here, but a muzzle loader is a little different story. I found out the hard way when I was a teenager that they shot the best on a lightly fouled barrel. I would fire my Knight Disc rifle then lay a dry patch on my tongue. Put the patch on the jag so the moist (not drooling like a hound dog) side was against the rifling. I would run it straight down ONCE! No back and forth movement. Then I would flip the patch over to the cleaner drier side and repeat. Load back up and fire again and it’s one hole at 100 yards! I just thought I would throw that out there for anyone having accuracy issues with a BP rifle. Do this after every shot. I was using 3, 50 grain pyrodex pellets. Don’t remember the bullets I was using. But they were sabots.
@@sirtango1 They weren't called a "fouling" piece for nothing. ;-) BP guns are a whole different matter and should be cleaned regularly - but not excessively, as you correctly indicated.
Those solvents should say to keep away from nickel or stainless. Sweets 7.62 is the only solvent I trust on my 1916 Enfield SMLE. Shoots very accurate but metal fouls worse than any other rifle I've fired. With regular hopps it fouls to the point of galling. Found an Australian SMLE group that directed me to that aggressive solvent and my Enfield shoots great again. Won't get that solvent anywhere near my desert eagle for the reason you described.
I just bought a brand new Tikka T3x and put a few wet patches through it. Started out with some black but came out basically clean after only 3 patches... Then I put a brush through a few times and the amount of black oily residue that was still in there but showing up clean on regular cotton patches was really surprising. I'm so glad I used a brush to get the rest of that manufacturing gunk out before ever getting any bullets near the gun. I understand the concerns around bronze brushes but for me it the logic is: pushing a brush through slowly and gently by hand could never cause as much friction as a full metal bullet going mach 3. If putting soft metal through a barrel was so damaging, then bullets would be nylon by now.
Barrels are sized for the bullet. They are not sized for your brush, unless you use your brush religiously. If you do, they won't be sized for your bullet. So, which do you want your barrel sized for? The bullet or the brush? It's your choice, of course.
I have exclusively used Balistol and bore snakes for cleaning my firearms for at least 25 years. I haven't had any issues with accuracy or rust. I find the different cleaning methods interesting. Good video.
For the barrel sure, and it depends a bit on the weapon. On my rifle (an AR type), a bore snake right after a session seems to clean up pretty much everything; at home I run an oiled patch through followed by a dry one. But on one of my revolvers I get a lot of lead buildup when shooting wadcutters, best way to clean that (as recommended by a gunsmith) was a copper brush with no solvents or anything else. Another revolver, same ammo, no buildup whatsoever. They all get the boresnake after a session, and a little oil every so often. I've done the break-in routine once (100 rounds or so), can;t imagine it would harm the weapon but it did feel a bit like voodoo :)
MAC, thanks for this. I'm 68 and a shooter since 11 years old. Was taught by father and other shooting friends about being diligent on cleaning each time gun was used (except for some extended hunting trips). Typical of old-school thinking- run Hoppes #9 solvent, scrub with brass brush, etc. Purchased first precision rifle (Ruger Precision Rifle, 6.5 Creed) about 3 years ago (2018). The salesperson at gun store gave me a 10 minute lecture on barrel break-in (shoot 1 round & clean, shoot 2 rounds then clean, etc.) The rangemaster at our range (California Tactical in Piru, California) told me how stupid that thinking was. Was at the range today with a new FN SCAR. Didn't think twice about the old-school break in procedure. Especially since it's a cold hammer forged, chrome lined barrel. I'll continue to use your method and change to a non-ammonia cleaning solvent and nylon brushes. I've given up the clean-after-use thinking for barrel (but will continue to clean bolt assy and gas piston occasionally). Keep up the great work.
When I was a kid, my uncle told me " don't over clean the barrel. More guns (bores) are ruined from cleaning then shooting". He was right back in the 1970's and 1980's. Today I have the benefit of knowing some really excellent competitive shooters. To the man, they tell me they basically don't do a break in and only clean lightly periodically to keep it running. If it stops shooting run a few patches through it and clean it lightly. One guy in particular uses high end custom rifles and does not use metal brushes ever and changes to a new barrel when he starts wearing them out. He told me he never uses ammonia solvent and does not try to get the copper out with solvent. I am glad that he told me all this when I bought a new rifle and I have followed his advice. So far, so good.
In your experience does this hold true for any rifle or just bolt guns? Most of my ARs have chrome lined bores and one with a nitride treatment. Should I just run patches through every once in a while and call it a day?
I have an Anderson AR 8" pistol complete with suppressor, steel cased commie ammo and Franklin binary. It "stopped" running after 8k-10k rds, only because the gas key came loose. Twas also when I cleaned it for the first time, and by cleaned I mean split the receivers, hit it with the pressure washer. Then took the bolt apart and wiped it off with a blue Scott's rag and window cleaner. Took a old knife to the piston for the carbon. Pushed said blue rag down the barrel. Staked the key, and went back to shooting the next week. That was 3 years ago, she still running great!
@@parkercarlton9340 barrels are kinda like engine cylinders, to an extent, they sorta clean themselves. Once there is a certain amount of copper built up in the barrel, it doesn't get more fouled just because you keep shooting, it stays where it's at.
I won a match 4 years ago & put the gun into the safe. Pulled it out two weekends ago, wiped off the bolt, added Lucas gun oil and ran the bore snake through it once. It shot sub-moa groups out to 500 yards winning again. Spend time training not cleaning! Thanks for the video!
I have to agree with you. My story is much more extreme. After a day of shooting about 400 rds in my Remington 12A pump .22, I put the rifle away uncleaned. Life happened and 23 years later I brought out the old Remington, ran a few wet Balistol patches down the barrel then a few dry patches and took the rifle out back and at 75 yds shooting CCI sv lead round nose I was shooting MOA using iron sights.
Brass is specifically chosen for brushes because it is softer than barrel steel. It won’t gouge the rifling or scratch up the chamber. Don’t ever use stainless steel brushes. I have one SS pick to get any stuck on carbon and it’s rarely used
Exactly. Softer metals cannot scratch harder ones. I have an all chrome Schwinn beach cruiser and it got a little rust on the frame. I took some balled up aluminum foil and used it as a scrubbing pad and the rust came right up without any scratches to the chrome.
Think about what the tips of the soft copper/bronze bristles pick up and get embedded/studded with though... Carbon, which is abrasive. Nylon doesn't get embedded with Carbon.
Thanks for your very informed comments regarding breaking in a new barrel. I just bought a 9mm carbine and haven't yet shot it. Your video has given me the confidence to bypass the start-and-stop shooting/cleaning break-in procedure and just enjoy shooting it after an initial wet patch followed up with a few dry patches. I can enjoy my new firearm without wondering if I'm doing harm to it. Thanks again for your very articulate, knowledgable presentation.
@@PunchingCacti I guess the argument would have been that the corrosive material could be layered under carbon and the argument is that you have to clean all the carbon to make sure there's no corrosive material left
@@PunchingCacti , Thats what I do after shooting corrosive ammo through my Mosin or my M57 Zastava pistol. Warm water and a little dish soap cleans it all out just fine. Dry them, lightly oil them and I'm done.
back in the day a lot of people shot lead with no gas checks and leaded up their barrels. They had to clean the hell out of them. That was in the depression up into the early 60's. It kind of carried over to present day through grandpa, dad, and son.
As with most things firearms related, just shoot the gun and don’t let it get covered in crud. Folks really over complicate it. I’m glad you made this video.
People overcomplicate it and go OCD cleaning their guns as if they're still using corrosive primers/powder. It's a bunch of fudd lore. Cleaning modern guns with modern ammo is really something you only do on an as-needed basis.
Ammonia is NOT corrosive. Not to steel anyway. I hear this all the time and I just think people don’t understand the chemistry very well. Ammonia is very effective at breaking down “yellow” metals like copper, brass and bronze alloys. However, steel is virtually impervious to ammonia and, in fact, ammonia is often used in steam boiler systems to prevent corrosion in steam and condensate lines. Mild steel piping is used in thousands upon thousands of ammonia refrigeration systems that carry hundreds of pounds of highly concentrated ammonia. If ammonia was corrosive to steel, those pipes would burst constantly. Ammonia based solvents will not and cannot “rust” your barrel.
Break in procedure for me: Shoot to remove burrs, run boresnake through it to remove carbon while an initial layer of copper is built up and the barrel sets into its accuracy. After that shoot it and boresnake to remove carbon. Once a while a patch with clp if the gun will be store for a while. Never had issues in over 20 years. More important is to keep the gun in a dry place while storing and keep a little film of oil on the working/exterior parts to prevent rust. .
@@iammattbennett cutting steel in the manufacturing process always results in some burring. The duller the tooling, the larger the burrs and burnishing. KnifeMaker
I don’t think I’ve ever owned a rifle that shot best clean. Always improved after a few fouling shots. Back in the day, I did have somewhat of a break in procedure that was intended to remove any copper fouling, but not for the reason you me mentioned. The reason I cleaned new barrels like that was to get the fouling out of the imperfect areas so that they would smooth up in time. With fouling in rough areas the bullet just trades a little jacket material with the fouling as it passes by, never working on the steel that is causing the fouling. My idea was that once cleaned, the bullet abraded (however slightly) the roughness thus smoothing it out eventually. I’m 100% an advocate of doing what works for you without letting anyone else force their opinion. As it goes, I clean pretty much like you do with the exception that I don’t believe a cotton patch is going to damage a steel barrel if the direction should be reversed mid stroke. Great video and keep up the fine shooting sir!
We used 3 in 1 oil on our guns. We never took our guns apart to oil them. The firing pins were the only problem we ever had with our very old guns. We used an old T-shit. Cut strips off of it. Put oil on the strip and run it down the barrel. Wherever those guns are today i bet they still work.
You just explained the routine my grandfather tuaght to me some 40-45 years ago. I have yet to "shoot out" a barrel. Thank you for the common sense approach to this topic.
Over time, I settled on a similar methodology. At first, I cleaned weapons excessively, because that's what I was taught in the military. But I came to realize that was in fact excessive. Nowadays I clean sparingly, using patches. I only use a brush if necessary. And even then, it's a nylon brush. I also stopped using aggressive cleaning solvents.
Correct, the military habits taught me on our rifle I carried over on civilian pistols, and it’s most probably wrong… ie running a patch or bore snake through the barrel after every shooting session
I have a lot of friends who are nationally ranked long-range shooters - they may clean their barrels every 800-1000 rounds ... maybe. Huge thumbs up for Bore-Tech - best cleaning products I've ever used (and I've tried a LOT of solvents/cleaners).
Many years ago when the Colt H-Bar came out. I bought one. I had no idea what I was doing and clean it every time I shot it. I used the screw together steel cleaning rod that came with the rifle. This thing was a tack driver and after years of shooting and cleaning the groups really opened up. The rifling looks like someone was shoving rocks down the barrel!!! Thanks for this video. I learned a lot. I still was rubbing the patch back and forth. What you said makes sense, thanks.
Had a 1sg attack me in a promotion board when he saw I was a sniper. Asked me break in procedures for the brand new(at the time) xm2010. At there was nothing in the TM. So I contacted the military liaison for remington, and I told him what that person told me. After the 1sg told me I didn't know what I was talking about, he asked me where I got my information. the other 1sgs on the board chuckled when I said "the military liaison from Remington 1sg." 😂
You wouldn't want to " Polish "the smooth surface of your combustion chamber of an engine with a wire brush would you? What do you think that wire brush is doing INSIDE the barrel?
@@mjolnirswrath23 depends on the brush. My point is, when I was in the Marine Corps, they promoted CLP and cool water rinse as the only authorized cleaning materials for the M-16. Not exactly up-to-date. There’s this common misconception that someone who’s in the military automatically knows a lot about weapons. That’s simply not true. Even in the infantry, I didn’t learn anything other than the guns that I used. And even then, it wasn’t the in-depth knowledge that I received later when I no longer served. Obviously, there are exceptions to everything, and I’m not downplaying anybody’s service. Ryan Cleckner served a while in the military, and he knows a ton about rifles and rifle cleaning. He would disagree about the wire brush. Your mileage may vary. To each their own. We are free to do what we want to our own property.
I'm a Caveman, I just use Battle Born CLP and a Hoppe's Bore Snake. After decades of shooting, I'm now only interested in practical accuracy now. I shoot metal plates and action targets and use paper targets on a square range, only for zeroing the rifle. Did the whole Benchrest and Varmit stuff, so I know I can do my part and achieve precision accuracy and I'm over it now. Different disciplines for Different People, its all good.
Shooting paper targets and shooting center mass on steel are two different disciplines. Its nice to be able to shoot distance with accuracy but when you hit center mass, dead is dead.
There was a time where the company I was working for, was wiring up new equipment in a plastics color concentrates factory, and saw something that really amazed me. They would mix a resin and colored powder, force it through a screw and die, to basically make plastic spaghetti. From there, it would go through a water bath to cool, and into a pelletizer. Getting to my point, as the spaghetti went into and out of the bath, there were horizontal stainless steel bars that supported the spaghetti from touching the bath walls. These bars would get grooved deeply from PLASTIC being drawn across them, whether that plastic was hot going in or cool coming out, didn't matter. The moral of the story being: just because one element is softer than another, does not mean the softer element cannot wear the harder.
This is the best and most informative video I’ve seen on this subject. Almost every other one I’ve seen dictates “must do’s” without the why. Thank you for posting this!
Good video. We always took a new barrel and wiped it clean, then shot a mag through it, ran a couple patches through it, and did this a couple times, and that was the extent of barrel break in. Mainly just to clean up machining burrs was all it amounted to, if there was any. I was also always told to put the cleaning rod in from the muzzle, and when it came out the breech end, then add your patch and ALWAYS PULL a patch or brush through in the direction of bullet travel, to keep the cleaning rod from bowing and rubbing against the bore. I was also told to keep bore brush use to a minimum, and we rarely used them. I've been a shooter since the late 60's early 70's and I've never had a problem with any firearm and we shoot A LOT. Keep the great work.
Marine Corp training has me thinking I needed to clean my rifle after every day at the range. That involves scrubbing every bit of carbon off I can with a nylon and brass brush down the barrel. You have educated me and I will be better with my barrels.
The Army is not much different: "Keep your rifle detailed clean and wet lub after shooting." It was hard for me to move away from over cleaning my guns. Nowadays, I accumulate about 1,000 rounds before a do some cleaning on the bolt carrier group. When I see too much, visible, excess of fouling build up, I do a deeper cleaner. Used to be that my civilian rifles were shiny clean every time after I shot them, which it was unnecessary, of course.
I used to be the same. My sad always had us cleaning our guns that night after shooting them. We'd run copper brush soaked in Hoppes #9 solvent a few times down the barrel, then some soaked patches. Then follow with dry patches until they came put clean. Then a patch lubed with Hoppes oil, followed by a dry patch to soak up the residual oil. We did notice that almost every time the first shot out of a rifle was always a little off on its own and had a little bit of oil on the target. Then in the Marine Corps this only reinforced that belief that my guns had to be clean after every range trip. Well after going to the range with like 5 or 6 guns and spending all night trying to get them USMC clean I started getting lazy and not cleaning my weapons as often. I kept saying I'll get to it later and later and putting it off. Now I've come to realize my rifles still shoot the same. My AR runs fine even though I haven't cleaned it in a few trips. My semi-auto pistols also run just fine even if I haven't cleaned them thoroughly and they have some carbon built up. So now i clean my weapons occasionally if they look really really dirty or start misbehaving such as malfunctioning or losing accuracy. Now, if I have been out in the rain or snow with them, I do make sure to wipe them down with a dry rag followed by a light coat of oil or CLP.
I suspect that the insistence on cleaning after every firing dates from when chlorate based primers were in common use, and cleaning to remove corrosive residue was needed. That being the case, wet patches with a mild solvent followed by dry patches should do the job. Anything more would be in kind with the kind of obsessive-compulsive that has a fighting man shine his boots to a mirror finish.
I follow system I learned in the military in Switzerland. After shooting, pass greased nylon brush, then brass brush. Clean bore with patch, greased nylon brush and store. Prior to shooting remove grease with patch. Done this regularly and my Fass 57 (SIG 510) shoots straight and tight in a very satisfactory manner.
I grew up cleaning my gun after every trip to the range or when firing a shot in hunting. I’ve picked up a better routine and use only aluminum cleaning rods and Hoppe’s No 9. I’m going to read the ingredients from the label. I bought some Copper out years ago and the bottle’s never been opened. My accuracy has never deteriorated so I never used it. I clean now usually after the 100 rd mark like you’ve suggested. I don’t clean after every outing unless I fire 100 rds or so. Breaking old habits is hard but the results are worth it. I don’t own precision guns anymore but my guns shoot better than I can. I shoot MOA with good scopes and ! 1/2 to 2 1/2 with Red dots on my AR Pistols at 100 yds. I’m 71 and my eyes aren’t as good as in my youth. At 41 yoa I had a custom rifle built that printed 1/2 to 3/4 MOA fairly consistently at 100 yds. The thing weighed 13 lbs. Target shooting is fun, but I go for Combat accuracy, 15 years, 8 mos and 6 days experience is what I am drawing from in the Let’s go Brandon age!
Aluminum rods are the worst. When they oxidize they are very abrasive. Your better off with brass or nylon coated. But i get you people act like ther guns are made of pixy dust these days...
@@sparky_-mf2cs An aluminum rod, even if oxidized, isn't going to do anything to a high carbon steel barrel just from general cleaning. If your barrel were that susceptible to damage, it wouldn't last a single mag dump.
@@NWA744 look it up. Oxidized Aluminum is very abrasive. Of course it aint guna damage your barrel from one 2 or even 10 cleanings. But it will do damage over time.
@@sparky_-mf2cs I use aluminum oxide at work, I know what it is capable of. An aluminum cleaning rod is not the same as purpose made aluminum oxide abrasives though. You would need a lot more applied pressure and friction than running a simple rod through your barrel will ever generate. If you think a cleaning rod is so bad, what do you think a projectile that is slightly larger than the diameter of your bore, being squeezed through by 50-60K PSI of pressure, at roughly 2500-3500 fps, and with high heat will do to your barrel?
A good quality bronze bore brush will not harm any steel barrel. Ammonia based cleaners are awesome, just don’t leave it in the barrel for long periods. What destroys barrels and accuracy is aggressive over cleaning.
Barrel break-ins are basically like throwing salt over your shoulder or wearing your lucky jock strap during a ballgame. I’ve heard good barrel manufacturers say that the only reason they include the procedure is that if they don’t customers will call over and over again asking what the break-in procedure is. I agree that the best ‘break-in’ is to do a quick initial clean, then shoot 100 rounds. I’ve followed that procedure on dozens of barrels and they work great.
Thank you for this video, it was really informative. I also appreciate that you presented this as helpful guidance based on research and personal experience but not as "the only way". It's always nice to see people with your level of experience sharing with the community.
This whole idea of breaking in barrels is truly perplexing and only benefits the solvent and cleaning product companies. They really have people bamboozled on this one. Take my word for it and just go out and enjoy your rifle. No need to waste ammo and cleaning products. I agree that actions do get smoother with use but as far as the barrel goes these advertised break in rituals some people swear by seem crazy to me. My humble opinion as always based on many years of shooting folks. Not an expert nor do I claim to be but definitely a solid shooting sports enthusiast. God bless as always!
I've spent over $3K on a borescope and accessories -- and learned a LOT about barrel conditions and the effects (or their lack) of cleaning. You can now get a teslong borescope in the $100 range. I HIGHLY advise all who are interested in firearms and shooting to get one of these borescopes and really get an education about bores. VERY revealing.
Thanks, Tim. I grew up in the era when the mantra was “always clean your gun after every time you shoot it”. I came to agree with your mindset about a decade ago. I had previously tried cleaning to bare metal and fire lapping old bolt action milsurp rifles. All that effort is mostly a waste of time. Usually those guns settle in after the rough spots are filled with copper and the fouling actually smooths out the bore. The most drastic cleaning I do is to squirt some CLP down the bore, let it sit 2 minutes, then pull a bore snake through the bore- no more than twice. Done. No more cleaning required. CLP will eat away at carbon, not touch the metals, but leave oils behind to prevent rust. I still believe in the fouling shot after that procedure (in the case of hunting rifles, where first shot accuracy is necessary), but I feel the fouling is actually necessary for making the bore smoother than it is when it’s clean to bare metal.
Well with modern ammunition its not really necessary, but back when they were shooting black powder muzzle loaders and black powder cartridge guns cleaning after every use was necessary to prevent extreme bore pitting(Or at least every few days, the sooner the better and easier to get the fouling out). And even for a long time with smokeless powder all cartridges had corrosive primers so frequent cleaning was necessary to avoid pitting. However if you do shoot any ammunition with black powder, corrosive primers, or both this still applies. And with muzzle loaders it always does since those are exclusively black powder/black powder substitute guns.
Good advice. I use both brass brushes and nylon. I use the nylon for the more accurate rifles, the ones that are intended to be tack drivers. And for things like defensive carbines, I consider the brass to be fine, as those rifles are geared more towards "combat accurate", more than being tack drivers. And I also tend to use brass for pistols. Just my two cents.
Thanks! Great video. Absolutely right on all points. When the average Joe bought a rifle pre internet there was never a barrel breakin involved. The barrel breakin was shoot it. Clean it occasionally varying with each shooter. A lot of the cleaning myths date back to when powders were super corrosive. Not the case anymore
As a professional gunsmith for 20yrs building accurate rifles I have found the "break in" depends on how the barrel was made. Cut rifled and hammer forged don't really need a break in because they are already smooth under a bore scope and actually don't foul much. Button rifled barrels need a break in. They are rough under a bore scope! They grab copper at every little line that was left from the hydrologic press that hammered the button through the bore. So the whole "shoot one, clean, shoot 2, clean..."was to smooth out all the little burrs left in a button rifled barrel. It's not needed unless it's button rifled. And at least for fouling it really helps for ease of cleaning after breaking it in. As far as accuracy on a button barrel I've found it seems to help a little during long strings of shooting and makes it easier to clean after. I 100,% agree with not using stainless brushes! Let the solvent do the work and give it 5-10 minutes after patching the solvent. I've seen barrels with a 20rnd "break in" destroyed with a SS brush and are then a 2moa gun. So know what kind of barrel you have before trying to make it better!
In this video he is commenting on his Bergara rifle made in Spain, Spanish high quality steel, which has a button rifled barrel. Every button rifled barrel I have was pull buttoned in one pass, not "hammered." Ed Shilen was Bergara's consultant. Judging by the bore scope footage in the above video, I'd say the cleaning method used as described worked just fine in the Bergara rifle he's shooting with a button rifled barrel.
I swear, every gun youtuber has a different way they clean barrels lol, I guess that is one of the beauties of freedom, we can all have an opinion and do what works for us. I have been using Otis cleaning kits for a while now with their bronze brushes that never scratch, work well for me. I prefer the cables to a cleaning rod for sure.
Your process is not unlike my own. AND THANK YOU for not cranking the bolt at 467 miles per hour! good video and while I am not a 'military firearm only' guy...I appreciate your candid and frank opinions on this channel.
I'm 52 now and I was fortunate to purchase my first firearm when I was 19. My father was a serious hunter and firearm collector with alot of hands on gunsmith type of projects. Exactly everything you mentioned about bore cleaning down to the nylon brushes is 100% correct my friend. That's the way my father cleaned military guns and that's the way he thought me. Never over clean but you do need to clean and always oil after cleaning. No complaints from me with your cleaning methods. 😁👊🇺🇸🇺🇸💪
The best investment I ever made was buying 2 one piece cleaning rods, one in 22cal for bores up to 270, and a 27cal for 270 and above, the 3 piece sets always break and a 22 size can easily bend and break in larger bores also
@TheMetalGuy852 not a huge fan of bore snakes myself, as a expedient field cleaning yes they work fine, but for any serious cleaning they lack the ability, I mean even the british issued cleaning strings with their enfields but they had a barrack rod with every unit for more serious cleaning
@TheMetalGuy852 I have used a boresnake in both my S&W 69 and my AR 15s, the S&W 69 the lead wouldn't be removed near as well if one were to have leading issues, I used to when I used commercial cast bullets but have since remedied that problem by casting my own and proper sizing the bullets, the AR it did clean well but I didn't like the feeling of potentially dragging grit through my barrel over and over. Now no hard feelings, I shoot about 5 to 6 thousand rounds a year through various centerfires, mostly military surplus rifles and my 556 rifles, not near as much as some people but I am a stickler for clean firearms and never put away a firearm dirty. If you have good luck with bore snakes then continue their use, I just see it as more of a field expedient cleaning tool rather than a thorough cleaning tool and that has been my experience. I also do not see many of the benchrest guys using boresnakes as their main cleaning tool. Not that my opinion is the end all be all.
Have been using Hoppes #9 and CLP exclusively for well over 20 years as well as using a Copper bristle bore brush, for every gun i've owned and cleaned. I have never hurt the accuracy, nor destroyed a barrel from PROPERLY using all of these. This includes, target rifles that shoot well under MOA, to all my pistols.
I’ve tried all the brushes: tornado, bronze, nylon, silicone, etc. The best I’ve found is a bore snake which envelops a bronze brush in fabric. Usually keep at least 2 for each caliber, one for first passes and another for cleanup passes.
I have a buddy whose son was an Army sniper and became the armorer for his SF team. This is how he cleaned the carbines for that team. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.
Lol, I can tell ya this. I cleaned an old but very accurate.22 LR rifle years ago. It “needed it” and was a little neglected. After the cleaning, the gun ran super smooth, but the dead on accuracy at 75yds had now opened up to 4”. I thought I had ruined it. Turns out that after that summer and 1000+ rounds between my brother and three cousins, that gun developed its accuracy again. Now years later I have realized that there is a ‘copper equalization’. A brand new barrel will actually become more accurate as the imperfections become filled in and seasoned with copper.
I agree. With ALL my firearms. A patch and a nylon brush will handle the job just fine, with no damage. “ break in” for arms with lots of moving parts, ( semi-autos and pumps) just gets rid of all the tool marks and high spots on wear areas. If you could see a machined surface under a microscope, it’d look like the Appalachians! Different story altogether for metal on metal parts. Unless you’re a toolmaker, gunsmith or machinist that knows what you’re doing, 1)don’t polish a blessed thing. 2) no metal on metal . PS- Yes, I’m a toolmaker.
I’ve been using brass brushes for over 50 years and never a problem with them, plain old common sense is pretty rare these days. 😂 nylon brushes are crap.
Here you go DA----- All you have to do is follow the link I provided and people who think brass/bronze can't damage steal will find a picture from a well known barrel maker with bore scope footage of very real damage done. Yup, when you're dragging flakes of carbon (very hard) and metal flakes through your bore you are in fact damaging it. Thanks for the post
Dont see a link. So, uh, when a bullet goes down a barrel at mach 2.5 or 3, where is the carbon fouling going? Do you think the bullet isint scraping and rubbing carbon fouling all along the bore? But the brush is going to cook it? I don't understand copper brush phobia. As a revolver shooter (primarily) of lead bullets (exclusively), bore brush is life. Chore boy too. My sub moa bolt actions get the same treatment to no ill effect. (No chore boy for them though.)@jhartmac100
@@jeffhowland867 I understand your pain with lead bullets in revolvers, primarily magnum calibers, I quit using them in my 41, 44, and 357 magnum just because it’s such a pain in the ass to clean that lead fouling out of them, of course I still use lead bullets in my 22, 38, and 45 revolvers, they just don’t lead up like the big magnum calibers do.
My highly perfectionist father taught me to clean guns and would heavily over-do cleaning. I picked up his perfectionism as the 'correct' way and have definitely reduced the life span of some of my barrels in both pistols and rifles over the years. After some hard lessons I can definitely second what MAC advises; no ammonia, patches on jags from chamber out the muzzle, nylon only. For AR style rifles I really like cleaning rod guides, like the one JP Enterprises sells. I'll push an oil patch through a barrel if it's going into storage for the season or long-term, service guns get a dry patch and done, no oil in the barrel. Thanks MAC.
I had Purchased a Mauser M18 in 30-06 I did a initial cleaning was so surprised the barrel looked clean with visual at first, but when as I pushed patches through they became continually worse. then I used a brush then It became continually worse again. In total I ran 98 patches through and never got it out. I said to heck with it took it too the range and proceeded to shoot sub MOA at 100 yds. I was shooting 5 shot groups at a time, and it kept getting better to the point of that's enough. 60 rounds and I don't think I am going to worry about really cleaning it like before and all my rifles seem to do the same. this man has a lot of truth to his words. I found this out on my own.
I dont believe it when guys say "A bronze brush will """destroy""" a top shelf quality hardened steel barrel". They always say it but never actually prove it. How can a barrel that can withstand the psi in rifles plus the heat, but a bronze brush "ruins" it? Makes no sense at all.
I have to agree with you. We can say microscopic particles of nylon get trapped and superheat those trapped areas and damage the barrel. And, some dopes would believe us.
Exactly. total bull shit. it is like saying you destroy a knife when you cut bread crust, you can only cut pudding. never happened in the history of human kind.
I've never even seen a bronze or steel brush in a cleaning kit. All the ones I have are copper or are they copper coated. Either way, 4140, 4150, or R416 is not garbage metal for barrels. I havent run thousands of rounds through any of my guns until FJB got in office but now that I have been sharpening my skills, I can say my guns all shoot sub-MOA. All my hunting rifles shoot like they did when I first got them but most have less than 50 to 100 rounds through them. I cleaned all of them with the Hoppes kits that have been out there for eons.
Mac the destroyer of firearms . Thank you for making videos like this I love the information. I been watching you for about 4 years I always absorb all the info you provide and it's helped alot over the year in shooting and figuring out what to buy. Your gauntlet test on the cz p 07 was enough for me to buy it along with other researching i daily carry it along with my Glock 19 and 19x. Thank hope you all have a great day and a great weekend. Keep up the great work MAC and to all that have to do with making these videos with you.
MAC, like you, I was a Jarhead in the 80's. I was brought to scrub the barrel vigorously to make it like brand new money after every time I went shooting. Well, thanks for relieving me of that ritual after over 30 years.
I think the chrome saved us. Lord did we scrub barrels and Q-Tip clean rifles. If only they knew then what we know now... Hell, they probably still do it. LOL
This was enlightening for me. I was following almost the same procedure as yours with my target 22 rifles and hunting rifles. That is until I had a gunsmith build me a hunting rifle with a Douglas Air-gauged barrel in it. Caliber was 260 Rem, known for excellent accuracy. I asked the Douglas people what break-in I should do with this new barrel and got a simplistic procedure to follow that essentially included shoot 1 round, clean the bore (he recommended Bore Tech Eliminator), then shoot 2 or slightly more rounds, clean the bore and then repeat the process until I had 20 - 30 rounds through it. I called several other barrel makers and got similar advice so thought I was golden. This was all after almost never cleaning my Win 52 target rifle at all and it shot wonderfully with the same ammo brand it liked for years. My hunting rifle was a Win Model 70 pre-64 270 Win that was given to me before I moved to Alaska where I shot a Moose every year with the appropriate sight-in process and again, never really cleaned my rifle up there. I shot fine. My 260 Rem still shoots fine with the ammo it likes but I stopped the involved cleaning process and am doing the same thing you are doing with the same product. I did think I needed to get all the copper out but eventually I just shot the rifles and went back to a simple process, but only did the Bore Tech thing once a year. Bottom line is all my rifles shoot fine so I'm doing the same process as you but I shoot very few rounds through my hunting rifles and don't clean my .22's at all unless the chamber gets gummed up with the lube on .22 ammo.
I've been a shooter for over 56 years & I have never once "broken-in" a barrel. When someone spoke out on this it caught on like cancer. I clean a new barrel before shooting it then after I finish shooting. If a bronze brush can damage my hard, carbon steel barrel I need to quit using jacketed bullets. NOT! I DO clean all rifle & shotgun barrels before storage. (Any residual deposits in a barrel can absorb moisture) Target Rifles: After a thorough cleaning I do always take 1 or 2 fouling shots first. Hunting Rifles: No fouling shot. That cold shot must be the accurate one! JMO I appreciated your fine video. Well done Sir.
Hey Tim there’s a video out there with John Krieger himself and he says no particular break in needed. He said just go out there and shoot the damn thing. He wouldn’t even give round counts regarding barrel life. Sometimes it’s best not to overthink the process.
Old guns with pitted bores can benefit from using more aggressive means. You can bring back some accuracy in very old rifled bores by using acid to remove old fouling that ammonia won’t touch. However only do this once and then maintain the bore with much less aggressive means. By no means do this to good bores.
I'm learning guns in my retirement...what you said about the copper filling in is also true in automotive....if you find a old motor full of water you drain water , pull plugs and slowly sip used transmission fluid threw it to lap it in using particals in the fluid as pit filler...I've brought back a 428 c.j. and 318 interceptor and a few others that way...just don't fluid lock it....😎
I use the same philosophy for barrel cleaning as I do for when it comes to cleaning anything eg. Washing clothes, hair or hands - barrels etc. After washing with soap (solvent for the barrel) common sense is to rinse afterwards and for the barrel - rinse thoroughly with pure alcohol from the chemist/drugstore. Clothes get fabricsofterner. Hair gets conditioner. Hands get cream or lotion and oil for the barrel. Remember to run a dry patch before use...
Your method makes perfect sense to me. I will no longer use any of my metal brushes on any of my hunting firearms. Thank you ! And yes an old dog (I'm about to turn 73 in couple weeks) can learn new and 'better' tricks!
I think brass brush after initial wet patch is still nice at loosening gunk. The first patch after brushing is super black, and I get to clean patch much quicker.
Cleaning solvent and time normally loosens up any crud in my barrels, so rarely do I employ a brass brush. But one run through with a brass brush isn't going to destroy a barrel. And, I think what many people here are overlooking, is the fact that most of them can't shoot good enough to worry about mechanical accuracy... nor do they need to if they are shooting deer, for instance.
I watch this and think about the cleaning standard we had in the army. and how the unit armor wouldn't accept our rifles until it was once again bare metal on the inside.
Great video! I always clean my barrels with tungsten brushes from muzzle to breech then breech to muzzle. Run a patch or two with homemade soap made from pig fat and filtered water then 2 or 3 Scotch-Brite patches followed by 2 or 3 ammonia soaked patches then clean patches until dry. Finally 1 or 2 patches of Ballistall , life is good! 😊
Very interesting but one point, those brass tips on a cleaning rod are 100 times more likely to do damage than the soft pliant bristles of a bronze brush. Personally the one thing I never use is a brass tip, only nylon for me. Another point, I know suppressors are rarer in the USA compared to here in the UK where 99 per cent of rifles are fitted with them, but nothing destroys a barrel quicker than leaving a suppressor on a rifle in a gun safe. You might as well pour acid down the bore.
Hell, the copper jacket on the bullet will do a lot more than a bronze brush. If you leave copper in the bore for more than 3 days the copper & moisture will begin electrologist. Eating up the bore under the copper. However it's your bore suit yourself.
@@flea-kh7om Read my post again. I didn't say the bronze brush did any damage, that was my exact point. I said the hard tip of a BRASS cleaning rod did 100 times more damage than the bronze brush. We are in agreement.
I’ve used some expensive cleaning rods. They have either gotten bent or the coating worn off. But the Tipton is my favorite. It’s a carbon fiber shaft that you won’t put a permanent bend in it like others. And there isn’t any coating to wear off. The price is on par with others like Dewey, or Bore Tech.
Schuemann barrels, a manufacturer of high precision target barrels put out an article many years back saying to never use modern solvents. They calculated that just a minute of contact with modern solvent can remove enough metal that they consider the barrel ruined. Their advice was to never put anything down the barrel except jacketed bullets and an oiled bronze brush or patch. I stopped using solvents after that and have never had a single issue.. If I shoot my lead reloads, I simply fire a half dozen jacketed rounds at the end of my session which cleans out any lead fouling that might have accumulated.
Exactly right! This is what works for you and is very sound advice from someone that shoots as much as you shoot. Every opinion isn't right or wrong. Many times it was taught by a father, uncle or grandfather, so hench you would trust that the most. A lot has changed in rifle and ammunition technology over the years. What worked before and was passed down may not be applicable today. Excellent job at explaining your process and your experience. If someone can't tell that you researched and went through trial and error to lead up to your method, they don't want to have an open mind. Also, if they are happy with their procedure, they should continue. It never hurts to try something new. Thank you for sharing that with us! Shoot On Target!
This is excellent benefit of acquired knowledge. I want to really thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. I have no ego at all, I have extensive experience but I always say "I'll learn from a 6 year old if it's a better way". It's arrogant to think I have all the answers so I know better than to do that. Starting now, I'm following these rules. I never went crazy on cleaning them, so no damage done from what I can see. I'm actually glad I didn't go nuts on them. Some of these Krieger's (Hope I spelled it right) and other barrels are not cheap.
I clean after every range session because any given gun I own may sit in the safe for months before I shoot it again. I don’t want to have to worry about moisture condensing in my barrels. With a nice fresh light coat of oil I’ve never had corrosion problems.
I was Army also and went through basic training in 1974. We cleaned them spotless after each day on the range so I'm still trying to break away from that.
That makes things very clear and sensible. The "cleaning myths" probably come from the military. Like cleaned and starched uniforms but the two have nothing in common.
It absolutely is a hot topic, and I appreciate your comment of "you do you." We all have our ways of doing things that have worked for us (some of us for 40 years)
Thanks for the video, I find it very hard to believe that a bronze brush with a soft metal core can damage a barrel, that I would have to see to believe. Other than this, your advice of how you do yourself sounds accessible from what I learned.
I like the silicon bore wipes..They look like a cylinder with about 8 shelves on it that are the size of the bore. Throw a little Hoppe's cleaner in the spray bottle on it and pull the cleaning rod through..It creates an air tight seal and just pulls carbon all the way out...Cuts cleaning time down and patch use down to a minimum. After that run like 2 patches through it with a touch of oil and it's done! Best cleaning thing I bought in awhile...1 problem though, they aren't very durable..They last about 3 years and you have to buy it again.
I had one for my paintball gun when I was a younger. Probably 17+years ago. I've never seen one for rifles. It worked really got for getting broken paint out of the barrel
@@___meph___4547 You get the Hoppe's Black Spary bottle solvent (make sure it's the spray bottle version because it's a different formula then the regular version that works really good) and spray it down the bore and let it soak. Then use the Sqeege brush..Works good enough to get the carbon out without needing to brush it..The brush will work better for total cleaning, but like MAC said in the video it's not necessary to get it that clean...Think of it more like a reusable patch, that works better.
@@TarBeeBee Ben, Remington makes them and they are called "Remington Bore Squeeg-e Cleaner" make sure you get the right bore size for what you need...The .22 caliber version will work for 5.56 too.
I use stainless steel brushes exclusively. I turn the brush as I pull it through to add what I call "micro rifling". It super stabilizes to such a great degree that I call the MOA in seconds.
I almost always cleaned after every single range session. During a Kagwerks course I asked the instructor how often he cleans and he said every 3-5K rounds. After that I pretty much just keep them lubed and shoot em. Cleaning is overrated.
In my experience, the higher quality barrels have less need for break in procedures. I have seen factory barrels improve w break in and they were easier to clean later.
I like hearing people’s techniques, more so for an open discussion. The part I like most with this one is the “you do you” statement. Each barrel and firearm is different and unique. I agree that probably most people creat more problems then fix when cleaning. Also, some guns will be completely destroyed if you left them unclean and unchecked for an extended period of time. There’s so many factors that come into play, I can list examples until I’m blue in the face. I’d say this is a great method for premium barrels that have been lapped from the factory that made them. This would be terrible for a 100 year old surplus rifle after shooting corrosive ammo all day. I’ll give two quick examples of when you shouldn’t and when you should. 1 range trip I witnessed a younger gentleman who was very proud of his new arsenal AK. He was cleaning it after every shot to “break in the barrel”. I didn’t have the heart to explain why he was probably wasting his time. Chrome lined, hammer forged, commercial ammo…… Another example is why you would. Carbon also attracts moisture. Think of someone who might live down south in a very humid environment. The M14/M1A comes to mind. I saw a very clean M1A once that was cleaned immediately after firing non corrosive ammo and had oil applied to the bore before storage. The carbon in the gas port, over time, attracted moisture and caused the inside of the barrel to rust about 2” in both directions immediately around the gas port. I did some research after this and found that this is a common occurrence with that design. Anyway, like the content! Keep it up brother.
I'm just glad you heard the "this is my opinion" but I've had to modify it because people are so easily offended to "you do you". I should probably get shirts printed. 😂
I just got my first and only M1A (SOCOM 16). I have yet to get it out to fire it. So I haven’t arrived yet at the point of establishing a cleaning practice for this rifle. When you mentioned this M1A you saw with rust around the gas port, what are you saying caused it? It seems like you’re blaming the cleaning. But wouldn’t it have had carbon (attracting moisture) near the gas port WITHOUT being cleaned?
Good video. I never use brushes either. Nylon Rod, patches and MP-7! I too shoot a Bergara, Hunter model. Bullet for bullet, dollar for dollar, Bergara is the best value for the money!
Yeah, I drank the coolaide. It's funny that I fussed so much over accuracy, chasing it around with my Savage 110 Varmint. I got a plinker that shoots very well and I'm consistent with it... I don't "chase" the accuracy at all. You just explained it and you could probably hear me smackin' my forehead. The added bonus is for the time I save on the ritual of cleaning can be use for more shooting. Thanks for that!
Mac, your exactly right about the jagged surface of metal at the microscopic level. One product I found a few years ago for my motorcycles and cars fills in those areas with polymers. It's water based and it doesn't discolor metal at extremely hot temperatures. I use it on my entire bike. So one day I was thinking, why don't I try it on a gun. So, I treated one of my pistols with it. Took it to the range and ran a couple hundred rounds through it. Took it home to clean it and the only fouling in the barrel was powder residue. I ran one wet patch and one dry patch and the barrel sparkled. Since then I treat all of my firearms with it. The product is F11 Top Coat. It's a great product with a lot of uses. And thanks to F11 none of my gun barrels will ever be touched by a brush again.
As always, follow the manufacture recommendations and procedures! The military required the shooter to clean the weapon after a day on the range. CLP was provided along with the stock cleaning brushes. I like the suggested cleaning procedures in the video. Saves a lot of time and effort while retaining accuracy in the gun!
True but, military weapons are chrome line, I didn’t use a brush, the thirteens Years I was in didn’t have to. Oil patch, dry patch, plus pull the patch in the direction of the bullet.
@@theresacox8207 The M-16 used for qualification (USAF) were issued and return the same day. The Range Officials were ANAL retentive and oversaw the cleaning and inspected the weapon for return to the armory!
How the heck is a brass brush going to damage the bore when every round is a brass-jacketed piece of lead which gets swaged into the lands and grooves? There's a whole lot more force involved there than with the brush.
It won't. It's true that over cleaning can damage your bore. This has been known since the late 1800s. But there is so much bullshit being spread now. "Don't run brushes down your bore it will damage it!!!" "Don't patch your bore!!! You are abrading it!!!" The truth is, you will not harm your barrel with bronze brushes, you will no harm it with nylon brushes, and you will not harm it with patches. You can however damage your barrel by not cleaning it. You must remember that guns are made of carbon steel, which rusts unless it's protected by oil (this may not be an issue if you live in a very dry area) Is it enough to run an oily pull throgh down your barrel and that's it? Yep! Does that mean anything more is going to damage your bore? Nope!
@@thecanadianlanboy8132 Most rifle barrels that are carbon steel are plated or lined with something internally to prevent carbon steel from being exposed to the fouling, carbon, heat and cleaning supplies. It’s not the brass brush or the nylon that is going to wear down the bore… it’s the carbon that it scrapes off the inside and pushes all the way down the barrel and out the muzzle. That carbon (not the brush, the carbon) is much harder than bronze or nylon and possible hard enough to scratch the barrel microscopically which in turn will get you steel slurry/dust that is the same hardness as the barrel because it came from the barrel. Steel shavings from a barrel are certainly hard enough to scratch the inside of the same barrel. I have seen chunks of carbon buildup seize small engines in chainsaws, weed whackers, backpack blowers etc. I haven’t seen personally but have heard of it seizing or breaking piston crowns in direct injected cars. I haven’t ever damaged a barrel because of over cleaning but I don’t really clean my barrels that often. I’ve only heard about it damaging barrels but I can say pretty confidently that just because the brush material isn’t hard enough to scratch the barrel doesn’t mean that what comes off the inside of the barrel itself and gets caught in the brush isn’t. Remember that a Japanese water stone can sharpen knives of over 65 Rockwell hardness despite being seemingly made of soft clay. The soft clay is full of abrasives they are hard enough to scratch steel which will add steel shavings to mix and create a kind of snowball effect.
I saw an interview with John Krieger years ago, he was asked about barrel break in and cleaning. He simply smiled and shook his head no. He said clean it when it accuracy starts to drop. Last time i checked, the most accurate gun on earth uses a single point cut Krieger barrel.
No one has built better barrels or knows more than Krieger, imo. My father built benchrest rifles for 30 yrs and while there are a few other top tier pipes out there, none are better than Krieger.
Reminds me of how much I used to cringe in the Army when we had to clean to "clean" our M16s after the range, or just every so often. Steel brushes and copper brushes, segmented aluminum cleaning rods, and the worst part. It had to be spotless in the chamber and everywhere to be accepted by the arm's room. It was by any means possible to get that carbon ring out and anywhere else there might be a speck of carbon. Damn the rifle! Full scrape ahead! I do believe the old saying is true that more guns have been ruined by overcleaning.
Those multi-section pieces of gun-killing crap. Not to mention the stuff they rodded us on and off the range with. Sometimes it was the crappy cleaning rods. Sometimes, who knows what. I hear ya.
@@rustyhighlander786 Fortunately a lot of those guys didn't clean the hell out of them just to make a grumpy armorer happy. LOL. At least they were one piece.
The way you just explained is the way I've been cleaning my 🔫's for years. I'm more concerned about what can jam the action. On some of my 🔫's, I've run 500+ rounds through then oiled them, put them away, and then take them out and run another 500 rounds. And if everything was good, I would repeat. One, I ran 2,000 rounds through before cleaning and had no issues. I still have these 🔫's and they still shoot accurate. These are tools that need to be used, not put in a glass case for show and tell. Good stuff! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Excellent video. I typically use hot water , a plastic brush and then patches whenever shooting one of my C&R guns and corrosive milsurp ammo. With modern guns and ammo, I use Hoppes, Stoddards solvent or lamp oil , with a plastic brush, to clean out the carbon fouling. With all of my guns, I give the barrel a CLP soaked patch at the end to preserve the rifling. As you mentioned, Dewey rods are the best. I never run a cleaning rod through my airgun barrels-John in Texas
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I once had a customer who complained bitterly that the match rifle I had sold him had lost all accuracy after only a few weeks of shooting. I returned it to the manufacturer for inspection. They informed me that the rifling had disappeared. This was a heavy stainless steel barrel, which truly perplexed us, so I asked the shooter about his cleaning habits. He was extremely anal in this regard. He was dissatisfied with American bore solvents, so he had acquired a high ammonia solvent from a Canadian supplier and used it exclusively. After every single shot he would run a wet patch down the bore, followed by ten strokes with a stainless steel bore brush, and one more patch of solvent. In effect he had polished his bore to a mirror shine and in the process had eliminated the rifling. The manufacturer agreed to replace the barrel at no charge and on the condition he get rid of the solvent and cease his insane fetish with dirty bores.
You mean he had to give up that finely polished SHOTGUN barrel? Now I’m not exactly comparing apples to apples here, but a muzzle loader is a little different story. I found out the hard way when I was a teenager that they shot the best on a lightly fouled barrel. I would fire my Knight Disc rifle then lay a dry patch on my tongue. Put the patch on the jag so the moist (not drooling like a hound dog) side was against the rifling. I would run it straight down ONCE! No back and forth movement. Then I would flip the patch over to the cleaner drier side and repeat. Load back up and fire again and it’s one hole at 100 yards! I just thought I would throw that out there for anyone having accuracy issues with a BP rifle. Do this after every shot. I was using 3, 50 grain pyrodex pellets. Don’t remember the bullets I was using. But they were sabots.
@@sirtango1 They weren't called a "fouling" piece for nothing. ;-)
BP guns are a whole different matter and should be cleaned regularly - but not excessively, as you correctly indicated.
Those solvents should say to keep away from nickel or stainless. Sweets 7.62 is the only solvent I trust on my 1916 Enfield SMLE. Shoots very accurate but metal fouls worse than any other rifle I've fired. With regular hopps it fouls to the point of galling. Found an Australian SMLE group that directed me to that aggressive solvent and my Enfield shoots great again. Won't get that solvent anywhere near my desert eagle for the reason you described.
@Fred Wills I know. It was meant as a play on words, hence the quotation marks and the wink face.
@Fred Wills I am bereft. ;- ()
I just bought a brand new Tikka T3x and put a few wet patches through it. Started out with some black but came out basically clean after only 3 patches...
Then I put a brush through a few times and the amount of black oily residue that was still in there but showing up clean on regular cotton patches was really surprising. I'm so glad I used a brush to get the rest of that manufacturing gunk out before ever getting any bullets near the gun.
I understand the concerns around bronze brushes but for me it the logic is: pushing a brush through slowly and gently by hand could never cause as much friction as a full metal bullet going mach 3. If putting soft metal through a barrel was so damaging, then bullets would be nylon by now.
Totally agree👍
Barrels are sized for the bullet. They are not sized for your brush, unless you use your brush religiously. If you do, they won't be sized for your bullet. So, which do you want your barrel sized for? The bullet or the brush? It's your choice, of course.
@@Quakeboy02The bullet and the brush are both larger than the lands of the rifling, so what's your point?
@@Quakeboy02and the brushes are sized for your barrel, i really don't understand your point
The idea that a bronze brush can damage a steel barrel is just incorrect.
Literally this.
Why is this still believed I'll never understand...like saying you shouldn't use a butter knife to cut butter as it'll damage the knife...lol
Absolutley
Any sort of friction can wear down anything. Ever seen worn down floors in old buildings?
@@jm329are you referring to the old steel floors that people walked on with bronze shoes?
I have exclusively used Balistol and bore snakes for cleaning my firearms for at least 25 years. I haven't had any issues with accuracy or rust. I find the different cleaning methods interesting. Good video.
this 100%
Same. Haven’t used anything but this and have no issues at all.
Second this. And I find soap and hot water go more than any scrubbing will. *don’t forget to oil after.
For the barrel sure, and it depends a bit on the weapon. On my rifle (an AR type), a bore snake right after a session seems to clean up pretty much everything; at home I run an oiled patch through followed by a dry one. But on one of my revolvers I get a lot of lead buildup when shooting wadcutters, best way to clean that (as recommended by a gunsmith) was a copper brush with no solvents or anything else. Another revolver, same ammo, no buildup whatsoever. They all get the boresnake after a session, and a little oil every so often.
I've done the break-in routine once (100 rounds or so), can;t imagine it would harm the weapon but it did feel a bit like voodoo :)
MAC, thanks for this. I'm 68 and a shooter since 11 years old. Was taught by father and other shooting friends about being diligent on cleaning each time gun was used (except for some extended hunting trips). Typical of old-school thinking- run Hoppes #9 solvent, scrub with brass brush, etc. Purchased first precision rifle (Ruger Precision Rifle, 6.5 Creed) about 3 years ago (2018). The salesperson at gun store gave me a 10 minute lecture on barrel break-in (shoot 1 round & clean, shoot 2 rounds then clean, etc.) The rangemaster at our range (California Tactical in Piru, California) told me how stupid that thinking was. Was at the range today with a new FN SCAR. Didn't think twice about the old-school break in procedure. Especially since it's a cold hammer forged, chrome lined barrel. I'll continue to use your method and change to a non-ammonia cleaning solvent and nylon brushes. I've given up the clean-after-use thinking for barrel (but will continue to clean bolt assy and gas piston occasionally). Keep up the great work.
When I was a kid, my uncle told me " don't over clean the barrel. More guns (bores) are ruined from cleaning then shooting". He was right back in the 1970's and 1980's. Today I have the benefit of knowing some really excellent competitive shooters. To the man, they tell me they basically don't do a break in and only clean lightly periodically to keep it running. If it stops shooting run a few patches through it and clean it lightly. One guy in particular uses high end custom rifles and does not use metal brushes ever and changes to a new barrel when he starts wearing them out. He told me he never uses ammonia solvent and does not try to get the copper out with solvent. I am glad that he told me all this when I bought a new rifle and I have followed his advice. So far, so good.
In your experience does this hold true for any rifle or just bolt guns? Most of my ARs have chrome lined bores and one with a nitride treatment. Should I just run patches through every once in a while and call it a day?
I realized this when I bought a WWII Moist Nugget, if I tried to do more than just remove the cosmoline I would be doing more harm than good.
I always use gun lube on a piece of a napkin and push it through the barrel. Cleans most, couldn't possibly hurt it?
I have an Anderson AR 8" pistol complete with suppressor, steel cased commie ammo and Franklin binary. It "stopped" running after 8k-10k rds, only because the gas key came loose. Twas also when I cleaned it for the first time, and by cleaned I mean split the receivers, hit it with the pressure washer. Then took the bolt apart and wiped it off with a blue Scott's rag and window cleaner. Took a old knife to the piston for the carbon. Pushed said blue rag down the barrel. Staked the key, and went back to shooting the next week. That was 3 years ago, she still running great!
@@parkercarlton9340 barrels are kinda like engine cylinders, to an extent, they sorta clean themselves. Once there is a certain amount of copper built up in the barrel, it doesn't get more fouled just because you keep shooting, it stays where it's at.
I won a match 4 years ago & put the gun into the safe. Pulled it out two weekends ago, wiped off the bolt, added Lucas gun oil and ran the bore snake through it once. It shot sub-moa groups out to 500 yards winning again. Spend time training not cleaning! Thanks for the video!
I have to agree with you. My story is much more extreme. After a day of shooting about 400 rds in my Remington 12A pump .22, I put the rifle away uncleaned. Life happened and 23 years later I brought out the old Remington, ran a few wet Balistol patches down the barrel then a few dry patches and took the rifle out back and at 75 yds shooting CCI sv lead round nose I was shooting MOA using iron sights.
How is this possible? I read on the internet that Boresnakes will cause your barrel to spontaneously combust.
Ill never use Lucas Gun oil again, i love their 2 Stroke oils, but not for guns, mine rusted up so fast when i used their stuff for some reason
@@leadhead7338 I loved their synthetic high heat.
@@crawdadlando4053 We run Lucas 2Stroke oil and their 10w-40 for wet clutches in our Motocross bikes.
A brass brush won't hurt any barrel. Brass is leagues softer than any barrel steel out there.
inb4 "hurr durr metel on matal contact"
Brass is specifically chosen for brushes because it is softer than barrel steel. It won’t gouge the rifling or scratch up the chamber. Don’t ever use stainless steel brushes. I have one SS pick to get any stuck on carbon and it’s rarely used
Brass brush with a bronze core, not brass brush with SS core.
Exactly. Softer metals cannot scratch harder ones. I have an all chrome Schwinn beach cruiser and it got a little rust on the frame. I took some balled up aluminum foil and used it as a scrubbing pad and the rust came right up without any scratches to the chrome.
Think about what the tips of the soft copper/bronze bristles pick up and get embedded/studded with though... Carbon, which is abrasive. Nylon doesn't get embedded with Carbon.
Thanks for your very informed comments regarding breaking in a new barrel. I just bought a 9mm carbine and haven't yet shot it. Your video has given me the confidence to bypass the start-and-stop shooting/cleaning break-in procedure and just enjoy shooting it after an initial wet patch followed up with a few dry patches. I can enjoy my new firearm without wondering if I'm doing harm to it. Thanks again for your very articulate, knowledgable presentation.
I think that most of the over cleaning of barrels is a hold over from the days of corrosive ammo and its effects on barrels.
@@PunchingCacti I guess the argument would have been that the corrosive material could be layered under carbon and the argument is that you have to clean all the carbon to make sure there's no corrosive material left
@@PunchingCacti , Thats what I do after shooting corrosive ammo through my Mosin or my M57 Zastava pistol. Warm water and a little dish soap cleans it all out just fine. Dry them, lightly oil them and I'm done.
back in the day a lot of people shot lead with no gas checks and leaded up their barrels. They had to clean the hell out of them. That was in the depression up into the early 60's. It kind of carried over to present day through grandpa, dad, and son.
As with most things firearms related, just shoot the gun and don’t let it get covered in crud. Folks really over complicate it. I’m glad you made this video.
Lol when the powder burns off inside the gun when a bullet is fired the gun gets dirty! You mean to tell me you don’t clean your gun after shooting??
People overcomplicate it and go OCD cleaning their guns as if they're still using corrosive primers/powder. It's a bunch of fudd lore. Cleaning modern guns with modern ammo is really something you only do on an as-needed basis.
@@coreykilbride7537 No.
The most I do, unless I am working on one is spray LPS down the bore. That's just to stop it from turning green 🤣.
What is wrong with a brass brush?
I have done a lot of incorrect procedures.
This is why I watch different content. Always learning.
Ammonia is NOT corrosive. Not to steel anyway. I hear this all the time and I just think people don’t understand the chemistry very well. Ammonia is very effective at breaking down “yellow” metals like copper, brass and bronze alloys. However, steel is virtually impervious to ammonia and, in fact, ammonia is often used in steam boiler systems to prevent corrosion in steam and condensate lines. Mild steel piping is used in thousands upon thousands of ammonia refrigeration systems that carry hundreds of pounds of highly concentrated ammonia. If ammonia was corrosive to steel, those pipes would burst constantly. Ammonia based solvents will not and cannot “rust” your barrel.
Break in procedure for me: Shoot to remove burrs, run boresnake through it to remove carbon while an initial layer of copper is built up and the barrel sets into its accuracy. After that shoot it and boresnake to remove carbon. Once a while a patch with clp if the gun will be store for a while. Never had issues in over 20 years. More important is to keep the gun in a dry place while storing and keep a little film of oil on the working/exterior parts to prevent rust.
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I'm on the same page as you here 👍 I wish I had invented the Boresnake 😉
Burrs from what?
@@iammattbennett cutting steel in the manufacturing process always results in some burring. The duller the tooling, the larger the burrs and burnishing.
KnifeMaker
I don’t think I’ve ever owned a rifle that shot best clean. Always improved after a few fouling shots. Back in the day, I did have somewhat of a break in procedure that was intended to remove any copper fouling, but not for the reason you me mentioned. The reason I cleaned new barrels like that was to get the fouling out of the imperfect areas so that they would smooth up in time. With fouling in rough areas the bullet just trades a little jacket material with the fouling as it passes by, never working on the steel that is causing the fouling. My idea was that once cleaned, the bullet abraded (however slightly) the roughness thus smoothing it out eventually. I’m 100% an advocate of doing what works for you without letting anyone else force their opinion. As it goes, I clean pretty much like you do with the exception that I don’t believe a cotton patch is going to damage a steel barrel if the direction should be reversed mid stroke. Great video and keep up the fine shooting sir!
We used 3 in 1 oil on our guns. We never took our guns apart to oil them. The firing pins were the only problem we ever had with our very old guns. We used an old T-shit. Cut strips off of it. Put oil on the strip and run it down the barrel. Wherever those guns are today i bet they still work.
You just explained the routine my grandfather tuaght to me some 40-45 years ago. I have yet to "shoot out" a barrel. Thank you for the common sense approach to this topic.
Over time, I settled on a similar methodology. At first, I cleaned weapons excessively, because that's what I was taught in the military. But I came to realize that was in fact excessive. Nowadays I clean sparingly, using patches. I only use a brush if necessary. And even then, it's a nylon brush. I also stopped using aggressive cleaning solvents.
Correct, the military habits taught me on our rifle I carried over on civilian pistols, and it’s most probably wrong… ie running a patch or bore snake through the barrel after every shooting session
It’ll happen when you’re used to some sergeant inspected your barrel for any build up and not let you go if it’s not crystal clean,….
I have a lot of friends who are nationally ranked long-range shooters - they may clean their barrels every 800-1000 rounds ... maybe. Huge thumbs up for Bore-Tech - best cleaning products I've ever used (and I've tried a LOT of solvents/cleaners).
Watch videos from Eric Cortina. They clean every 15 to 20 shots. There are no absolutes.
You do you. Mac's methods certainly are not going to harm a typical barrel.
Many years ago when the Colt H-Bar came out. I bought one. I had no idea what I was doing and clean it every time I shot it. I used the screw together steel cleaning rod that came with the rifle. This thing was a tack driver and after years of shooting and cleaning the groups really opened up. The rifling looks like someone was shoving rocks down the barrel!!! Thanks for this video. I learned a lot. I still was rubbing the patch back and forth. What you said makes sense, thanks.
Had a 1sg attack me in a promotion board when he saw I was a sniper. Asked me break in procedures for the brand new(at the time) xm2010. At there was nothing in the TM. So I contacted the military liaison for remington, and I told him what that person told me. After the 1sg told me I didn't know what I was talking about, he asked me where I got my information. the other 1sgs on the board chuckled when I said "the military liaison from Remington 1sg." 😂
Power move right there, hope his feelers didn't get too sore after that!
You, sniper (HOG)...just got a confirmed kill right there. If they don't like us...they make it obvious sometimes.
Never ask a career military guy a question about firearms. They’re probably wrong.
You wouldn't want to " Polish "the smooth surface of your combustion chamber of an engine with a wire brush would you? What do you think that wire brush is doing INSIDE the barrel?
@@mjolnirswrath23 depends on the brush.
My point is, when I was in the Marine Corps, they promoted CLP and cool water rinse as the only authorized cleaning materials for the M-16. Not exactly up-to-date.
There’s this common misconception that someone who’s in the military automatically knows a lot about weapons. That’s simply not true. Even in the infantry, I didn’t learn anything other than the guns that I used. And even then, it wasn’t the in-depth knowledge that I received later when I no longer served. Obviously, there are exceptions to everything, and I’m not downplaying anybody’s service.
Ryan Cleckner served a while in the military, and he knows a ton about rifles and rifle cleaning. He would disagree about the wire brush. Your mileage may vary. To each their own. We are free to do what we want to our own property.
I'm a Caveman, I just use Battle Born CLP and a Hoppe's Bore Snake. After decades of shooting, I'm now only interested in practical accuracy now. I shoot metal plates and action targets and use paper targets on a square range, only for zeroing the rifle. Did the whole Benchrest and Varmit stuff, so I know I can do my part and achieve precision accuracy and I'm over it now. Different disciplines for Different People, its all good.
Shooting paper targets and shooting center mass on steel are two different disciplines. Its nice to be able to shoot distance with accuracy but when you hit center mass, dead is dead.
There was a time where the company I was working for, was wiring up new equipment in a plastics color concentrates factory, and saw something that really amazed me. They would mix a resin and colored powder, force it through a screw and die, to basically make plastic spaghetti. From there, it would go through a water bath to cool, and into a pelletizer. Getting to my point, as the spaghetti went into and out of the bath, there were horizontal stainless steel bars that supported the spaghetti from touching the bath walls. These bars would get grooved deeply from PLASTIC being drawn across them, whether that plastic was hot going in or cool coming out, didn't matter.
The moral of the story being: just because one element is softer than another, does not mean the softer element cannot wear the harder.
Nature teaches us that wind, sand and water can wear down a hard granite mountain. In physics it is time vs abrasion.
Same as if you make a brass gear and a nylon gear and run them as a pair, the nylon will chew the brass to bits.
On that note, under the hood of a car, I have seen a rubber hose wear completely through a steel line and never show any wear on the rubber hose.
Good anecdote, cheers
rifle barrels and weird plastic spaghetti contraption makers are two totally seperate things and a bizarre comparison
This is the best and most informative video I’ve seen on this subject. Almost every other one I’ve seen dictates “must do’s” without the why. Thank you for posting this!
Good video. We always took a new barrel and wiped it clean, then shot a mag through it, ran a couple patches through it, and did this a couple times, and that was the extent of barrel break in. Mainly just to clean up machining burrs was all it amounted to, if there was any. I was also always told to put the cleaning rod in from the muzzle, and when it came out the breech end, then add your patch and ALWAYS PULL a patch or brush through in the direction of bullet travel, to keep the cleaning rod from bowing and rubbing against the bore. I was also told to keep bore brush use to a minimum, and we rarely used them. I've been a shooter since the late 60's early 70's and I've never had a problem with any firearm and we shoot A LOT. Keep the great work.
Marine Corp training has me thinking I needed to clean my rifle after every day at the range. That involves scrubbing every bit of carbon off I can with a nylon and brass brush down the barrel. You have educated me and I will be better with my barrels.
Don’t worry, that was government property.
That's no joke. Q-Tip cleaning was a real thing.
The Army is not much different: "Keep your rifle detailed clean and wet lub after shooting." It was hard for me to move away from over cleaning my guns. Nowadays, I accumulate about 1,000 rounds before a do some cleaning on the bolt carrier group. When I see too much, visible, excess of fouling build up, I do a deeper cleaner. Used to be that my civilian rifles were shiny clean every time after I shot them, which it was unnecessary, of course.
I used to be the same. My sad always had us cleaning our guns that night after shooting them. We'd run copper brush soaked in Hoppes #9 solvent a few times down the barrel, then some soaked patches. Then follow with dry patches until they came put clean. Then a patch lubed with Hoppes oil, followed by a dry patch to soak up the residual oil. We did notice that almost every time the first shot out of a rifle was always a little off on its own and had a little bit of oil on the target. Then in the Marine Corps this only reinforced that belief that my guns had to be clean after every range trip. Well after going to the range with like 5 or 6 guns and spending all night trying to get them USMC clean I started getting lazy and not cleaning my weapons as often. I kept saying I'll get to it later and later and putting it off. Now I've come to realize my rifles still shoot the same. My AR runs fine even though I haven't cleaned it in a few trips. My semi-auto pistols also run just fine even if I haven't cleaned them thoroughly and they have some carbon built up. So now i clean my weapons occasionally if they look really really dirty or start misbehaving such as malfunctioning or losing accuracy. Now, if I have been out in the rain or snow with them, I do make sure to wipe them down with a dry rag followed by a light coat of oil or CLP.
I suspect that the insistence on cleaning after every firing dates from when chlorate based primers were in common use, and cleaning to remove corrosive residue was needed. That being the case, wet patches with a mild solvent followed by dry patches should do the job. Anything more would be in kind with the kind of obsessive-compulsive that has a fighting man shine his boots to a mirror finish.
I follow system I learned in the military in Switzerland.
After shooting, pass greased nylon brush, then brass brush.
Clean bore with patch, greased nylon brush and store.
Prior to shooting remove grease with patch.
Done this regularly and my Fass 57 (SIG 510) shoots straight and tight in a very satisfactory manner.
One of the hardest things I had to change, was to stop cleaning my firearms like I did in the USMC.
Yep I agree
Yep yep the inspection level clean destroys guns
Army guy - same here! ;-).
I grew up cleaning my gun after every trip to the range or when firing a shot in hunting. I’ve picked up a better routine and use only aluminum cleaning rods and Hoppe’s No 9. I’m going to read the ingredients from the label. I bought some Copper out years ago and the bottle’s never been opened. My accuracy has never deteriorated so I never used it. I clean now usually after the 100 rd mark like you’ve suggested. I don’t clean after every outing unless I fire 100 rds or so. Breaking old habits is hard but the results are worth it. I don’t own precision guns anymore but my guns shoot better than I can. I shoot MOA with good scopes and ! 1/2 to 2 1/2 with Red dots on my AR Pistols at 100 yds. I’m 71 and my eyes aren’t as good as in my youth. At 41 yoa I had a custom rifle built that printed 1/2 to 3/4 MOA fairly consistently at 100 yds. The thing weighed 13 lbs. Target shooting is fun, but I go for Combat accuracy, 15 years, 8 mos and 6 days experience is what I am drawing from in the Let’s go Brandon age!
Aluminum rods are the worst. When they oxidize they are very abrasive. Your better off with brass or nylon coated. But i get you people act like ther guns are made of pixy dust these days...
I've heard carbon fiber cleaning rods are the best as they have the least chance of doing any damage to the barrel.
@@sparky_-mf2cs An aluminum rod, even if oxidized, isn't going to do anything to a high carbon steel barrel just from general cleaning. If your barrel were that susceptible to damage, it wouldn't last a single mag dump.
@@NWA744 look it up. Oxidized Aluminum is very abrasive. Of course it aint guna damage your barrel from one 2 or even 10 cleanings. But it will do damage over time.
@@sparky_-mf2cs I use aluminum oxide at work, I know what it is capable of. An aluminum cleaning rod is not the same as purpose made aluminum oxide abrasives though. You would need a lot more applied pressure and friction than running a simple rod through your barrel will ever generate. If you think a cleaning rod is so bad, what do you think a projectile that is slightly larger than the diameter of your bore, being squeezed through by 50-60K PSI of pressure, at roughly 2500-3500 fps, and with high heat will do to your barrel?
A good quality bronze bore brush will not harm any steel barrel. Ammonia based cleaners are awesome, just don’t leave it in the barrel for long periods. What destroys barrels and accuracy is aggressive over cleaning.
Thanks for your time Tim-bo. Your presentation is making me re-think my cleaning procedures...or lackof
Barrel break-ins are basically like throwing salt over your shoulder or wearing your lucky jock strap during a ballgame. I’ve heard good barrel manufacturers say that the only reason they include the procedure is that if they don’t customers will call over and over again asking what the break-in procedure is. I agree that the best ‘break-in’ is to do a quick initial clean, then shoot 100 rounds. I’ve followed that procedure on dozens of barrels and they work great.
Total Agreement.
You didn't have a favorite jock strap?!😂
Thank you for this video, it was really informative. I also appreciate that you presented this as helpful guidance based on research and personal experience but not as "the only way". It's always nice to see people with your level of experience sharing with the community.
Perfect video. Agree 100 man. Anyone that argues doesn't shoot enough and cleans too much
This whole idea of breaking in barrels is truly perplexing and only benefits the solvent and cleaning product companies. They really have people bamboozled on this one. Take my word for it and just go out and enjoy your rifle. No need to waste ammo and cleaning products. I agree that actions do get smoother with use but as far as the barrel goes these advertised break in rituals some people swear by seem crazy to me. My humble opinion as always based on many years of shooting folks. Not an expert nor do I claim to be but definitely a solid shooting sports enthusiast. God bless as always!
I've spent over $3K on a borescope and accessories -- and learned a LOT about barrel conditions and the effects (or their lack) of cleaning. You can now get a teslong borescope in the $100 range. I HIGHLY advise all who are interested in firearms and shooting to get one of these borescopes and really get an education about bores. VERY revealing.
Thanks, Tim. I grew up in the era when the mantra was “always clean your gun after every time you shoot it”. I came to agree with your mindset about a decade ago. I had previously tried cleaning to bare metal and fire lapping old bolt action milsurp rifles. All that effort is mostly a waste of time. Usually those guns settle in after the rough spots are filled with copper and the fouling actually smooths out the bore. The most drastic cleaning I do is to squirt some CLP down the bore, let it sit 2 minutes, then pull a bore snake through the bore- no more than twice. Done. No more cleaning required. CLP will eat away at carbon, not touch the metals, but leave oils behind to prevent rust. I still believe in the fouling shot after that procedure (in the case of hunting rifles, where first shot accuracy is necessary), but I feel the fouling is actually necessary for making the bore smoother than it is when it’s clean to bare metal.
Well with modern ammunition its not really necessary, but back when they were shooting black powder muzzle loaders and black powder cartridge guns cleaning after every use was necessary to prevent extreme bore pitting(Or at least every few days, the sooner the better and easier to get the fouling out). And even for a long time with smokeless powder all cartridges had corrosive primers so frequent cleaning was necessary to avoid pitting. However if you do shoot any ammunition with black powder, corrosive primers, or both this still applies. And with muzzle loaders it always does since those are exclusively black powder/black powder substitute guns.
Good advice. I use both brass brushes and nylon. I use the nylon for the more accurate rifles, the ones that are intended to be tack drivers. And for things like defensive carbines, I consider the brass to be fine, as those rifles are geared more towards "combat accurate", more than being tack drivers. And I also tend to use brass for pistols. Just my two cents.
OK I'm convinced, I'll change...
Thanks for your help 👍 🙂
Thanks! Great video. Absolutely right on all points. When the average Joe bought a rifle pre internet there was never a barrel breakin involved. The barrel breakin was shoot it. Clean it occasionally varying with each shooter.
A lot of the cleaning myths date back to when powders were super corrosive. Not the case anymore
As a professional gunsmith for 20yrs building accurate rifles I have found the "break in" depends on how the barrel was made. Cut rifled and hammer forged don't really need a break in because they are already smooth under a bore scope and actually don't foul much. Button rifled barrels need a break in. They are rough under a bore scope! They grab copper at every little line that was left from the hydrologic press that hammered the button through the bore. So the whole "shoot one, clean, shoot 2, clean..."was to smooth out all the little burrs left in a button rifled barrel. It's not needed unless it's button rifled. And at least for fouling it really helps for ease of cleaning after breaking it in. As far as accuracy on a button barrel I've found it seems to help a little during long strings of shooting and makes it easier to clean after.
I 100,% agree with not using stainless brushes! Let the solvent do the work and give it 5-10 minutes after patching the solvent. I've seen barrels with a 20rnd "break in" destroyed with a SS brush and are then a 2moa gun.
So know what kind of barrel you have before trying to make it better!
In this video he is commenting on his Bergara rifle made in Spain, Spanish high quality steel, which has a button rifled barrel. Every button rifled barrel I have was pull buttoned in one pass, not "hammered." Ed Shilen was Bergara's consultant. Judging by the bore scope footage in the above video, I'd say the cleaning method used as described worked just fine in the Bergara rifle he's shooting with a button rifled barrel.
I swear, every gun youtuber has a different way they clean barrels lol, I guess that is one of the beauties of freedom, we can all have an opinion and do what works for us. I have been using Otis cleaning kits for a while now with their bronze brushes that never scratch, work well for me. I prefer the cables to a cleaning rod for sure.
Fallow the manufacturer listed procedures.
You’d be surprised how little they want you to do
@TheMetalGuy852 man you know I’m loving that sht
@@brandonparrett2436 I wish people were as fervent about “end the Fed” as they are about “let’s go Brandon”
Exactly. I followed my Christiansen Arms break-in procedure and amazingly enough its pretty much the same way as you described.
Where can I find those procedures? Website or manual I'm guessing?
Peep the Bear Creek Arsenal break in procedure. I was sweating after I was done with it lol.
Your process is not unlike my own. AND THANK YOU for not cranking the bolt at 467 miles per hour! good video and while I am not a 'military firearm only' guy...I appreciate your candid and frank opinions on this channel.
I'm 52 now and I was fortunate to purchase my first firearm when I was 19. My father was a serious hunter and firearm collector with alot of hands on gunsmith type of projects. Exactly everything you mentioned about bore cleaning down to the nylon brushes is 100% correct my friend. That's the way my father cleaned military guns and that's the way he thought me. Never over clean but you do need to clean and always oil after cleaning. No complaints from me with your cleaning methods. 😁👊🇺🇸🇺🇸💪
One of the top Barrel makers said more barrels are ruined from cleaning or over-cleaning than any other reason excellent video thank you
The best investment I ever made was buying 2 one piece cleaning rods, one in 22cal for bores up to 270, and a 27cal for 270 and above, the 3 piece sets always break and a 22 size can easily bend and break in larger bores also
Same I picked up a nice Pro Shot rod for my Over Under and ended up going back for the 22 cal one because of the build quality.
Can someone educate me as to why 22lr and 223/556 are both considered 22 caliber? I bought a bore brush stating 22 cal for my 22lr but it was too big.
@@nightnday6675 because they are both 22 caliber rounds
@TheMetalGuy852 not a huge fan of bore snakes myself, as a expedient field cleaning yes they work fine, but for any serious cleaning they lack the ability, I mean even the british issued cleaning strings with their enfields but they had a barrack rod with every unit for more serious cleaning
@TheMetalGuy852 I have used a boresnake in both my S&W 69 and my AR 15s, the S&W 69 the lead wouldn't be removed near as well if one were to have leading issues, I used to when I used commercial cast bullets but have since remedied that problem by casting my own and proper sizing the bullets, the AR it did clean well but I didn't like the feeling of potentially dragging grit through my barrel over and over. Now no hard feelings, I shoot about 5 to 6 thousand rounds a year through various centerfires, mostly military surplus rifles and my 556 rifles, not near as much as some people but I am a stickler for clean firearms and never put away a firearm dirty. If you have good luck with bore snakes then continue their use, I just see it as more of a field expedient cleaning tool rather than a thorough cleaning tool and that has been my experience. I also do not see many of the benchrest guys using boresnakes as their main cleaning tool. Not that my opinion is the end all be all.
Have been using Hoppes #9 and CLP exclusively for well over 20 years as well as using a Copper bristle bore brush, for every gun i've owned and cleaned. I have never hurt the accuracy, nor destroyed a barrel from PROPERLY using all of these. This includes, target rifles that shoot well under MOA, to all my pistols.
Those segmented rods are what I think has destroyed countless crowns. I’ve seen Garands with funnel shaped bores.
I’ve tried all the brushes: tornado, bronze, nylon, silicone, etc. The best I’ve found is a bore snake which envelops a bronze brush in fabric. Usually keep at least 2 for each caliber, one for first passes and another for cleanup passes.
Ive been using this method for years, little clp let it sit for a few min then 2-3 runs with a bore snake then done. Barrels look brand new still.
Yup. Cause easy-button.
Sucks for cleaning surplus corrosive ammo
I use Breakthrough Boresnake . It uses Nylon brushes ..
I have 1 Breakthrough Boresnake I use with solvents and 1 I use for G96 Gun Treatment spray
I have a buddy whose son was an Army sniper and became the armorer for his SF team. This is how he cleaned the carbines for that team. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.
Which you have said, from your expense makes perfect sense to me. We'll start maintaining my firearms in this way. Thank you.
Your "two cents" are valued. Great examples. Thanks.
Wait, you guys clean your guns?
Ikr
Lol, I can tell ya this. I cleaned an old but very accurate.22 LR rifle years ago. It “needed it” and was a little neglected. After the cleaning, the gun ran super smooth, but the dead on accuracy at 75yds had now opened up to 4”. I thought I had ruined it. Turns out that after that summer and 1000+ rounds between my brother and three cousins, that gun developed its accuracy again.
Now years later I have realized that there is a ‘copper equalization’.
A brand new barrel will actually become more accurate as the imperfections become filled in and seasoned with copper.
If you mean throw some lube on it, then yes
England : wait you guys have guns??
I've heard plenty of people say that I'm doing it wrong. Maybe I'll start listening when they start outshooting me.
I agree. With ALL my firearms. A patch and a nylon brush will handle the job just fine, with no damage.
“ break in” for arms with lots of moving parts, ( semi-autos and pumps) just gets rid of all the tool marks and high spots on wear areas.
If you could see a machined surface under a microscope, it’d look like the Appalachians! Different story altogether for metal on metal parts.
Unless you’re a toolmaker, gunsmith or machinist that knows what you’re doing, 1)don’t polish a blessed thing. 2) no metal on metal .
PS- Yes, I’m a toolmaker.
I’ve been using brass brushes for over 50 years and never a problem with them, plain old common sense is pretty rare these days. 😂 nylon brushes are crap.
Same here.
Here you go DA----- All you have to do is follow the link I provided and people who think brass/bronze can't damage steal will find a picture from a well known barrel maker with bore scope footage of very real damage done. Yup, when you're dragging flakes of carbon (very hard) and metal flakes through your bore you are in fact damaging it. Thanks for the post
Dont see a link. So, uh, when a bullet goes down a barrel at mach 2.5 or 3, where is the carbon fouling going? Do you think the bullet isint scraping and rubbing carbon fouling all along the bore? But the brush is going to cook it? I don't understand copper brush phobia. As a revolver shooter (primarily) of lead bullets (exclusively), bore brush is life. Chore boy too. My sub moa bolt actions get the same treatment to no ill effect. (No chore boy for them though.)@jhartmac100
@@jhartmac100
There’s lots of bullshit on the Internet, the proper use of brass or copper brushes is not going to hurt your barrel.
@@jeffhowland867
I understand your pain with lead bullets in revolvers, primarily magnum calibers, I quit using them in my 41, 44, and 357 magnum just because it’s such a pain in the ass to clean that lead fouling out of them, of course I still use lead bullets in my 22, 38, and 45 revolvers, they just don’t lead up like the big magnum calibers do.
My highly perfectionist father taught me to clean guns and would heavily over-do cleaning. I picked up his perfectionism as the 'correct' way and have definitely reduced the life span of some of my barrels in both pistols and rifles over the years. After some hard lessons I can definitely second what MAC advises; no ammonia, patches on jags from chamber out the muzzle, nylon only. For AR style rifles I really like cleaning rod guides, like the one JP Enterprises sells. I'll push an oil patch through a barrel if it's going into storage for the season or long-term, service guns get a dry patch and done, no oil in the barrel. Thanks MAC.
I had Purchased a Mauser M18 in 30-06 I did a initial cleaning was so surprised the barrel looked clean with visual at first, but when as I pushed patches through they became continually worse. then I used a brush then It became continually worse again. In total I ran 98 patches through and never got it out. I said to heck with it took it too the range and proceeded to shoot sub MOA at 100 yds. I was shooting 5 shot groups at a time, and it kept getting better to the point of that's enough. 60 rounds and I don't think I am going to worry about really cleaning it like before and all my rifles seem to do the same. this man has a lot of truth to his words. I found this out on my own.
I dont believe it when guys say "A bronze brush will """destroy""" a top shelf quality hardened steel barrel". They always say it but never actually prove it. How can a barrel that can withstand the psi in rifles plus the heat, but a bronze brush "ruins" it? Makes no sense at all.
I have to agree with you. We can say microscopic particles of nylon get trapped and superheat those trapped areas and damage the barrel. And, some dopes would believe us.
Exactly. total bull shit. it is like saying you destroy a knife when you cut bread crust, you can only cut pudding. never happened in the history of human kind.
i think the key word is bronze. I can see how stainless brushes could have a negative affect
I've never even seen a bronze or steel brush in a cleaning kit. All the ones I have are copper or are they copper coated. Either way, 4140, 4150, or R416 is not garbage metal for barrels. I havent run thousands of rounds through any of my guns until FJB got in office but now that I have been sharpening my skills, I can say my guns all shoot sub-MOA. All my hunting rifles shoot like they did when I first got them but most have less than 50 to 100 rounds through them. I cleaned all of them with the Hoppes kits that have been out there for eons.
@@mlone7 No, there are no copper brushes; they are phosphor bronze. There are stainless brushess, but those will damage a barrel.
Mac the destroyer of firearms . Thank you for making videos like this I love the information. I been watching you for about 4 years I always absorb all the info you provide and it's helped alot over the year in shooting and figuring out what to buy. Your gauntlet test on the cz p 07 was enough for me to buy it along with other researching i daily carry it along with my Glock 19 and 19x. Thank hope you all have a great day and a great weekend. Keep up the great work MAC and to all that have to do with making these videos with you.
MAC, like you, I was a Jarhead in the 80's. I was brought to scrub the barrel vigorously to make it like brand new money after every time I went shooting. Well, thanks for relieving me of that ritual after over 30 years.
I think the chrome saved us. Lord did we scrub barrels and Q-Tip clean rifles. If only they knew then what we know now... Hell, they probably still do it. LOL
@@Militaryarmschannel we do…
@@Militaryarmschannel Got out a few years ago. Can confirm it’s exactly the same haha
This was enlightening for me. I was following almost the same procedure as yours with my target 22 rifles and hunting rifles. That is until I had a gunsmith build me a hunting rifle with a Douglas Air-gauged barrel in it. Caliber was 260 Rem, known for excellent accuracy. I asked the Douglas people what break-in I should do with this new barrel and got a simplistic procedure to follow that essentially included shoot 1 round, clean the bore (he recommended Bore Tech Eliminator), then shoot 2 or slightly more rounds, clean the bore and then repeat the process until I had 20 - 30 rounds through it. I called several other barrel makers and got similar advice so thought I was golden. This was all after almost never cleaning my Win 52 target rifle at all and it shot wonderfully with the same ammo brand it liked for years. My hunting rifle was a Win Model 70 pre-64 270 Win that was given to me before I moved to Alaska where I shot a Moose every year with the appropriate sight-in process and again, never really cleaned my rifle up there. I shot fine. My 260 Rem still shoots fine with the ammo it likes but I stopped the involved cleaning process and am doing the same thing you are doing with the same product. I did think I needed to get all the copper out but eventually I just shot the rifles and went back to a simple process, but only did the Bore Tech thing once a year. Bottom line is all my rifles shoot fine so I'm doing the same process as you but I shoot very few rounds through my hunting rifles and don't clean my .22's at all unless the chamber gets gummed up with the lube on .22 ammo.
I never get old watching your channel you really teach this old dog new tricks
I've been a shooter for over 56 years & I have never once "broken-in" a barrel. When someone spoke out on this it caught on like cancer. I clean a new barrel before shooting it then after I finish shooting.
If a bronze brush can damage my hard, carbon steel barrel I need to quit using jacketed bullets. NOT!
I DO clean all rifle & shotgun barrels before storage. (Any residual deposits in a barrel can absorb moisture)
Target Rifles: After a thorough cleaning I do always take 1 or 2 fouling shots first.
Hunting Rifles: No fouling shot. That cold shot must be the accurate one! JMO
I appreciated your fine video. Well done Sir.
Hey Tim there’s a video out there with John Krieger himself and he says no particular break in needed. He said just go out there and shoot the damn thing. He wouldn’t even give round counts regarding barrel life. Sometimes it’s best not to overthink the process.
Old guns with pitted bores can benefit from using more aggressive means. You can bring back some accuracy in very old rifled bores by using acid to remove old fouling that ammonia won’t touch. However only do this once and then maintain the bore with much less aggressive means. By no means do this to good bores.
I'm learning guns in my retirement...what you said about the copper filling in is also true in automotive....if you find a old motor full of water you drain water , pull plugs and slowly sip used transmission fluid threw it to lap it in using particals in the fluid as pit filler...I've brought back a 428 c.j. and 318 interceptor and a few others that way...just don't fluid lock it....😎
I use the same philosophy for barrel cleaning as I do for when it comes to cleaning anything eg. Washing clothes, hair or hands - barrels etc. After washing with soap (solvent for the barrel) common sense is to rinse afterwards and for the barrel - rinse thoroughly with pure alcohol from the chemist/drugstore. Clothes get fabricsofterner. Hair gets conditioner. Hands get cream or lotion and oil for the barrel. Remember to run a dry patch before use...
Your method makes perfect sense to me. I will no longer use any of my metal brushes on any of my hunting firearms. Thank you ! And yes an old dog (I'm about to turn 73 in couple weeks) can learn new and 'better' tricks!
I think brass brush after initial wet patch is still nice at loosening gunk. The first patch after brushing is super black, and I get to clean patch much quicker.
Cleaning solvent and time normally loosens up any crud in my barrels, so rarely do I employ a brass brush. But one run through with a brass brush isn't going to destroy a barrel. And, I think what many people here are overlooking, is the fact that most of them can't shoot good enough to worry about mechanical accuracy... nor do they need to if they are shooting deer, for instance.
I watch this and think about the cleaning standard we had in the army. and how the unit armor wouldn't accept our rifles until it was once again bare metal on the inside.
Marines. 4 hours scrubbing for each hour shooting.
The military loves busy work… plus a bit of post Vietnam paranoia about M16 cleanliness.
I remember using brass bore brushes 35 years ago when I was in the army
That should have said 55 years ago
@@tomlusk7873 with the sectional steel rods
Watched another person on this platform put a brass brush on a drill and bore for 30 seconds. Didn’t leave a single blemish
I just saw that recently. Can’t remember the channel.
Great video! I always clean my barrels with tungsten brushes from muzzle to breech then breech to muzzle. Run a patch or two with homemade soap made from pig fat and filtered water then 2 or 3 Scotch-Brite patches followed by 2 or 3 ammonia soaked patches then clean patches until dry. Finally 1 or 2 patches of Ballistall , life is good! 😊
Very interesting but one point, those brass tips on a cleaning rod are 100 times more likely to do damage than the soft pliant bristles of a bronze brush. Personally the one thing I never use is a brass tip, only nylon for me. Another point, I know suppressors are rarer in the USA compared to here in the UK where 99 per cent of rifles are fitted with them, but nothing destroys a barrel quicker than leaving a suppressor on a rifle in a gun safe. You might as well pour acid down the bore.
Hell, the copper jacket on the bullet will do a lot more than a bronze brush. If you leave copper in the bore for more than 3 days the copper & moisture will begin electrologist. Eating up the bore under the copper. However it's your bore suit yourself.
@@flea-kh7om Read my post again. I didn't say the bronze brush did any damage, that was my exact point. I said the hard tip of a BRASS cleaning rod did 100 times more damage than the bronze brush. We are in agreement.
I’ve used some expensive cleaning rods. They have either gotten bent or the coating worn off. But the Tipton is my favorite. It’s a carbon fiber shaft that you won’t put a permanent bend in it like others. And there isn’t any coating to wear off. The price is on par with others like Dewey, or Bore Tech.
Schuemann barrels, a manufacturer of high precision target barrels put out an article many years back saying to never use modern solvents. They calculated that just a minute of contact with modern solvent can remove enough metal that they consider the barrel ruined. Their advice was to never put anything down the barrel except jacketed bullets and an oiled bronze brush or patch. I stopped using solvents after that and have never had a single issue.. If I shoot my lead reloads, I simply fire a half dozen jacketed rounds at the end of my session which cleans out any lead fouling that might have accumulated.
Exactly right! This is what works for you and is very sound advice from someone that shoots as much as you shoot. Every opinion isn't right or wrong. Many times it was taught by a father, uncle or grandfather, so hench you would trust that the most. A lot has changed in rifle and ammunition technology over the years. What worked before and was passed down may not be applicable today. Excellent job at explaining your process and your experience. If someone can't tell that you researched and went through trial and error to lead up to your method, they don't want to have an open mind. Also, if they are happy with their procedure, they should continue. It never hurts to try something new. Thank you for sharing that with us! Shoot On Target!
This is excellent benefit of acquired knowledge. I want to really thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. I have no ego at all, I have extensive experience but I always say "I'll learn from a 6 year old if it's a better way". It's arrogant to think I have all the answers so I know better than to do that. Starting now, I'm following these rules. I never went crazy on cleaning them, so no damage done from what I can see. I'm actually glad I didn't go nuts on them. Some of these Krieger's (Hope I spelled it right) and other barrels are not cheap.
I clean after every range session because any given gun I own may sit in the safe for months before I shoot it again. I don’t want to have to worry about moisture condensing in my barrels. With a nice fresh light coat of oil I’ve never had corrosion problems.
I was Army also and went through basic training in 1974. We cleaned them spotless after each day on the range so I'm still trying to break away from that.
to keep it from rusting etc. makes sense in a military setting, I've sat my ass on a concrete floor cleaning an M4 all day after unit range trips.
That makes things very clear and sensible. The "cleaning myths" probably come from the military. Like cleaned and starched uniforms but the two have nothing in common.
It absolutely is a hot topic, and I appreciate your comment of "you do you." We all have our ways of doing things that have worked for us (some of us for 40 years)
Outstanding video and presentation
Thanks for the video, I find it very hard to believe that a bronze brush with a soft metal core can damage a barrel, that I would have to see to believe. Other than this, your advice of how you do yourself sounds accessible from what I learned.
I like the silicon bore wipes..They look like a cylinder with about 8 shelves on it that are the size of the bore. Throw a little Hoppe's cleaner in the spray bottle on it and pull the cleaning rod through..It creates an air tight seal and just pulls carbon all the way out...Cuts cleaning time down and patch use down to a minimum. After that run like 2 patches through it with a touch of oil and it's done! Best cleaning thing I bought in awhile...1 problem though, they aren't very durable..They last about 3 years and you have to buy it again.
I had one for my paintball gun when I was a younger. Probably 17+years ago. I've never seen one for rifles. It worked really got for getting broken paint out of the barrel
@@alexduke5402 Yeah pretty much the same concept
@50 Stitches Steel I'm having trouble finding those, have a link to where you buy them?
@@___meph___4547 You get the Hoppe's Black Spary bottle solvent (make sure it's the spray bottle version because it's a different formula then the regular version that works really good) and spray it down the bore and let it soak. Then use the Sqeege brush..Works good enough to get the carbon out without needing to brush it..The brush will work better for total cleaning, but like MAC said in the video it's not necessary to get it that clean...Think of it more like a reusable patch, that works better.
@@TarBeeBee Ben, Remington makes them and they are called "Remington Bore Squeeg-e Cleaner" make sure you get the right bore size for what you need...The .22 caliber version will work for 5.56 too.
I use stainless steel brushes exclusively. I turn the brush as I pull it through to add what I call "micro rifling". It super stabilizes to such a great degree that I call the MOA in seconds.
Thanks for the sanity; I never thought all that cleaning made sense based on my experience; I hardly ever clean my barrels and they shoot fine.
Advice well taken, sir. Have a blessed day or night.
I almost always cleaned after every single range session. During a Kagwerks course I asked the instructor how often he cleans and he said every 3-5K rounds. After that I pretty much just keep them lubed and shoot em. Cleaning is overrated.
Yeah till the carbon builds up and is a pain to remove I clean my guns after every range trip takes me longer to clean than shooting
@@9x19freedom ok
In my experience, the higher quality barrels have less need for break in procedures. I have seen factory barrels improve w break in and they were easier to clean later.
I like hearing people’s techniques, more so for an open discussion. The part I like most with this one is the “you do you” statement. Each barrel and firearm is different and unique. I agree that probably most people creat more problems then fix when cleaning. Also, some guns will be completely destroyed if you left them unclean and unchecked for an extended period of time. There’s so many factors that come into play, I can list examples until I’m blue in the face. I’d say this is a great method for premium barrels that have been lapped from the factory that made them. This would be terrible for a 100 year old surplus rifle after shooting corrosive ammo all day. I’ll give two quick examples of when you shouldn’t and when you should.
1 range trip I witnessed a younger gentleman who was very proud of his new arsenal AK. He was cleaning it after every shot to “break in the barrel”. I didn’t have the heart to explain why he was probably wasting his time. Chrome lined, hammer forged, commercial ammo……
Another example is why you would. Carbon also attracts moisture. Think of someone who might live down south in a very humid environment. The M14/M1A comes to mind. I saw a very clean M1A once that was cleaned immediately after firing non corrosive ammo and had oil applied to the bore before storage. The carbon in the gas port, over time, attracted moisture and caused the inside of the barrel to rust about 2” in both directions immediately around the gas port. I did some research after this and found that this is a common occurrence with that design.
Anyway, like the content! Keep it up brother.
I'm just glad you heard the "this is my opinion" but I've had to modify it because people are so easily offended to "you do you". I should probably get shirts printed. 😂
@@Militaryarmschannel 😄
I just got my first and only M1A (SOCOM 16). I have yet to get it out to fire it.
So I haven’t arrived yet at the point of establishing a cleaning practice for this rifle.
When you mentioned this M1A you saw with rust around the gas port, what are you saying caused it? It seems like you’re blaming the cleaning. But wouldn’t it have had carbon (attracting moisture) near the gas port WITHOUT being cleaned?
Good video. I never use brushes either. Nylon Rod, patches and MP-7! I too shoot a Bergara, Hunter model. Bullet for bullet, dollar for dollar, Bergara is the best value for the money!
Yeah, I drank the coolaide. It's funny that I fussed so much over accuracy, chasing it around with my Savage 110 Varmint. I got a plinker that shoots very well and I'm consistent with it... I don't "chase" the accuracy at all. You just explained it and you could probably hear me smackin' my forehead. The added bonus is for the time I save on the ritual of cleaning can be use for more shooting.
Thanks for that!
Mac, your exactly right about the jagged surface of metal at the microscopic level. One product I found a few years ago for my motorcycles and cars fills in those areas with polymers. It's water based and it doesn't discolor metal at extremely hot temperatures. I use it on my entire bike. So one day I was thinking, why don't I try it on a gun. So, I treated one of my pistols with it. Took it to the range and ran a couple hundred rounds through it. Took it home to clean it and the only fouling in the barrel was powder residue. I ran one wet patch and one dry patch and the barrel sparkled. Since then I treat all of my firearms with it. The product is F11 Top Coat. It's a great product with a lot of uses. And thanks to F11 none of my gun barrels will ever be touched by a brush again.
As always, follow the manufacture recommendations and procedures! The military required the shooter to clean the weapon after a day on the range. CLP was provided along with the stock cleaning brushes. I like the suggested cleaning procedures in the video. Saves a lot of time and effort while retaining accuracy in the gun!
True but, military weapons are chrome line, I didn’t use a brush, the thirteens Years I was in didn’t have to. Oil patch, dry patch, plus pull the patch in the direction of the bullet.
@@theresacox8207 The M-16 used for qualification (USAF) were issued and return the same day. The Range Officials were ANAL retentive and oversaw the cleaning and inspected the weapon for return to the armory!
@@richardlane1130 NO Brass or Ammo Drill Sargent! LOL:-)
How the heck is a brass brush going to damage the bore when every round is a brass-jacketed piece of lead which gets swaged into the lands and grooves? There's a whole lot more force involved there than with the brush.
copper jacket
@@richardf1107 Copper is harder than brass.
@@NWA744 i was just saying copper jacket not brass
It won't.
It's true that over cleaning can damage your bore. This has been known since the late 1800s. But there is so much bullshit being spread now. "Don't run brushes down your bore it will damage it!!!" "Don't patch your bore!!! You are abrading it!!!"
The truth is, you will not harm your barrel with bronze brushes, you will no harm it with nylon brushes, and you will not harm it with patches.
You can however damage your barrel by not cleaning it. You must remember that guns are made of carbon steel, which rusts unless it's protected by oil (this may not be an issue if you live in a very dry area)
Is it enough to run an oily pull throgh down your barrel and that's it? Yep! Does that mean anything more is going to damage your bore? Nope!
@@thecanadianlanboy8132 Most rifle barrels that are carbon steel are plated or lined with something internally to prevent carbon steel from being exposed to the fouling, carbon, heat and cleaning supplies. It’s not the brass brush or the nylon that is going to wear down the bore… it’s the carbon that it scrapes off the inside and pushes all the way down the barrel and out the muzzle. That carbon (not the brush, the carbon) is much harder than bronze or nylon and possible hard enough to scratch the barrel microscopically which in turn will get you steel slurry/dust that is the same hardness as the barrel because it came from the barrel. Steel shavings from a barrel are certainly hard enough to scratch the inside of the same barrel. I have seen chunks of carbon buildup seize small engines in chainsaws, weed whackers, backpack blowers etc. I haven’t seen personally but have heard of it seizing or breaking piston crowns in direct injected cars. I haven’t ever damaged a barrel because of over cleaning but I don’t really clean my barrels that often. I’ve only heard about it damaging barrels but I can say pretty confidently that just because the brush material isn’t hard enough to scratch the barrel doesn’t mean that what comes off the inside of the barrel itself and gets caught in the brush isn’t. Remember that a Japanese water stone can sharpen knives of over 65 Rockwell hardness despite being seemingly made of soft clay. The soft clay is full of abrasives they are hard enough to scratch steel which will add steel shavings to mix and create a kind of snowball effect.
Yes I’m 67 years old and not to old to learn you talk me a lot in this short video thanks
Baby Yoda is just siting in the background being awesome.
Barrel steel is much harder and durable than people realize
If has to be 😅otherwise u got yourself a ticking time bomb
I saw an interview with John Krieger years ago, he was asked about barrel break in and cleaning. He simply smiled and shook his head no. He said clean it when it accuracy starts to drop.
Last time i checked, the most accurate gun on earth uses a single point cut Krieger barrel.
No one has built better barrels or knows more than Krieger, imo. My father built benchrest rifles for 30 yrs and while there are a few other top tier pipes out there, none are better than Krieger.
Reminds me of how much I used to cringe in the Army when we had to clean to "clean" our M16s after the range, or just every so often. Steel brushes and copper brushes, segmented aluminum cleaning rods, and the worst part. It had to be spotless in the chamber and everywhere to be accepted by the arm's room. It was by any means possible to get that carbon ring out and anywhere else there might be a speck of carbon. Damn the rifle! Full scrape ahead! I do believe the old saying is true that more guns have been ruined by overcleaning.
Especially crowns. From junk aluminum cleaning rods .
Those multi-section pieces of gun-killing crap. Not to mention the stuff they rodded us on and off the range with. Sometimes it was the crappy cleaning rods. Sometimes, who knows what. I hear ya.
@@rustyhighlander786 Fortunately a lot of those guys didn't clean the hell out of them just to make a grumpy armorer happy. LOL. At least they were one piece.
The way you just explained is the way I've been cleaning my 🔫's for years. I'm more concerned about what can jam the action. On some of my 🔫's, I've run 500+ rounds through then oiled them, put them away, and then take them out and run another 500 rounds. And if everything was good, I would repeat. One, I ran 2,000 rounds through before cleaning and had no issues. I still have these 🔫's and they still shoot accurate. These are tools that need to be used, not put in a glass case for show and tell. Good stuff! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Excellent video. I typically use hot water , a plastic brush and then patches whenever shooting one of my C&R guns and corrosive milsurp ammo. With modern guns and ammo, I use Hoppes, Stoddards solvent or lamp oil , with a plastic brush, to clean out the carbon fouling. With all of my guns, I give the barrel a CLP soaked patch at the end to preserve the rifling. As you mentioned, Dewey rods are the best. I never run a cleaning rod through my airgun barrels-John in Texas