Is it ok to clean the bolt and chamber with a bronze brush?

[Proteus]

i guess the brushes that come in cleaning kits are bronze wires... maybe copper? i scrubbed one of my bolts with one and it seemed to work great. the bolt lost its generally black color and became kind of a greyish color. is this normal? will these brushes mess up the surface at all?

can the brushes be used on all parts of the bolt and bolt carrier?

[T2C]

You may have removed some of the bolt finish with the metal brush.

I use the chamber brush to loosen debris in the chamber and barrel extension, then use plastic brushes and solvent on that area. Opinions will vary, but I only use plastic brushes with generous amounts of solvent to clean the bolt and carrier, no metal brushes. If I want to clean the carbon off the bolt tail, I soak it in Hoppe's # 9 overnight, then use a small plastic scraper. I would not go anywhere near the gas rings with a metal brush or cleaning tool.

A lot of people have their own cleaning regimen. I learned the hard way that I probably did more damage to my service rifles by cleaning than shooting them. It doesn't have to be surgically clean unless you are standing a military inspection.

[MegademiC]

Copper is pretty soft. You may take off some coating over time, but wont damage the metal. That said, I generally use nylon brushes. Over cleaning can be a problem if you begin removing corrosion-resistant coatings. Solvents break eat through the crud, brushes break off the chunks, repeat. I used to scrub with copper brush and realized I was wasting time.

The gray color is probably just because the finish is completely dry after using solvents. Once you drop some oil on there, it should restore the black look.

[MistWolf]

A bronze brush is ok. The only (minor) problem is that bronze is a copper alloy and Hoppes No. 9 is formulated to dissolve copper

[Proteus]

A bronze brush is ok. The only (minor) problem is that bronze is a copper alloy and Hoppes No. 9 is formulated to dissolve copper

i stick to CLP

[vicious_cb]

Thats what used toothbrushes are for.

[mastiffhound]

Hoppe's makes a new cleaner called #9 Semi-Auto and it works very good, you can find it at Walmart usually. I've found that almost every metal brush uses steel for the shank which can scratch the bore, I got 2 IOSSO AR-15 Brush Kits from Cabela's and they use bronze instead of cheap steel for the shank. I'm still on the first set and they work great, I haven't used a metal brush since switching to the #9 Semi-Auto and Iosso brushes. Old toothbrushes are great but I like the children size brushes because they have a smaller head making it easier to get into the tighter spaces.

I've switched to FireClean and Weapon Shield for lubes, cleanup has become much easier since I started using them. FireClean is the best as stuff just wipes off. It's pretty expensive per ounce but it lasts awhile. Weapon Shield is cheaper and can be bought in 16 oz bottles for $20, that's cheaper than Remoil per ounce. While cleanup is a little harder than FC it's still fairly easy and most everything just wipes off with a little stuck carbon that takes a little extra scrubbing. Both are insanely better than the Remoil I used previously. Lube makes a difference when it comes to cleanup from my experience. I'd spend a half hour or more per gun, I'm a little OCD. Now it's more like 15 minutes unless it's my lever guns.