When you clean your bolt guns, how many patches, how clean, when is enough enough?

I clean my barrels with milspec grease with this methodolgy.

I want to get the bolt out and a greased patch through the bore within seconds of firing my last shot to get the propellant residue out because when it gets hard you basically have carbon which when it cools down becomes becomes abrasive or in other words you have diamond dust (diamonds are carbon which is he hardest natural substance I know of.

I will use like four patches with 20 to 25 passes on each pass.

Someone mentioned Sweets bore cleaner, and Hoppes No 9 and both are good BUT NOT TOGETHER. This was known in the late 70s when Sweets came on the scene right after the 76 Palma Bi Centennial Match at Camp Perry.I used it for years. Chemists told us they reacted and would cause rust in barrels and just coat them with an oil only.


Now Sweets is expensive and here is an alternative that does the same thing and you can make a gallon of it for the same cost as a bottle of Sweets.

If your local ACE hardware store doesn't stock the "10% Janitor's Strength Ammonia," they can order it for you from their master order book. The stock number for the 1 quart size is ACE10183. It also available in gallons and a gallon was like 5 bucks last I bought it.

Go to Wally World and get same amount of "Sudsy Ammonia". Mix both equal parts. Then add about 4 oz of Ivory Dish detergent. and you have Humpy's White. I made this up after talking to chemists at the local university. The Ivory acts is a surfactant that allows the other two to cling to the surface.

You may not actually need to defoul the barrel as many barrels actually shoot better once they are fouled as many will show fliers for the first few rounds so it may or may not help you to remove the copper.

Once I discovered grease for cleaning my use of Humpy's White went way down unless I get a barrel loaded up with copper.

About 15 years ago a good friend told me his 22-250 barrel was gone on his hunting rifle so it was pulled off and another put on. I asked him for his old barrel and he gave it to me and I looked at it and it really looked bad so I laid the Humpy's to it. Time and again for two weeks and finally got it looking much better. It was put on another rifle and rechambered for same caliber and I went out and shot it and it printed under a inch at 100 yards. I did not have the heart to tell him.

Someone mentioned a problem with a can. While the barrel is hot you might try dipping it in Mobil 1 0W20 Synthetic motor oil as it is 1 attracted to heat and 2. softens carbon.

Here are the procedures for applying milspec grease to patches for 30 cal I use:
https://i.imgur.com/bej8rksh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5npzEOzh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pRu1bSAh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QU5c4iHh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WfzbeY7h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QwEAj1nh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/o9Jc6k4h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bgPt1wIh.jpg

Pretty cool info , but i'm just not that ambitious. And only cleaning every 6 months or so I just buy some shit and give it a whirl. But good on you.

PB

I clean after every time I shoot. I dont let a rifle sit dirty. I use bore tech C4 for carbon on brakes and the crown buildup, and eliminator for the bore. I am shooting Win mags, PRCs, Norma mags and Cheytechs mostly now. Carbon rings can build up quick and I never let them get there. I make it a point to clean all the carbon off the crown. Especially with suppressors it can foul quick. I only use Bartliens and Proofs these days and they come out clean with little effort. If I'm shooting back to back days I will just keep shooting from day to day. If they are going in the safe, they are clean.

Just what me and most of the guys I shoot with do. Cold clean bore are never flyers either. I can shoot all day, clean it, and the next day first round hammer down in the same spot. I never use the harsh copper stuff. I just get rid of enough each time with eliminator to keep it hammering. If I only shoot 40 rounds, I have a couple dark patches, followed by a few more with the eliminator and its clean. No copper, carbon is gone, nothing to it. You can take Hoppies and throw that stuff in the trash. Cant believe I uses that for years. Clean it with hoppies and then put two patches of something like eliminator down the bore and look at the patches. Crazy what you thought was clean was dirty as all get out.

I lube the bolt lugs with Super Lube. It's a clear synethic auto grease. Makes the bolts stay butter smooth without any sticking or showing wear on the surfaces.

Just what I do. Million ways to do it but that's how I do it.

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Originally Posted by Jwknutson17

I clean after every time I shoot. I dont let a rifle sit dirty. I use bore tech C4 for carbon on brakes and the crown buildup, and eliminator for the bore. I am shooting Win mags, PRCs, Norma mags and Cheytechs mostly now. Carbon rings can build up quick and I never let them get there. I make it a point to clean all the carbon off the crown. Especially with suppressors it can foul quick. I only use Bartliens and Proofs these days and they come out clean with little effort. If I'm shooting back to back days I will just keep shooting from day to day. If they are going in the safe, they are clean.

Just what me and most of the guys I shoot with do. Cold clean bore are never flyers either. I can shoot all day, clean it, and the next day first round hammer down in the same spot. I never use the harsh copper stuff. I just get rid of enough each time with eliminator to keep it hammering. If I only shoot 40 rounds, I have a couple dark patches, followed by a few more with the eliminator and its clean. No copper, carbon is gone, nothing to it. You can take Hoppies and throw that stuff in the trash. Cant believe I uses that for years. Clean it with hoppies and then put two patches of something like eliminator down the bore and look at the patches. Crazy what you thought was clean was dirty as all get out.

I lube the bolt lugs with Super Lube. It's a clear synethic auto grease. Makes the bolts stay butter smooth without any sticking or showing wear on the surfaces.

Just what I do. Million ways to do it but that's how I do it.

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Welp, looks like amazon Is about to get some of my money.


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Originally Posted by Humpy70

Someone mentioned Sweets bore cleaner

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I used to use Sweets (ammonia) cleaner for some copper removal. Then once I followed up what I thought was a clean barrel with some BoreTech copper remover, and saw how much fouling Sweets left behind.

I’d love to be like jwknutson17 but I can’t bring myself to be that way. Perhaps I might change my mind when I get a custom barrel. Interesting though that you brought up carbon rings; bolt got a little sticky last time out shooting my standard load which got me wondering about them. I gave the chamber a clean last night to be sure but I’m curious what kind of round count are you seeing them at?

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Originally Posted by Vegas

I’d love to be like jwknutson17 but I can’t bring myself to be that way. Perhaps I might change my mind when I get a custom barrel. Interesting though that you brought up carbon rings; bolt got a little sticky last time out shooting my standard load which got me wondering about them. I gave the chamber a clean last night to be sure but I’m curious what kind of round count are you seeing them at?

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Man, I’ve fired 600 rounds on a gun without a carbon ring building up. I’d be curious, too. Perhaps it’s because he’s shooting magnums.


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Originally Posted by lsllc

Man, I’ve fired 600 rounds on a gun without a carbon ring building up. I’d be curious, too. Perhaps it’s because he’s shooting magnums.


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Interestingly the gun in question has 625 on it and is a 7mm RM.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vegas

Interestingly the gun in question has 625 on it and is a 7mm RM.

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The more powder, the more carbon.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by lsllc

The more powder, the more carbon.


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Makes perfect sense. My 308 through 850 rounds has had no issues.