Foaming bore cleaner

Desertcj, how do you use JB and Kroil?

This stuff is a LOT better penetrating oil than kroil

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I tried all these, also

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Recently, I bought a 308 barrel,31" heavy Palma. Guys said it had 400 rounds through it with 200g bergers. The groves were full of carbon from breach to muzzle! I tried all my favorite scrubbings and soakings. Then I plugged the muzzle with a cork, let the barrel sit in the Free All for two week intervals, scrubbed 10 strokes immediately with new bronze bristle brush, and after 6 weeks(3 soakings) there was still a little bit of carbon in the barrel. Next I scrubbed the barrel with Al Oxide mixed in honing oil. The barrel is now perfectly clean, ready to be Re chambered.

This is a barrel of a top manufacturer, cut rifle barrel. The grooves that were cut had uneven cut marks that looked like scratches or the cutter did not make uniform cuts. These are minor under 25x magnification of the Hawkeye, but this rough micro finish allows carbon to find a crevice to start filling up, then stacking up on.

As an F class shooter, the first owner of this barrel would shoot 60 shot strings getting the barrel very hot. His cleaning regiment was minimal at best. His gunsmith that sold this barrel to me was hesitant on selling it to me. I called him and told him how I got this barrel clean, we was amazed as we both had scrubbed the heck out of this barrel with good bronze bristle brushes and JB to no avail. 308's are generally easy on barrels, and I bet this barrel had more than 400 rounds on it, but the throat was in perfect shape...just unreal hard cooked on carbon deposits.

The barrel will serve well as a long range deer rifle where few shots are fired through a season.



 
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Originally Posted By: pyscodogDoes ANY of these cleaners work better than a good solvent and old fashioned elbow grease?

I can clean with two applications most of the time. That is maybe 4-6 patches down the bore total.
I don't own a bore scope. One local gent that has built a fair bunch of rifles has always said there is a fair bit more bore damage done buy over zealous cleaning than shooting. He uses some type of industrial ammonia, chrome moly and stainless. It will etch SS of not removed properly. He has used it for years and refuses to quit. 5 patches and his barrels are clean. I forget what kind of concoction he has that neutralizes the ammonia.

I use to do a lot of elbow grease and a lot of passes through the bore to get them clean.

As to the foam in the action, sometimes I use foam ear plugs other times I can use a piece of foam cut with a plug cutter, depending on the cartridge.

Heck I still use #9 on a regular basis for cleaning cast bullet shooters. I was raised on it and am partial to the scent. Makes good after shave, :).
 
Guys, I want to thank everyone for the great discussion on bore cleaning. I learned a bunch. And to think this all started by looking for a replacement for Break-Free BCF!

I have not encountered hard carbon that I couldn't get out with solvents and a brush. I am sure I will, so now I have some guidance on resolving that issue. So the lessons for me is: get a better selection of bronze and plastic bore brushes, get some Wipe-Out, for copper, and quick powder solvent removal, get some Bore Tech C4, and Tactical Advantage, and maybe some KG-1, just to have options going after carbon, and finally some JB Bore paste, and Free-All, which I should have around the shop anyway. I already have Montana Extreme solvents. I kind of drifted away from them, when I found foam. The bore scope is suggesting that may have been a mistake. I really wanted bore cleaning to be as simple as "Wipe Out". So much for the easy way out.

Keith's collection of penetrating oils looks like mine. That got a grin.

On a side note, I have a fairly new 260 Rem. barrel, from a well regarded barrel maker, that is refusing to give up its last traces of copper, and last night the bore scope showed some carbon streaks at the throat, that are fighting removal as well. So I have an example to experiment on with some of my new solvents and new knowledge. I did foam it, brush it, and re-foamed it last might. We shall see what it looks like when I get it patched out today.

Thanks again,
Squeeze
 
When all else failed to clean a couple stainless barrels this
fall (including JB) I used Flitz Metal Polish as a last resort.
I used it with Kroil just as with JB paste. That finally cut
through the carbon. Nothing but shine revealed by the bore
scope now. Flitz does have some fine grit in it, so it's going
to be used only as a last resort.
 
I have not had any mess with the foam except on the 17 caliber. Wipe out works great on copper, but I can still get more carbon out. After wipe out I let ballistol soak for several hours to over night and then hit it with a brush. Alternatively, I do the same thing with #9. I dunno if its benchrest clean as I don't have a borescope, but it gets it MOA clean. That is good enough for me. Might try the gunslick but walley world by me doesn't have it.
 
I have no stakes in JB or Kroil....lol. I'm just trying to help other guys. Maybe you have a cleaning system that works for you and that is awesome. This is what I have found to work for me. 

Montana extreme bore solvent...2 patches. Let soak for 15 minutes. Wipe with 1 patch again of bore solvent. 2 patches of Kroil. Wrap patch around 1 size smaller bore brush, rub JB into it. 30 strokes down and back the barrel. 1 patch of kroil on a jag. Go back to the brush with a patch of JB and 30 more strokes down and back. 2 patches of bore solvent to clean out the bore and I like to finish with Break free CLP personally. I use two patches of CLP. That's the cleanest I have ever seen. You could probably only use one 30 pass regiment on rifles normally cleaned this way?

Copied this from my older post on another forum...
 
Since I don't own a bore guide I just ran my straight shot through the Muzzel on my Ruger RAR 22wmr. I removed the bolt and installed a cleaning rod with a cotton tipped jag into the receiver end to block the foam from entering the action. It worked great.
 
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Originally Posted By: DultimatpredatorSince I don't own a bore guide I just ran my straight shot through the Muzzel on my Ruger RAR 22wmr. I removed the bolt and installed a cleaning rod with a cotton tipped jag into the receiver end to block the foam from entering the action. It worked great.

Get 60¢ worth of tubing. Stuff it in the chamber and squirt. Its going the other way of the action and will be much cleaner.

And get a bore guide...they're cheap and protect the throat.
 
I agree with picking up a bore guide but I hate to tell you that spraying the foam the opposite way into the bore is not going to clean any better. Lol...the foam packed barrel brakes down to a complete watery liquid before I remove it. I don't think my barrel knows the difference which way the foam entered. If you believe that spraying foam into barrel one way vs the other will clean it better I've got some swamp land I'll sell you.
 
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I think he is referring to the action will be cleaner if foam inserted from breech w/tubing sealing chamber, thus preventing foam entering action. Plugging one end of a barrel and inserting foam from opposite end can also produce an air bubble toward the plugged end that does not get the full benefit of foaming action.

Regards,
hm
 
Well when I unplugged the hole the foam expanded right up the the end of the chamber so there was foam all the way through....completely filled from front to end so there was no gap or bubbles. I did it twice and let it sit for a good 15 to 20 minutes each time. Are you going to tell me I did it wrong now because the gun wasn't up side down or side ways.lol. You guys are killing me, lol...give me a brake. I hope posters don't believe everything they read here.

WHAT??? You ate a bug Mack and got some on your shirt? You should never eat a big Mack without a napkin wrapped around it! What you ate it upside down and it tasted different? You can't do that because we don't and it's just wrong! You probably got gas and bubbles in your stomach because you ate it wrong...things can be done all different ways with the same results. Dave, to belittle is to be little. You must have got picked on a lot when you were a kid. I feel sorry for you. For some reason it seems you have to put posters down in a lot of your smart Allic replies. I guarantee you in real life you walk away from any confrontation. You are definitely the smartest guy you know. Once again this is Forum to ask questions and help posters when they answer questions. Not to run people down just because their views are diffent or they do something a different way. Really? We are running each other down on how to clean a barrel. It's time to grow up children and I shouldn't have stooped to your level but after a couple of smart Allic replies you get sick of them. It's not doing any good for the forum or helping the the posters with their questions.

 
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Originally Posted By: desertcjHa! Believe it or not, I've heard of guys using toothpaste as it is a mild abrasive.

I never thought of that. The abrasive in tooth paste is desicated... demasticated... domasious... (googled)ok, its diatomaceous earth. I wonder how hard it is on steel. I've got some super fine diatomaceous earth around from some farm use, it's about as fine as flour, I wonder how that would work if I mixed some Butch's with it to a paste like consistency and used that on a patch or brush?
 
Originally Posted By: desertcjHa! Believe it or not, I've heard of guys using toothpaste as it is a mild abrasive.

I thought about giving Preparation H a try to clean my barrel. I read somewhere that it was good about getting crap out of tight holes.


Sorry.
 
Originally Posted By: DAAIt's no wonder they put instructions on hammers these days.

- DAA

laff'n, yea and they also put signs in some restrooms telling guys not to eat the big green mint in the urinal.
 
Quote:Well when I unplugged the hole the foam expanded right up the the end of the chamber so there was foam all the way through....completely filled from front to end so there was no gap or bubbles. I did it twice and let it sit for a good 15 to 20 minutes each time. Are you going to tell me I did it wrong now because the gun wasn't up side down or side ways.lol. You guys are killing me, lol...give me a brake. I hope posters don't believe everything they read here.


Whoa, hoss. Always more than one way to skin a cat, if it works for you, carry on. No need for ruffled feathers.

It's easy to keep foam out of bolt guns using a bore guide and/or proper size tygon tubing to seal the breech and attach to can. Even the cheaper bore guides seal chamber sufficiently to prevent foam leakage into rifle action:
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I like the Gunslick Foam as the can has a spout which slips into most bore guides snugly enough to prevent foam leakage.

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Muzzle angled very slightly down insures no foam will back up and leak into action while soaking. A steady buildup of foam at muzzle insures no air pockets remain in the bore.

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Oh, it's not necessary to keep the gun upside down unless you are cleaning a gas gun with the port located on bottom of bore.
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Regards,
hm



 
Originally Posted By: RustydustOriginally Posted By: desertcjHa! Believe it or not, I've heard of guys using toothpaste as it is a mild abrasive.

I thought about giving Preparation H a try to clean my barrel. I read somewhere that it was good about getting crap out of tight holes.


Sorry.

Rusty,
did you know Prep H is a good toothpaste too?
It doesn’t get your teeth any whiter, but you can whistle a lot better.
 
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