Cleaning 45 ACP barrel: standard brush seems small

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John G C 1

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When I clean my 9mm the Hoppes phosphor bronze brush is a bit tight and cleans well.

When I clean my 45 ACP with the Hoppes phosphor bronze brush the brush fits very easily down the barrel and does not seem to get into the grooves well. I look down the barrel and the lands are mirror clean but there clearly is streaking inside the grooves.

The 45 ACP brush is new, not worn out.

Anyone else notice this or am I imagining all this? There seems a clear difference on how tightly these brushes fit and I do not see streaking in the grooves of the 9mm barrel.

Thanks for comments
 
Yes. I second the Brownell's Double Tuff brush, or a .50 brush (good for cleaning chambers too).
 
I don't clean pistol barrels very often either.

Last one I did was a new to me .32 Auto barrel with lots of fouling at the throat. Cleaning it made a big difference in how it shot. No telling what the previous owner crudded it up with.

That said, some brushes are better than others. Don't like those, try another brand. Pro Shot and Dewey tend to work well.
 
Walkalong said:
I don't clean pistol barrels very often either.
Click to expand...
I follow recommendation by Schuemann Barrels to not clean the barrel too frequently but in regards to using "chemical" solvents. I do "mechanically" clean the barrels after each shooting session to remove any build up/deposit on the rifling by quick pass with copper bore brush/copper strands followed by clean patch. Now I use chemical cleaning of barrels only if mechanical cleaning won't remove all the build up/deposits - http://www.schuemann.com/portals/0/documentation/webfile_barrel_cleaning.pdf

"... grooves are likely capable of holding liquid cleaning chemicals, or their residual component chemicals, for long periods of time, and no amount of wiping or rinsing is going to get all the chemicals out of the grooves.

The chemical's persistence would be enhanced if the microgrooves are also packed full of propellant and bullet residues, thereby sealing the chemicals into the grooves. These residual chemicals could be slowly eating away the walls of the grooves, especially at the higher temperatures generated when we are shooting.

The consequences of such corrosion would not be apparent until the grooves reached some critical size, and then the rate of gas erosion of the bore would increase markedly, shortening the life of the barrel."
ColtPythonElite said:
Unless it's badly leaded, I simply don't clean them....lol
Click to expand...
And I am moving towards the recommendation of not cleaning barrels "routinely". More from Schuemann Barrels pdf - http://www.schuemann.com/portals/0/documentation/webfile_barrel_cleaning.pdf

"My Personal Practice has become to never clean the bore of my barrels. I do use a brass rod to scrape the deposits out of the chamber. But, I've learned to leave the bore alone and it very slowly becomes shinier and cleaner all by itself.

Years ago I occasionally scrubbed the bore with a brass bore brush. But, doing so always seemed to cause the bore to revert to a dirtier look with more shooting, so I eventually stopped ever putting anything down the bore except bullets..."

John G C 1 said:
brush ... does not seem to get into the grooves well. I look down the barrel and the lands are mirror clean but there clearly is streaking inside the grooves.
Click to expand...
I wrap worn out copper bore brushes with copper strands like Chore Boy (Use a magnet to make sure they are not copper washed steel) and they absolutely work well to get all the lands/grooves clean, especially when using lead bullets.

Now you can recycle all of your worn out bore brushes. :D:thumbup:

index.php
 
Last edited:
When I was a kid (no, really, I wasn't always a grumpy old guy) guns were cleaned until spotless. Military family. Several generations and all branches of both the family and the military. So when guns were cleaned after shooting, they were inspection clean. Decades later and a lot more educated on the subject, I realize what a waste of time that was. I don't remember the last time I patched a pistol barrel. Wipe down and re-lube is pretty much it. Rifles also get a bore snake pulled through. Sometimes. About once a year the regular shooters get torn down, wiped down, etc. Barrels are more likely to be ruined by excessive or botched cleaning than by actual use.
 
I use a brush intended for the .45-70. Not only is it longer, but slightly larger... makes a barrel clean a snap, although I'll readily admit to not being very uhhh... prompt... with cleaning my pistols, they are just going to get dirty again.
 
John G C 1 said:
When I clean my 9mm the Hoppes phosphor bronze brush is a bit tight and cleans well.

When I clean my 45 ACP with the Hoppes phosphor bronze brush the brush fits very easily down the barrel and does not seem to get into the grooves well. I look down the barrel and the lands are mirror clean but there clearly is streaking inside the grooves.

The 45 ACP brush is new, not worn out.

Anyone else notice this or am I imagining all this? There seems a clear difference on how tightly these brushes fit and I do not see streaking in the grooves of the 9mm barrel.

Thanks for comments
Click to expand...

Perhaps if the bristles are the same thickness in both brushes, what you're feeling is because the bristles on the .45 brush are longer and therefore have more flexibility to them.
 
The cut wire brushes always seem to be just that least bit undersized.
Mind, if you start the brush and then get a light on it, the bristles are definitely bent by the bore.

However, I still kind of suspect that the brush manufacturers "short" the diameter the least bit, to reduce complaints about getting the brush "stuck" in the bore. Which is why I also have "tornado" style (with looped bristles) brushes on hand.
 
I have started just wiping out the barrel with a patch dampened with M-Pro 7 if I am going to shoot the gun again immediately. So far, that is working fine.

But it is tough not to want to really clean it before it get put away for a month or more.

I appreciate all the tips and will continue to back off on the chemicals. And I got some chore boy for the really tough ones, if necessary.
 
Charlie98 said:
I use a brush intended for the .45-70. Not only is it longer, but slightly larger... makes a barrel clean a snap, although I'll readily admit to not being very uhhh... prompt... with cleaning my pistols, they are just going to get dirty again.
Click to expand...

Yep, and the ".45cal rifle" bore brushes are usually longer, too, giving more brushy-action with each pass.
 
bds said:
I follow recommendation by Schuemann Barrels to not clean the barrel too frequently but in regards to using "chemical" solvents. I do "mechanically" clean the barrels after each shooting session to remove any build up/deposit on the rifling by quick pass with copper bore brush/copper strands followed by clean patch. Now I use chemical cleaning of barrels only if mechanical cleaning won't remove all the build up/deposits - http://www.schuemann.com/portals/0/documentation/webfile_barrel_cleaning.pdf

"... grooves are likely capable of holding liquid cleaning chemicals, or their residual component chemicals, for long periods of time, and no amount of wiping or rinsing is going to get all the chemicals out of the grooves.

The chemical's persistence would be enhanced if the microgrooves are also packed full of propellant and bullet residues, thereby sealing the chemicals into the grooves. These residual chemicals could be slowly eating away the walls of the grooves, especially at the higher temperatures generated when we are shooting.

The consequences of such corrosion would not be apparent until the grooves reached some critical size, and then the rate of gas erosion of the bore would increase markedly, shortening the life of the barrel."

And I am moving towards the recommendation of not cleaning barrels "routinely". More from Schuemann Barrels pdf - http://www.schuemann.com/portals/0/documentation/webfile_barrel_cleaning.pdf

"My Personal Practice has become to never clean the bore of my barrels. I do use a brass rod to scrape the deposits out of the chamber. But, I've learned to leave the bore alone and it very slowly becomes shinier and cleaner all by itself.

Years ago I occasionally scrubbed the bore with a brass bore brush. But, doing so always seemed to cause the bore to revert to a dirtier look with more shooting, so I eventually stopped ever putting anything down the bore except bullets..."


I wrap worn out copper bore brushes with copper strands like Chore Boy (Use a magnet to make sure they are not copper washed steel) and they absolutely work well to get all the lands/grooves clean, especially when using lead bullets.

Now you can recycle all of your worn out bore brushes. :D:thumbup:

index.php
Click to expand...


I assume they are talking about non-CLP type solvents, copper solvent, and suchlike.

Can't see what harm a little Breakfree CLP in the bore will do. And nowadays, sometimes all I use is synthetic motor oil. Pretty mild stuff.
 
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