Bore Cleaning

[8541dohl]

I have been taught that cleaning a precision firing weapon consistantly = accuracy. I have been in a few recent debates that invole cleaning. I also realize that this is a very opinionated topic. I clean 3 Copper Solvent, 3 Powder Solvent, Then 3 Dry. Now this is on a 7.62x54 weapon. We count rounds and shoot alot to collect data for that first round hit capability. My real question is do you have to clean it untill all of the copper streaks are out of the barrel, and you cannot see them anymore in between the Lans and Grooves? (with good lighting looking down the crown end of the bore) I am interested to see the response and looking to learn something new.

 

[8541dohl]

Do I need to elaborate, to get a reply?

 

[kount_zer0]

I find that getting the powder and primer residue out first makes getting the copper (or lead) out a lot easier.

 

[jpwilly]

I have been taught that cleaning a precision firing weapon consistantly = accuracy

I have 6 rifles shooting 7.62x54R and non are "precision" rifles! What is your's a Nagant? PSL? = not precision rifles!

My real question is do you have to clean it untill all of the copper streaks are out of the barrel, and you cannot see them anymore in between the Lans and Grooves?

Yes clean until it's all gone! if you don't use a good solvent like Sweets 7.62 it may take quite a while. A fouled bore will not shoot consistantly...a non precision rifle shooting surplus 7.62x54R will not shoot consistantly even with a clean bore (with very few exceptions).

 

[stubbicatt]

Most rifles you won't be able to tell clean from dirty with factory ammunition. Even my cross the course rifle shot well enough to make master when dirty. There is a point in the sliding scale of "clean" where good enough is good to go.

Unless you *notice* a measurable difference in performance between shooting your rifle dirty or shooting your rifle clean, I wouldn't worry too much about it, just clean it at the end of the day before putting it up for storage.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Clean it as directed after a day at the range. Get the loose stuff/carbon and don`t worry too much about the copper. If accuracy starts to noticable fall, get out the heavy duty cleaners Like Sweets, JB, ect and clean until you have it down to bare metal.
A little copper never hurts anything with 99% of the rifles we have IMO. I`m a believer too much scrubbing is probably as bad for the bore as being heavily copper fouled.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

I always slow-fire my bottleneck rifles and wipe the bore with a patch and solvent about every 10-20 shots or when changing loads. seems to have kept fouling down. hot barrels copper-foul faster than relatively cool barrels.

 

[K3]

I always slow-fire my bottleneck rifles and wipe the bore with a patch and solvent about every 10-20 shots or when changing loads. seems to have kept fouling down. hot barrels copper-foul faster than relatively cool barrels.

That's pretty much what I do now at the range.

One soaked patch of BoreTech Eliminator followed by 2 or 3 dry patches and I'm ready to shoot another batch. I find that the post-range cleaning session at home goes pretty quickly. Even the amount of copper I get out is less now, and I'm a stickler for getting a majority of it out after a range trip.

 

[8541dohl]

Thanks for the Information, I do like hearing the different method that people use and the various techniques. GOD BLESS!

 

[HungSquirrel]

This is fascinating information. I just picked up a Yugo SKS, and all the parts were a breeze to get clean except the bore. I have been running iterations of one Hoppe's #9 and two dry patches, repeated three times, for the past seven days on this bore, and patches still come out with lots of copper residue. Am I to understand that this is not as big a problem as I had feared?

 

[bogie]

For what it's worth, here's how I clean my 6PPC competition rifles...

3 SOAKED patches of Butch's Bore Shine to get the crud out. Then 10-15 strokes of a bronze brush, squirting BBS into the bore guide. Then it sits while I load, and the solvent does its thing. I then run 3 soaked patches of BBS down the tube, then a couple of dry patches, and then remove the bore guide and swab the chamber.

After about 10 targets, I'll give it a Iosso or JB treatment.