Brass vs Nylon?

[velocette]

Cleaning a rifle bore that is.
My two AR rifles, both .223, both stainless steel barrels. One Rock River 24" heavy barrel varmint, the other a 20" Shilen match barrel in a lighter profile.
Cleaned both with Kroil & Hoppes #9, or Shooters Choice, used a nylon bristle brush & patches till they came out almost perfectly clean.
One week later, I ran a brass bristle brush & SC through, about 6 passes.
Oh brother the black that came out! Then re-applied the brass brush & SC, let it sit for 1/2 hour then four more passes with the brass brush & a bit MORE black comes out. Then patches to really clean. Looking down the bores, they are bright & shiny.
It would appear to me that the nylon bristle brushes are not very effective in cleaning out carbon fouling, seeing how much blackie carbon came out when I applied the brass brush.
Any opinions here about your experience?

Roger

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Don't care for nylon for the same reason.

 

[rcmodel]

The Only thing a nylon brush is good for is applying Copper Solvent that would eat up a bronze brush.

Thats all.

rc

 

[Canuck-IL]

Now patch that really clean bore with a tightly fitted J&B covered patch - it can be startling what's hiding in plain view ...

/Bryan

 

[M-Cameron]

i think its funny people think a brass brush is going to harm a steel barrel....

....but they have absolutely no qualms over loading up a clip of copper jacketed ammo and letting rip.

you are going to shoot thousands of rounds through a barrel, but you are worried about a couple occasional passes with a brush.

 

[wally]

I suspect more bores have been damaged from over cleaning than from too much shooting.

Unless I never plan on shooting the gun again I don't worry about how much "black" might still be in there, I'll be adding more next time out!

 

[helotaxi]

You clean your rifle?

 

[jim243]

You clean your rifle?

While you ment that as a joke, I actually don't. Mine shoot better with a dirty barrel and it saves me having to fire fouling shots. If someone wants to spend $200 to $300 dollars in ammo per range visit, I can think of better ways to spend my money. At the most I will shoot 20 to 30 rounds per rifle per range visit. At that rate I clean the bore about once every 6 months.

Now my 22LR is a different story and gets cleaned once every three range visits. (about every 250 rounds to 300 rounds)

And I use a brass brush on the bore with a patch wrapped around it. Which saves the barrel from being lapped by un-burnt gun powder and carbon build up which acts like graphite sanding the rifling of the barrel down. The brush lossens the dirt and the patch removes it from the barrel.

Jim

 

[helotaxi]

Only partly as a joke. I have rifles that have never had anything down the bore other than bullets. They are shooting great and until they stop doing so, they will remain cleaning rod virgins.

 

[Onmilo]

I use nylon brushes with any solvents designed to remove copper fouling.
I use brass brushes for the most heavily fouled barrels.

 

[HKGuns]

It is impossible for a Bronze brush to damage a steel barrel. Try to scratch a diamond with some quartz and you'll get the idea. Or, more realistic, try scratching a barrel with a penny and you'll quickly find the penny is the one getting scratched up.

 

[helotaxi]

I've never seen a brass brush meant for the bore. Phosphor bronze, sure, but not brass.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep. Brash brush with bronze bristles.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/19...le-bore-brush-22-caliber-8-x-32-thread-bronze

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/51...le-bore-brush-30-caliber-8-x-32-thread-bronze

Nylon is a waste of time for carbon fouling.

Remember, bore cleaners will eat the brush away slowly, so always rinse the brush off with some sort of solvent like Gunscrubber after each pass and before you put it away. Jags, etc as well. I like B12 Chemtool from the auto store.

 

[stubbicatt]

It is impossible for a Bronze brush to damage a steel barrel. Try to scratch a diamond with some quartz and you'll get the idea. Or, more realistic, try scratching a barrel with a penny and you'll quickly find the penny is the one getting scratched up.

And yet water can wear down a river rock... go figure?

 

[rcmodel]

Yes, it's True!
And it will take about as many million years for the bronze bore brush to wear down a rifle bore.

At that point, you most likely won't be around to worry about it.

rc

 

[VAPOPO]

I usually use the bronze brush first dry, then follow with a nylon one dipped in solvent then follow with a wet patch then dry ones untill they come out clean as they went in then follow with a patch with a light oil on it then another dry patch then call it good.

 

[HKGuns]

And yet water can wear down a river rock... go figure?

Like RC said so eloquently......Put a rock in your sink and turn on the water and come back and tell us if you like the new water bill!

 

[stubbicatt]

Like RC said so eloquently......Put a rock in your sink and turn on the water and come back and tell us if you like the new water bill!

Nah. I'll pass. RC didn't say that, I re read his post a couple of times. RC's post is more respectful. Just saying.

I'm pointing out that there will likely be some wear on the bore of the rifle using a bronze brush. Typically, one will see it on the crown first, if one uses the brush "back and forth." This is well documented elsewhere, I think one or more of the custom barrel manufacturers has written on this subject, maybe it was Dan Lilja?

IIRC, if one pushes it from the breech and unscrews it at the muzzle, or uses a pull through, one can minimize the barrel wear occasioned by the bronze brush. It stands to reason that if the bronze bore brush can damage the crown of the barrel, so too may it affect the throat, although I am unaware of any studies or evidence of this phenomenon.

Just because the barrel material is harder than the brush doesn't mean that it won't wear. Heck, barbers have to get their scissors sharpened periodically, and hair is a lot softer than that hardened steel of the scissor blades.

So. Yes. If you use a bronze brush you will cause wear in your barrel. Will it affect accuracy or the useful life of the barrel? It will most likely affect the crown of the muzzle if you run it through both directions. If the crown is damaged, your accuracy will diminish. Will it diminish enough that you will notice? I guess that depends on how accurate your rifle is now, how well you can shoot it, and other factors in your control.

Nonetheless, I use a bronze brush and Mpro7 and am happy with the results I obtain. YMMV.

 

[Dentite]

And yet water can wear down a river rock... go figure?

I know you were probably being a little facetious but it's not the water that wears down a river rock. It's the sand and grit that the water pushes over the rock's surface.

Does have some application in rifle barrels in that if you put your brushes on your workbench that you had some dirty tools or parts on last week that same grit could wind up damaging your bore. Not saying it happens often, but it's possible.