Bronze core nylon brush for copper solvent?

[stubbicatt]

All: My cleaning regimen includes cleaning all the powder and carbon fouling using Mpro7, as it very quickly gets the job done. I have been following it up with Butch's Bore Shine in the bore to assure that I get the copper out. I used to use patches on a patch puller, but it seemed that more of the solvent was being squeezed from the patch rather than lying against the surface of the bore. Usually I would get a hint of blue on the dry patch using this method, which indicated that there was some copper, but not too much.

So based on recommendations at this forum, I started using a nylon brush to apply the Butch's. The nylon brush I have has a bronze or brass core. While instinctively I know that the core isn't touching the barrel, by changing over to this method I am getting seriously blue patches out of the rifle, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. To me this indicates that I have enough jacket fouling in the bore to perhaps mint a penny!... OR...

I wonder whether the blue that I am seeing on the dry patches isn't the result of Butch's affecting the bronze core of the brush?:banghead:

...Oh, I spray the brush down with brake cleaner upon removal from the bore to deactivate or remove residual solvents.

What do you guys think?

 

[Walkalong]

If all you have been doing is patching, the brush is loosening up stuff you have not gotten before.

Try some Bore Tech Eliminator. It will really get the copper out. It will eat bronze brushes and brass jags too, but is very good stuff with no ammonia.

You have to get copper AND carbon/powder fouling from the barrel and it is often in layers in a dirty barrel. Be patient. Don't scrub it to death.

Butches is a great all around bore cleaner, by the way.

 

[Horsemany]

I doubt the core of the brush is giving up much copper. Clean the brush and dry it. Then take a patch of Butch's and rub the tip of the brush where the core is exposed. After a minute look at your patch and see what you have. I have done this test with Butch's and other copper solvents much stronger and have never seen any blue on the patch. I've also done it with different brands of jags and gotten nothing. I agree with walkalong you are seeing the effects of brushing for the first time after only patches.

I used Butch's for years but have given up on it because it never got out all the copper. A light shined 45 deg into the muzzle will show plenty of copper still in the bore after a good round of Butch's. I've found foaming bore cleaners take out much more copper than Butch's, require less patching and brushing, and are less offensive to the nose and environment(non-toxic).

I believe Butch's is one of the only ones still containing nitrobenzene which is a carcinogen. Sweet's and Barnes CR-10 will remove copper 5x quicker than Butchs' but can only be left in the barrel for 10-15 min. The foaming cleaners seem to do as good of a job as Sweets and CR-10 IMO.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Well...

The foaming cleaners are nice, I agree. No, better'n nice, the are (Tony the Tiger voice) GRRRRRR-eat! (/Tony the tiger voice)

But for serious copper infestations, what would be really nice to see on the market would be a set of brushes, one with steel bristles, and one with nylon, and each on a steel core. Or an aluminum core. Anything with zero copper content.

When dealing with a really bad bore, with layers of carbon and copper and carbon and copper, etc, etc, I'd just like to know for certain, that the blue stain I'm getting is NOT from the brush!! And with a brush containing any copper, you never get the cleaning down to where there is no blue at all, on the wipe-up patch, so you never know when you're finally done.

You just clean and clean and clean until you give up, and then hope you got all the darn Cu.

 

[Onmilo]

Any copper desolving solution will eat up any part of a rod accessory that is copper based.
I use nylon brushes to remove powder fouling only.

You should be using nylon or Delrin jags and loops to apply and remove copper removing solvents.

 

[Walkalong]

I continue to use bronze brushes with strong copper solvents because they work better. I finish with brass jags and patches. I have nylon bristle brushes in all calibers, but they get put aside on real dirty bores.

If you are patient enough, and I am often not, you can let solvents or surfactants do the job. That really is the best choice.

If you in the middle of a match where you clean after each group, you do not have this luxury and will have to brush and patch it clean, well, clean enough.

 

[DMK]

what would be really nice to see on the market would be a set of brushes, one with steel bristles, and one with nylon, and each on a steel core. Or an aluminum core. Anything with zero copper content.

I have a set of nylon brushes on a steel core. I picked up them up at a gunshow where they were just loose in a box so I have no idea who makes them, but they are out there.

I've seen brushes with SS bristles too, but I won't use them on my rifles.

 

[Horsemany]

There's no need to apply the copper solvent with anything containing copper. You can patch in the cu solvent, let it soak, remove it with dry patches and a non-cu solvent, then brush the &^% out of it if you must. The copper will still be softened from the cu solvent and you aren't introducing cu solvent to your bronze brush or jag.

Better yet buy some foam and you don't have to worry about any of this and it will take out more copper than Butch's. I guarantee that. Gunslick is the foam I use and it's amazing. The Butch's lives out in the garage so it doesn't stink up my gunroom leaking through the bottle. I'll probably never use it up.