Cleaning barrel with metal brush or nylon brush.

[stchman]

I have been getting so many opinions about barrel cleaning.

There are those that swear that the metal brush(I believe they are made of copper) will scratch the barrel up. Then they insist if you must use a metal brush to only go one way. They say the nylon brushes are far superior. I am here to say I don't buy it.

I use a brass rod with a copper brush go all the way through the barrel. I prefer the breech end, but some of my firearms the breech is not very accessible.

I use Hoppe's #9, non-chlorinated brake cleaner, and RemOil. I have never had a problem with my firearms from a cleanliness related standpoint.

If I am doing something horribly wrong please tell me.

Thanks.

 

[fireman 9731]

Peoples opinions on gun cleaning can be just as adamant as their caliber choices.

Yours sounds good enough to me, you would be surprised how many people NEVER clean their guns.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Looks good to me (except for the brake cleaner. Of course that's just me)...

 

[Deanimator]

Other than the Hoppes, I don't disagree. I don't like Hoppes and use nothing but Shooter's Choice bore solvent. I use nothing but Clenzoil, but have no objection to Remoil.

My only question would be, is your rod a jointed or one piece rod? For cleaning, I use nothing but Dewey one piece, coated rods.

 

[stchman]

I know a guy that never does and he tells me in how excellent a shpe his firearms are.

I find the brake cleaner does an excellent job of removing ALL the solvent from the metal.

Now when this is done your metal is completely oil free so you need to re-lube the firearm. I feel it does the best job of removing old oil and crud.

 

[jcwit]

Looks good to me. I have no problem with Hoppes, I just like Shooters Choice better, and I stay away from the brake cleaner just because one has to be so careful not to get it on plastic of stock finish, however it does work well tho.

As for an oil protectant, I like Mobil 1, I don't believe in all the super secret stuff in most of the snake oils.

 

[BURN]

hoppe's #9
Break-Free(CLP)
mil-tech
larue's lube

both metal and plastic brushes....boresnakes......otis.....

that is good to go....

no brake cleaner....

no car oils (unless thats all that is around)

 

[stchman]

I don't get the brake cleaner on the wood. Brake cleaner seems to not have any effect on polymer frames.

 

[Ben86]

I find nylon brushes to be pretty ineffective. I have experiemented by cleaning with a nylon then a bronze to see what the nylon left behind. Let me just put it this way, after I come behind the nylon brush cleaning with a bronze brush cleaning the wipes are BLACK!

I use a bronze brush, it works great. As long as the metal brush is softer than the steel of your barrel it will not scratch it. Use a brass or bronze brush and it will be soft enough not to scratch yet harder than the lead and other crap it is intended to scrape out (with the assistance of solvent of course).

 

[7X57chilmau]

Only on airgun barrels would I caution you to avoid bronze brushes... They're much softer than the average powder burner.... And there's no hard fouling anyway!

J

 

[Clifford]

#9 and brake cleaner work well for me. I shoot about 500 rounds of lead reloads a month in my super so it gets cleaned every week. I use stainless steel brushes, they work fast and I don't see any "wear" on the rifleing. 5000+ rounds and it looks as good as the day I took it home.

 

[AK103K]

I use both bronze "bristle" and SS "tornado" brushes, the latter being hard to find around here lately for some reason. The bristle type dont usually hold up to well or last as long as the tornado's, but both have their uses. Overall, I think the tornados do a better job.

Solvent wise, Hoppes generally, and either Sweets or Shooters Choice for certain rifles.

Gun Scrubber or brake cleaner is fine as long as you pay attention to what you use it on, and works very well at getting pretty much everything out or off what your trying to clean.

I use Eezox to finish up with. No rust what so ever on anything I've used it on, and the barrels treated with it seem to clean up easier too.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

I use a patch on a jag most of the time. If I need a brush it's nylon.

I use SLiP 2000 Carbon Killer - http://www.slip2000.com/carbonkiller.html

 

[oneounceload]

I have never seen copper brushes for gun care....BRONZE ones, yes...stainless steel ones, yes

Bronze is softer than carbon or stainless steel and will be as gentle as nylon

brake or carb cleaner works well on metal, not good for wood as mentioned. Works real well for cleaning choke tubes in shotguns also

 

[wishin]

Used bronze bore brushes all my life and never had a problem. A few years ago, I read an article written by a gun guru saying it was not the thing to do.......
Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep.

Bronze brush one way all the way through from the breech (If at all possible), then back all the way through without ever reversing it in the bore. I don't care if they are softer than steal.

Nylon brushes just don't clean well enough, but they do resist strong copper solvents. I'll just keep rinsing my bronze brushes, and buy more when I need to.

SS brushes? Not for me. Not for bore cleaning anyway.

Your fine.