Cleaning inside of a pistol barrel question

[Shinbone]

Does anyone have pictures of the inside of a nice clean pistol barrel? Maybe compared to a barrel that is very nearly clean but not quite?
When I'm looking down the barrel at the start of cleaning, I can see what appears to be little bumps in the grooves here and there even after I have used a bore brush a few times. (This is after shooting lead bullets.) I assume this means there is still some lead that needs to come out. Often a cleaning patch will come out clean, but I don't think the barrel is really clean until the little bumps or ripples are gone. Am I thinking right about this?
Thanks.

 

[DT Guy]

What is this 'cleaning you speak of?

Larry

 

[Shinbone]

Could you expand on your question? I thought I my question was self-explanatory. "Cleaning" would be the process of getting the inside of the barrel free of any dirt, etc, and unwanted copper or lead.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Get some Chore Boy Pure Copper scrub pads.
Wrap a bunch of the copper strands around your bore brush.
Scrub the bore with it and your favorite cleaning solvent.

 

[edwardware]

. . . what appears to be little bumps in the grooves here and there. . . bumps or ripples. . .

Sounds like tool marks left in the barrel. To be sure, scrub the bore with a tight fitting tuft of copper Chore Boy pad on a loop jag. If that doesn't remove it, then it isn't lead.

 

[Kp321]

The Lewis Lead Remover was made for cleaning lead out of pistol barrels and nothing else works as well. Chore Boy works but not as well as the Lewis.

 

[243winxb]

One has tool marks. One dont.

 

[243winxb]

This S&W 45 acp barrel looks bad, but accuracy remained good through out the 200 round test.

A target load with a very hard alloy, cleaned up normally with #9.

More photos at Www.photobucket.com/joe1944usa Do use an ad blocker.

 

[Sistema1927]

I used to obsess over barrel cleanliness. Then I discovered that it really doesn't matter. These days a couple of passes with a bore snake is good enough (unless I am dealing with leading, which is a rarity for me, and then a little chore boy does the trick).

 

[swampcrawler]

I’d agree with Sistema. Carbon fouling isn’t usually going to cause much trouble, but if it is lead buildup, that can, over time, build up to the point of bore constriction, pressure increase, and may eventually bulge the barrel or kaboom.

As others have said, Chore Boy. Or the Lewis gizmo.

 

[rodregier]

+1 for Lewis Lead Remover

https://www.brownells.com/gun-clean...ead-remover/lewis-lead-remover-prod21587.aspx

 

[il.bill]

I can tell when leading is starting to build when the groups open way up at ten to fifteen yards in my single action revolvers (turns out you actually have to clean them once in a while!). A soak with some Kano Kroil and a little (sometimes a lot if I was not paying attention) work with the Lewis Lead Remover and all is right with the world once again.

 

[cslinger]

For what it’s worth. I RARELY use a brush and usually just use a patch or two with ballistol or clp or whatever, let it sit while I clean the rest and then run a bunch of dry patches down/back and forth.

Never a problem. Barrel always looks clean. Guns shoot straight. Running lead may require a bit more effort/brush but I rarely shoot lead.

Don’t stress too much. Don’t scrub the barrel within an inch of its life. Run some kind of carbon cleaner/preservative down there. Run clean patches until they come up more or less cleanish. Look down the barrel make sure nothing obvious is fouling it and call it a day. Maybe blow a shot of breath/air down in case you get some patch strands etc.

 

[fxvr5]

There's a picture of lead in a barrel at this link: https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/6/26/how-to-clean-tough-lead-deposits-from-your-barrel