Hoppe's#9 vs pitted bore, bore is winning.

[HexHead]

Blue Magic gun cleaner is great stuff. Works really well on copper, lead or powder residue. Also removes rust without damaging bluing.

 

[morcey2]

True, cleaning the bore won't get rid of the pitting, but it will reveal the extent of the pitting. It may also reveal that the "pitting" is just fouling build up. But you won't know until after cleaning.

 

[Lj1941]

Ed's Red

Ed's Red and a lot of elbow grease along with countless brushes and cotton patches has worked for me with 2 M/N 91/30s. They were both the proverbial sewer pipes but the elbow grease won out in the end. Neither has a shiney bore but at least I can see the light at the end of the bore. I ran out of Hoppes 9 early on in the project and my son suggested I try Ed's Red. He made up a gallon and we still have most of it left. Those fancey sounding bore cleaners I am sure would have made the job quicker but I have plenty of time and patience.I got to the point where I got clean patches after soaking overnight and called it good.

 

[itsa pain]

First there is no way to remove pitting except to remove the metal down far enough to get to the bottom of the pits. And if the pits are deep enough to be visible, that means removing so much metal the barrel would be ruined. I don't know of any magic cleaner that will really get all the dirt and crud out of pitting without a lot of work. It is like one of those street sweepers trying to get all the dirt out of potholes.

Over the years, powder fouling, primer residue, metal scrapings, general crud, and the remains of old cleaners have gotten into that pitting and getting it out is not easy. In fact, many shooters eventually decide to just let it be and try not to add too much to it.

Abrasives may make the unpitted area shiny and the barrel may look better, but they still won't get the crud out of the pits or eliminate them.

Jim

I think it is better for accuracy if the pits in a cleaned bore get filled with light fouling giving a new meaning to fouling a bore before group testing

 

[itsa pain]

Ed's Red and a lot of elbow grease along with countless brushes and cotton patches has worked for me with 2 M/N 91/30s. They were both the proverbial sewer pipes but the elbow grease won out in the end. Neither has a shiney bore but at least I can see the light at the end of the bore. I ran out of Hoppes 9 early on in the project and my son suggested I try Ed's Red. He made up a gallon and we still have most of it left. Those fancey sounding bore cleaners I am sure would have made the job quicker but I have plenty of time and patience.I got to the point where I got clean patches after soaking overnight and called it good.

I think I have ruined some bores with elbow grease and brushes and sometimes just with patches