Oil or Brush First

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I use a couple of sloppy wet patches of Hoppe's, etc, first, to clean out the crap, then a couple of dry, then brush it well with a wet brush and let it sit for a while while I clean the rest of the gun, then a dry patch, wet brush, etc, until I cant stand it any more and it starts to look "cleaner" than when I started. :)

When I'm done, I dry patch the bore, then wet patch it with Eezox and let it sit a little while, then dry patch it and put it away.
 
when i clean my guns i run a sloppy wet patch of shooter's choice down the bore. then i use hoppes to clean the rest of the gun seeing as its mostly powder residue anyways while the solvent does the work in the bore. Then I dip the bore brush in shooter's choice and scrub the barrel. Then wrap a small patch around the bore brush ajnd run that down the bore-it works kinda like a squee-gee, just don't use too big a patch. If the bore needs further cleaning then i dip the brush in shooters choice again and squeegee it again and keep doing that until it comes clean. Once its clean i run a wet patch of eezox down the bore and put the gun together, wipe the entire gun down with eezox and put it away.
 
carburator cleaner the whole gun(minus wood and plastic) brush hot soapy water for barrel break free whole gun let sit a few wipe off assemble and put away some times more some times less.
 
All I do is run a wet brush down the bore and scrub. Run a damp patch down. Repeat as needed. Last step is a patch soaked in oil. I use Hoppes No.9 oil and solvent.
 
I use a brush in a drill to really clean the bore with Shooter's Choice (with a patch wrapped around the brush) - a few of those and it usually works...if the forcing cone area is too leaded, I have the brass screen device that you pull through to scrape it out
 
Don't find any need for a brush with copper jacketed rounds. An oily rag is all that is needed to clean the barrel.
 
Guess I'm going about it all wrong. I use a shot of Hoppe's on the fat part of a bore snake. I run that through the barrel three or four times and then switch to a brush on a cleaning rod. I give maybe 20 quick strokes with the brush and then run some patches with solvent through.

If the following dry patches go through and come out clean I switch to Flitz on the patches. If not I go back to the brush. The Flitz patches get several strokes each and each followed by dry patches.

I do this over again until I can run a patch with Flitz through and it does not come out black.

Flitz is a metal cleaner. It is not a polish, but my auto pistols have the shiny bores.

The only downside I've found is that it takes about one mag before my pistols get back to one-hole accurate when they are clean. A little bit of fouling helps make a gun more accurate.
 
Flitz is a metal cleaner. It is not a polish, but my auto pistols have the shiny bores.
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One should never use a product with polishing compound (Flitz has 25%) to clean the bore unless one is purposely trying to remove barrel metal. You will accelerate the wear out of your barrel.

I learned years ago that it isn't important to end up with a shiny barrel. Like you said, that can lead to reduced accuracy for the first few shots. It is more important to heavier fouling (which can retain moisture) and get a layer of oil to soak to the metal level and protect against rust.

Also one should be very careful when working around the crown of the barrel. If you wear it unevenly or nick it, you will effect accuracy.
 
Don't find any need for a brush with copper jacketed rounds. An oily rag is all that is needed to clean the barrel.
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Some of us who don't shoot the BEB ammo will have lead residue. Those are hard to remove with just a jag and a patch.

Wet patch, let it soak, then brush.
Work smart, let it soak so the chemical do the work for you, and you have less brushing to do.
 
A brush on a drill? In a rifled barrel? Even with the hardness difference between bronze and steel, that bothers me. As I have it (read: no data, no citations) the rotating handle on a cleaning rod is to allow a brush or patch to follow the rifling, improving reach into grooves and reducing wear on the lands. I have heard and read warnings that cleaning rods with bearings so worn or corroded that they no longer turn easily should be replaced. YMMV
 
Everyone should own a boresnake in every caliber you shoot. The new ones even have mops on the front ends that you put the solvent on. Solvent on the front end, rem oil on the back end, two times through and you're as done as with the bore as you'll be in an hour with a rod and swab cleaning..

just my opinion though. but then again I'm not OCD with my gun cleaning habits..
 
two times through and you're as done as with the bore as you'll be in an hour with a rod and swab cleaning..
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I have a hard time believing that. I guess it depends on what you consider "clean".

Then theres also the fairly numerous posts about a stuck Bore Snake that keep me from running out to get one.

How do you clean the Bore Snake?
 
I'm pretty much sold on the boresnake. I never did like the rod method of barrel cleaning and used to use a piece of rag wetted with solvent and tied to a length of twine. Pull that through a couple of times and your barrel gets cleaned pretty fast. Especially shotgun barrels. When the boresnake came out, I slapped myself in the forehead because I realised that I missed out on a million dollar idea.

I've heard of them breaking. I've never had it happen to me. I think if you're careful, if you watch the condition of the boresnake for any signs of fraying or loose stitching and if you don't jerk on it too hard when its in the barrel, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I can see where you might run into problems if it's been or being handled too roughly and asked to function beyond the limits of its design.

But the troops in the field seem to like them and trust their rifles (read: lives) to them. The boresnake ought to suffice for my relatively light guncare needs.

Of course, to your point, yes, clean is a relative term. but as some have pointed out, a slightly fouled barrel shoots better than a perfectly perfectly clean barrel, anyways.

On cleaning, they say you can put them in the washing machine. I've neer done that but it being "dirty" has never been an issue for me. I always just let them air out and never put them away wet. I'm sure at some point I'll wash it, but I'lll probably do it in the sink with hot water and dish soap and let it hang dry.
 
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Boresnakes: again, no data, no citations, but I like tossing a fouled patch. Saving that fouling to run it through the gun again is as welcome to me as blowing my nose into a cloth handkerchief and saving all that lovely stuff for later reapplication to my face. :barf:

I will admit, though, that they are a good, if very expensive, pocketable means of clearing a bore of debris should you stuff you muzzle into the ground and your electricians' tape or gun condom fails. The old drop weight, cord, and (so cheaply disposable) patches work for me.
 
I use a brush in a drill
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:what: Say it ain't so!

I pretty much do what AK103K does -- patches with Hoppes #9, dry patch, wet brush, patches again. I'll then finish with Breakfree CLP on patches. If I'm in a real hurry, it's just use some CLP but then I feel like I've just used the gun and haven't given it the TLC it deserves. :)
 
A brush in a drill? Mercy! Yes, maybe for extremely dirty revolver chambers, but not rifling. I agree with Chuck Dye; the rotating handles of better cleaning rods are to allow the brush to follow the rifling.

As for bore snakes, two passes, with a bit of Break-Free CLP on the front mop section, will do a pretty darn good job of cleaning a barrel in the field or at the range. I still, however, want to follow-up at home with a better cleaning of the rifling when time allows.
 
GunLvrNLearner, you do not clean a barrel with oil! Your original post makes no sense, as phrased.
 
Why would you start the cleaning process with oil?

I start with a clean, dry rag.

I only put oil in a barrel when I'm putting it up for long-term storage.

Boresnakes are handy for initial cleaning. But, after you've done the quick wipe down it comes down to old-fashioned patches. I include Windex in the equation when shooting corrosive ammo (for the ammonia).

As to Flitz, there are no abrasives in Flitz. It will not harm your barrel. The idea it is 25 percent abrasives is, um, well, just plain wrong.

From the Flitz Web site:

Flitz:

* Uses no abrasives
* Is non-toxic and acid-free
* Uses no ammonia
* Is safe on your skin
* Won't dry out
* Leaves no residue

It may (or may not) be the finest metal cleaner on the market. I've been using it for 30 years. My competition gun has the original barrel and it is 12 years old and shoots in competition twice a month. I won another match with it last week. I cleaned it about an hour ago and Flitz was the last thing down the barrel (except a clean, dry patch).

I do admit that every gun needs its own special cleaning regimen. Last count there were 132 guns in the vault. Many of them I've never fired. OTOH, the five or six I shoot regularly are cleaned meticulously every time they are fired.

In regard to shooting better after a few rounds down the tube, every gun shoots better with a little fouling. It is the nature of the beast. Bench rest shooters that clean between every round are the only ones that might argue that point.

In any case, clean a gun if it is dirty. If your method differs from mine that's fine. Just clean a dirty gun. The vast majority of failures happen because some slob didn't clean his gun.
 
My cleaning procedure involves removing the grip panels and soaking the frame'slide & barrel in parts cleaning solution, brush out the barrel with a 45cal. rifle brush (more scrubbing surface than short pistol brush) I clean from the breech end of the barrel and leave the muzzle end in the parts cleaner I can draw the cleaning solution up into the bore with the brush with ea. stroke somewhat of a scrub & flush action is created.
When I shoot alot of lead bullets I may have lead deposits that are stubborn to remove, I'll cork up the bore and pour in a little mercury, cork the muzzle and tilt the barrel back and fourth a few times and the lead comes right out with the mercury, dry patch remaining residue, coat with Hoppe's and I'm done.I'll soak and brush the slide and frame and dry with compressed air, if slide has specialty sites I will use more care and try to isolate them from harsh cleaning solvents that may damage them. Please be aware that Mercury is a health hazard to man and animal I personally have had no health issues involving the chemical. Big Mac's, fries, bar-b-que and other luxury's have been more detrimental !!!!:what:
 
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From the Flitz MSDS

30% solid polishing powder.

http://www.flitz.com/msds/MSDS_FlitzPolish_Paste.pdf

I have seen the claims varied from "no harsh abrasives" to no abrasives....but it definitely includes abrasive materials designed to "polish." Pretty much anything with "polish" in it's name will have abrasives. It uses the abrasives to remove material.

In this thread there is a statement from Flitz.

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=296

In this thread JB is recommended over Flitz because it using finer abrasives.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2750961

I have used JB to loosen up tight spots in a barrel so I know it can and does remove barrel material. Flitz will do similar.
 
Flitz is a metal cleaner. It is not a polish, but my auto pistols have the shiny bores.
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My gun's bore's are shiny too, but I don't find I have to use anything nearly this aggressive to keep them this way. "Gentle" or "ultra-fine" abrasives are still abrasives and I wont be using anything like that in my bores. YMMV
 
I'll settle on the factory or barrel mfg's finish as they know more about "surface texture" than I. I've read that a glass smooth finish on a bore is not the optimum finish on a gun barrel. JB bore cleaner uses flaxseed as their abrasive which is aggressive on fouling but not on barrel steel. I would'nt trust anything else in my bores. Don't confuse JB's bore cleaner with their bore polish we're talkin bore cleaner here.
 
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