Nylon or bronze brush?

[DesertBull]

I've been cleaning my rifles with a nylon brush for awhile. Just seems like a safer way to go on an expensive, hand lapped, custom barrel.

 

Not so sure anymore. It takes a lot more scrubbing with the nylon brush to get out copper fouling and you have to let harsh chemicals stay in your barrel longer too.

 

Today, I scrubbed with the nylon and just could not get all the copper out. Two passes with the bronze brush and it was clean.

[jeffro]

Ive always heard to keep the brushes out of the barrels. That is what I have always done, and never have had a problem with copper in a good barrel. I wouldnt ever run a bronze brush down my custom barrels, but thats just me. They have never copper fouled much at all.

[DesertBull]

It seems it's about 50/50 regarding brushes with barrel makers and top of the shooters.

 

http://www.6mmbr.com/borebrushing.html

 

Chris Dichter, Owner, Pac-Nor Barreling

"My preference is cleaning every 20-30 rounds. We settled on the Witches' Brew from Dave Holland, which is 1200 micron-inch aluminum oxide in Kroil. It removes anything that isn't gun-barrel steel. It gets carbon and copper out very effectively. Be careful with JB and abrasives--A JB'd patch around a bristle brush can become a lap more than a cleaning agent."

 

I believe in using bronze brushes. A nylon brush may be good for your teeth but it won't do the job on a rifle barrel, particularly in the throat area where carbon and the initial fouling forms. That can be a real problematic area to clean, with tooling marks that grab fouling. When using a bronze brush, however, don't reverse it inside the the bore. If you reverse a bronze brush, the bristles, at some point, will be sticking straight out under high loads and that could cause some surface scratching.

 

 

Joe Entrekin, 2003 Score Shooter of Year (2004 Runner-Up)

"I shoot Danzac-coated bullets and clean once per weekend--every 200 rounds or so. I haven't used a brush in over six years. Nearly all the top score shooters run long intervals between cleanings."

 

John Krieger, Krieger Barrels

"I'm not a big fan of brushes. I think brushes are more a throwback to the black powder days....We try to minimize their use. On my own guns, even with patches, I'll try to keep the patch and jag from exiting the muzzle and dragging on the crown. I like to avoid having anything dragging across the crown."

 

Dan Lilja, Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels

"I think frequent cleaning with bronze brushes is OK. In my experience you'll get more barrel life cleaning frequently than if you go long intervals between cleanings."

 

I know some people avoid using bronze brushes. In my view it is OK to use a bronze brush, and to run it past the muzzle. I also don't see a problem with reversing the bronze brush and running it back through the bore.

 

Tim North, 2003 NBRSA 1000-Yard Champion, President of Broughton Rifle Barrels

I also like Shooters Choice Black Powder Gel on a bronze brush for carbon fouling. The bore cremes and Iosso should be used liberally on nylon brushes and stroked through the entire barrel for uniform cleaning. These products generally have gentler media such as talc, ground corral, or carbon/graphite but they are an abrasive and overuse can smooth the bore. Use liberal amounts of liquid solvent to flush them out of the barrel and always follow the manufacturers' recommendations. Abrasive pastes should be avoided or generally only used occasionally just ahead of the chamber on centerfire rifles to correct problems in the throat. If you make a barrel too smooth it will copper foul like slick tires laying rubber on asphalt on a hot day. And remember--there are many effective means to remove copper, but nobody has figured out a way to put steel back in your barrel. Whenever possible, use chemicals rather than abrasives to remove copper.

 

German Salazar, ShootersJournal.com

"While I use bronze brushes, I don't make too many passes with them. I don't try to make a barrel look unfired with my cleaning routine, I simply get it clean enough to make it through the next 70 rounds without losing accuracy due to fouling. My barrel has over 2900 rounds and the accuracy has not deteriorated at all since new."

 

Gary Schneider, Schneider Rifle Barrels

"I'm a proponent of keeping your barrel clean, and cleaning whenever practical. A disciplined benchrest shooter will clean often. But every shooting discipline has a different shot cycle that will dictate how many shots can be fired before it's practical to clean."

 

I also believe one needs to look at barrel break-in. I believe proper break-in will reduce a barrel's propensity to foul (and hence the need to clean frequently) over the life of the barrel. I recommend doing the one-shot, one-clean routine for 10 shots. Use a good solvent, and brush for ten strokes per shot, letting the solvent soak in and work between each shot.

 

Dwight Scott, Benchrest Smith and Hall of Famer

First let me say, if you talk to the top ten guys you'll find ten different ideas on the best way to clean and brush a bore. Everybody has their own way of doing it. My method has has worked for me for over 22 years, but other shooters may have devised other methods that work just as well for them.

 

That said, I do brush my rifles, usually every 20 rounds or so. And when I brush, I do a thorough job. First, I run a couple wet patches to get rid of the bulk of the crud. Then I give it about 1.5 complete strokes per shot fired. That means, after 20 shots fired, I'll do 30 up and back cycles with a wet brush, adding more solvent (Butch's Bore Shine) after every ten complete cycles.

 

Jerry Tierney, 2005 NBRSA 1000-Yard Champion

Member, U.S. Palma Team

"For my 6.5-284 and .284 I clean every 100-150 rounds and normally do not brush. I'll go even longer with the .308. I've found that my X-count peaked with the Palma rifle at the fourth or fifth match (about 200-300 rounds)."

[308Nut]

Aside from reversing a bronze brush in a barrel, there is no proof that a bronze brush will damage the interior of a barrel. Remember, you are ram rodding hundreds of grains of copper, lead and unburned soon to become burned powder down your barrel at high velocity while generating scorching heat, flame and pressure. Seems to me like a bronze brush is the least of your worries. I have been using them for quite a while. Like anything else, if done properly, they work just fine. You risk more damage from crud becoming imbedded in you cleaning rod and not using a good bore guide than from a clean bronze brush.

[DesertBull]

Remember, you are ram rodding hundreds of grains of copper, lead and unburned soon to become burned powder down your barrel at high velocity while generating scorching heat, flame and pressure. Seems to me like a bronze brush is the least of your worries.

 

That is my thought too.

 

Do you think "crud" can get embedded in a carbon fiber rod if the rod never touches the bore?

[azslim]

kinda partial to Bore Snakes myself