bore cleaning

[kw64]

New to the forum here. I have a 1898 rifle. The bore is dark but the lands and grooves seem good enough. I have been cleaning it with a single piece rod using Hoppes #9, wetting the bore with several patches and then running a 30 cal brass brush through several times and then starting the process over again. I have put about 100 patches through it, and they have started to come out a bit green. Is that copper from jacketed bullets? Any help on such a cleaning process would be very helpful. Thank you :P

[butlersrangers]

The green is probably from the bronze brush. Some dark bores are rust and oxidation and never get 'clean'. Sorry

(p.s. Some rough bores still shoot well).

[Zgun]

KW: It has been my experience with old bores, 03's, Krags's and Mauser's that yes they will have accumulated amounts of copper in them as lot of these old guns were nevere fully cleaned over the course of 50+years. You may never get it bright and shiny but if you stay on the Hoppes routine you can get there. Soak it up and let it sit overnight. Wipe it out, run a plastic 30or 32 cal brush through the bore 5 to 10 times and they wipe out until the patches come out relatively white. Repeat the 12 to 24 hour soak process. It may take 2 to 3 weeks but you will get all the copper and the multiple layers of carbon fouling and the rust out of the bore. I documented this process on an 03A3 I have and after 665 patches and (3) 4 ounce bottles of Hoppes she was clean with strong rifling showing. Not as shiny as a new bore but good for a 75 year old bore that was not cleaned properly over that time once it left military service. As an alternative you could go the home made electrolysis route. You can google that easily and it is not expensive to build you own. One other process that works well with these old bores is to take the rifle and you cleaning supplies to the range. Put 10 rounds through the rifle and get the barrel hot and clean away. Hope this helps.

[craigster]

Hoppes is good, but not all that great when it comes to copper fouling. You might try Sweet's 7.62 , Barnes CR10, or one of the foaming types like Wipeout.

[gnoahhh]

Or if you're really adventurous (or dumb, like me) you can do the old ammonia trick. I filled the bore of a highly fouled '03 barrel with stronger ammonia- the real McCoy, not sold over the counter- and plugged it to sit a while. (A technique I had read about in a Phil Sharpe book, I believe.) Instead of a respirator, I simply held my breath (!!), left it propped in the bath tub, and ran out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut. After the prescribed waiting period I again took a deeeep breath, held it, ran in, popped out the plugs and dumped it down the drain. (I know, I know....) Being at the limits of my breath holding, I had no choice but to breathe. I woke up as my wife was yelling and dragging me out of the bathroom with a huge knot on my head where I hit it after passing out. Needless to say, that was the last time I tried that trick and I would NEVER recommend it to anyone. (But the barrel came out squeaky clean.)

[butlersrangers]

Good Wife!

[Eagle223usa]

On one of my other forums, The Surplus rifle forum there is a thread on electric bore cleaning that goes into great detail. I have a 1892 (Marked 1894) cut down rifle that I am going to try it on. My bore looks nice but when patch
ing it the first 5 or 6 inches of bore is tight. Just remember, some of their concoctions have vinegar in them, vinegar can remove or damage bluing.

[rskyba]

My bore was awful as well. After 1 billion or so runs at it with patches with Hoppes and a bore brush (same path as OP) it is now shiny and nice.

The trick is enormous amounts of elbow grease and patience. The satisfaction after you are done is wonderful.

[Todd Doyka]

mine took 4 or 5 days to get clean. i shoot cast boolits so i needed the barrel to be clean.

heres what i did,
1. gunslick foaming bore cleaner, let it sit for 45 min to 1 hour, start patching until dry
2. sweets, read the instructions
3. shooters choice, read the instructions
4. you can start over(barrel will be dirty >:() with #1 or if you have had enough for the day, use a lite coat of gun oil.

i took awhile to do, 5-7 hours 5 different days. some people do less, some do more! if you are going to use bore brush, use a nylon bore brush. brass always leaves blue-green on the patches.

good luck!!! ;)
ps- have a good stock of patches, and then double them!!

[kw64]

thank you