Hello, here is what the bore looks like after non-abrasive cleaning or brush use. It is a 6mm BR with moderate loads and a custom, hand-lapped stainless steel barrel .900" at the muzzle and 26" long. I broke the barrel in with the 1 shot, clean, 2 shot, clean, etc. and clean it with Wipe Out or Boretech eliminator every 30-35 rounds. The first picture is just where the lands start (no carbon ring noted), the 2nd is about 13-14" mark and the last about the 20" mark. I'm assuming this is carbon fouling. If it is, I may try CLR as the other two failed. Thanks,
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Borescope diagnosing
- Thread starter YamaS3rider
- Start date
The rifle is shooting the same as when I first broke it in. It has about 200 rounds through it.
If the rifle is accurate don't fuck with it.
I have a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel that shoots beautifully but the bore looks way darker than that.
I have a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel that shoots beautifully but the bore looks way darker than that.
You might be able to get it back to being shiny.
In 30 rounds it will look like that again.
In 30 rounds it will look like that again.
I don’t see a problem with that level of cleaning and believe you are jumping a bit at shadows.
Consistency is everything. You can consistently clean a barrel, but not consistently dirty it.
Erik Cortina, if I recall
Erik Cortina, if I recall
It probably shoots better than I can shoot it. Using new brass, I average 0.6 with a variety of powders and bullets. I'm narrowing down to 1-2 powders that aren't impossible to get.
I know right...my Tikka T3x UPR in 6.5 has scratches and a few gouges and it shoots just fine.
A good rule is to leave that damn thing in the closet unless you are seeing real accuracy or consistency issues lol
or...if you are the mind type that likes to investigate for details, then take a purely observational view. That is, NOTHING you see on that camera implies or means anything as far as shooting goes. As long as the rifle remains accurate and consistent, then your viewpoint remains observational only.
If you want to get the carbon out of the land corners. Follow your current cleaning method with bronze brushes and a cleaner like Ed's Red, Hoppes or any other that isn't a copper cleaning solution. If the bore starts to get rough feeling, usually between 5-600 rounds hit it lightly with JB bore paste to smooth it out.
Lightly with the bore paste, scrub the crap out of it with bronze brushes. If the barrel has a little color, that's fine, if you can see rough chunks scrub them out. Don't try to make it shine like a new barrel.
You can work yourself to death trying to clean your barrel, don't. Find a happy medium place that you are happy with and stop. Barrel should feel smooth when you patch it out.
Lightly with the bore paste, scrub the crap out of it with bronze brushes. If the barrel has a little color, that's fine, if you can see rough chunks scrub them out. Don't try to make it shine like a new barrel.
You can work yourself to death trying to clean your barrel, don't. Find a happy medium place that you are happy with and stop. Barrel should feel smooth when you patch it out.
Moderate cleaning more frequently is better than never cleaning or deep, invasive cleaning infrequently. My goal when cleaning isn't to eliminate all carbon and copper, it's to eliminate excessive carbon and copper and return the barrel to generally clean or mostly clean state. I totally expect to see some carbon remaining. Trying to get all remnants will likely cause you to get invasive and potentially damage the barrel, when it won't have any positive affect on accuracy.
I've gathered there are 3 schools of thought on the subject, 1) clean to bare metal every time, 2) clean in moderation and 3) rarely or never clean. I think I'll pick 2. The photos were included to show even a custom, hand-lapped barrel with <200 rounds, broken in w/1-shot, clean, 2-shots, clean, etc and then cleaned after every 30-35 rounds, can still look kind of crummy despite use of products that "remove copper and carbon" but evidently not completely.
Got the borescope out. Searched for results. Going to step away from the thing. No carbon ring. Grooves a little dark, patches come out clean which is where I always stopped before.
