How clean do you get your barrel?

[problemchild]

In the past and up until today I used a jag and KG2 then jagged the barrel until the patch was almost clean. Today I decided to run some bore shine copper cleaner just for the heck of it. OMG the barrel was fouled beyond belief. It took me 3 hours and nearly 75 patches and multiple brushings with brass, and nylon dipped in copper cleaner to remove all the crap from the barrel. After 50 patches I still had a solid blue color on the patch. I ran 60 more brush stokes with Montana copper cleaner and finally the patches turned almost white. I finally called it quits when only a tiny hint of light blue was barely visible.

So do I need to ditch the KG2 and run copper cleaners after each trip to the range? I was floored at how much copper came out of the barrel.

Opinions? Ideas?

 

[AK-Bandit]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

I usually only clean my barrel every other range session (100rds or so). My stainless barrel usually stays fairly clean. I use Butch's Bore Shine and normally only go through 15 patches or less.
Out of curiosity, what kind of barrel do you have? And what bullets are you shooting?

 

[Dtarget]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

Every 1K I use some Hoppe's and Sweets. No more than 5-10 patches to get clean of each. In between, I apply Mobil 1 to the BCG liberally.

 

[Oakland Tactical]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

I only clean them really good when I wont be shooting them for for 30 days or longer.

I would like to know how your first few groups you get when you go back to the range and if they are comparable to the groups prior to cleaning and how long before it settles in.

I have had bad groups after cleaning until the barrel seasoned again in some of my guns mostly with factory Remington barrels.

Groups have always been consistant even with my SS barrels when I leave them alone.

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

You're supposed to clean them???

 

[ChielScape]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

2x with the nylon brush to spread bore-cleaner (remington brand, if I remember correctly) along the barrel
2x a copper brush to get the worst of the fouling
2x with the woolen 'brush' to get the dirty bore cleaner out.

I don't clean my bore to perfection, I clean my bore to maintain a consistent level of fouling. Being slightly foul already makes it take longer before POI shifts, in theory anyway, I'm not a good enough shot to notice.
This is less work too.

 

[dlxcupid]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

After about at least 1k-2k rounds or when the groups start opening up. FYI barrel on the Stealth upper has got about 1500rds ran through without cleaning and about 4k rounds total.

Boresnake 1 pass through the barrel
Spray brake clean or carb clean down the barrel.
Run a patch with oil through
Mop the barrel with Hoppes 9, let it soak for 20-30 mins
Run about 15 patches through or until I stop seeing actual copper flecks.
Light coat of oil through bore.

I don't try to get the bore looking like new. I know it'll be better than before cleaning. I do however clean the BCG just about every outing(2-500rds). I just spray that down with brake clean, wipe clean with a shop towel, oil with Machine Gunners Lube or Hoppes gun oil.

 

[MrLebowski]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

Well I'll chime in too I guess.

I usually remember to run a bore snake down the barrel 1-3 times after a day of shooting.
I clean out the bolt/BCG and reciever when I notice it's getting pretty dirty, every couple of trips usually.
I fully clean my barrels with hoppies & a copper fouling remover just a few times a year. Maybe every 500-1500 or so depending on the gun.
AR's get more rounds on them between cleanings but I clean them more often too because I shoot alot more rounds threw them, in general.

 

[AvsFan]

Re: How clean do you get your barrel?

I "use to be" very, very anal about having a spotless bore and would run multiple (50, 75, or more) patches with various bore cleaners/solvents, etc. But, then I starting reading that over-cleaning a bore will wear out the rifling faster than actual shooting.

A couple of barrel manufacturers (can't remember who) chimed into the thread & confirmed this. Not to mention the possibility of damaging the throat, barrel or especially crown from over-zealous cleaning.

Therefore, I now run a couple of soaking wet patches down the barrel (M-Pro 7 - my favorite multipurpose CLP) and let is soak in for a few minutes. Followed by dry clean patches until they're fairly clean (usually around 10 or so).

Then, to finish off I run my bore snake a couple of times for good measure...that's it!

my $0.02

AvsFan

ETA: Link for M-Pro 7...excellent product!