Is it safe to clean nitrided barrels with JB Bore Paste?

[CMB6o5]

I finally got out my bore scope for one of my semi autos with a Criterion nitrided barrel after some accuracy degradation, and holy cow is this thing stuffed full of carbon (100% suppressed shooting). I clean all my stainless barrel with JB to get hard carbon out but am hesitant for nitride. I know nitride is hard as hell but something about scraping it with an abrasive gave me pause. Saw some anecdotes here and there about rubbing the nitride coating off down to the bare metal, but as I understand it nitride is a hardening treatment, not a coating.

Unsure. Just want to check before I go do anything stupid.

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Nitride is pretty hard. If the JB might damage it imagine what it's doing to a naked stainless barrel.

 

[Caflashbob]

maybe contact the products maker?

 

[GhostFace]

Get some Wipe Out, it'll get rid of your carbon real easy and safely...

 

[JustSendit]

I’m going to be really stupid here right up front: the inside of the barrel is nitrided?

I clean barrels with jb bore paste or I actually switched to isso but I don’t rub that stuff on the exterior of the barrel… So the coatings are not effected.

I have to be misunderstanding the question!

 

[M4orturnate]

Yes

 

[TonyTheTiger]

I’m going to be really stupid here right up front: the inside of the barrel is nitrided?

I clean barrels with jb bore paste or I actually switched to isso but I don’t rub that stuff on the exterior of the barrel… So the coatings are not effected.

Nitride is not a coating, it is a surface hardening heat or immersion treatment. The barrel inside and out is case hardened.

 

[JustSendit]

Nitride is not a coating, it is a surface hardening heat or immersion treatment. The barrel inside and out is case hardened.

Thanks!

That’s why I lead with I’m stupid.

Anyways 50% of my barrels came from impact nitrated and I jb, isso, infrequently but definitely several times and on paper my process did nothing negative. I o

 

[JustSendit]

Ok one more dumb guy question

Wouldn’t bullets going down the barrel damage the treatment more than the paste?

 

[whatsupdoc]

Run some Bore Tech Carbon cleaner through the bore and let it sit
for a couple of hours.

Patch it out, then using a bronze brush and some CLP brush out the bore.

Repeat.

You are done.

 

[jb0311]

Ok one more dumb guy question

Wouldn’t bullets going down the barrel damage the treatment more than the paste?

Not necessarily, chemical reactions can occur. Look at what happens to nitrided hellfire brakes when you use clr to clean. I don’t think it “harms” the metal but you’ll end up with a pink muzzle device lol.

 

[CMB6o5]

Run some Bore Tech Carbon cleaner through the bore and let it sit
for a couple of hours.

Patch it out, then using a bronze brush and some CLP brush out the bore.

Repeat.

You are done.

It’s been soaking in carbon cleaner for days. Not touching it. This stuff is hard

 

[bfoosh006]

Yes and no... Lol ( And I am far from an SME on JB products )

And which JB ? The "Bore Bright" polish ? Or the "Bore Cleaning Compound" ?

To me it depends on exactly how the barrel is nitrided ( read the article ) and how often is someone using JB. / Which one .
( BTW, I use Kroil with the JB Bore Bright polish w/ VFG felt pellets. . )

I mean if you are scrubbing your barrel for an hour, with JB after every shooting session day after day... that might be to much. Lol
So frequency and how much scrubbing every time, might factor into any possible wear.

I use JB Bore Bright Polish on all my rifle barrels, I have yet to personally see a barrel wear out from the JB... but again I don't scrub every barrel every time.
My Criterion Nitrided 6.5CM, and a few other Nitrided Crit. barrels seem to have no ill effects. ( along with other bore types ) and I have fully removed the black coating left from Nitrited bores, with no ill effect.

( Grudgingly, some of the best groups I have fired have been from barrels that had just been cleaned with JB Polish and the Kroil combo and VFG felt cleaning pellets. )

Some people might clean past an OCD level, If the utmost accuracy is their goal, and they clean the crap out of the barrel they might be creating an issue.
And even then, is a fast rate of fire creating more wear than JB paste use ? Or an Overbore round creating worse wear ?

Honestly hard to say if JB messes up barrels... there are WAY to many variables to really be able to tell.

So as mentioned, I tend to believe a heavy frequency "might" be to much. ( Never done it though )

Until some one does a big'ol test on JB and bore wear, I am not sure I will ever know if excessively using JB will screw up a bore.
I would like to see a measurable difference test even just done on a piece barrel steel.

Life is to short for me to worry, I shoot for fun, and am willing to use JB, Kroil and VFG pellets for cleaning when I want.
BTW, 6.5CM Crit. barreled Large Frame I assembled group after "grudgingly" cleaning the bore 10rds , 100yds, benched scoped, blah, blah, blah

Yes I threw the flyer. Got to giddy


Anyway. As for removing the black "free iron"
Read this... the steel is what gets harder. The black finish can be removed safely.
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-pros-and-cons-of-nitride-barrel-finishes/

Quote ...

"I was surprised to learn from McMillen the only way to remove a properly nitrided treatment is to actually remove the metal. I see a silver appearance throughout when bore-scoping well-seasoned nitrided stainless steel barrels. I thought this was nitride wearing thin, but it turns out the black stuff that comes out on cleaning patches is simply “free iron” resulting from the FNC process. The surface treatment is still fully intact once the black is gone. Proper nitriding will make a chrome-moly barrel’s surface as hard as it can be made. Stainless barrels—which have otherwise been very difficult to toughen up against wear—also become much harder than normal once nitrided."

And sorry for the rant... Lol

 

[CMB6o5]

Yes and no... Lol ( And I am far from an SME on JB products )

And which JB ? The "Bore Bright" polish ? Or the "Bore Cleaning Compound" ?

To me it depends on exactly how the barrel is nitrided ( read the article ) and how often is someone using JB. / Which one .
( BTW, I use Kroil with the JB Bore Bright polish w/ VFG felt pellets. . )

I mean if you are scrubbing your barrel for an hour, with JB after every shooting session day after day... that might be to much. Lol
So frequency and how much scrubbing every time, might factor into any possible wear.

I use JB Bore Bright Polish on all my rifle barrels, I have yet to personally see a barrel wear out from the JB... but again I don't scrub every barrel every time.
My Criterion Nitrided 6.5CM, and a few other Nitrided Crit. barrels seem to have no ill effects. ( along with other bore types ) and I have fully removed the black coating left from Nitrited bores, with no ill effect.

( Grudgingly, some of the best groups I have fired have been from barrels that had just been cleaned with JB Polish and the Kroil combo and VFG felt cleaning pellets. )

Some people might clean past an OCD level, If the utmost accuracy is their goal, and they clean the crap out of the barrel they might be creating an issue.

Honestly hard to say if JB messes up barrels... there are WAY to many variables to really be able to tell.

So as mentioned, I tend to believe a heavy frequency "might" be to much. ( Never done it though )

Until some one does a big'ol test on JB and bore wear, I am not sure I will ever know if excessively using JB will screw up a bore.

Life is to short for me to worry, I shoot for fun, and am willing to use JB, Kroil and VFG pellets for cleaning when I want.
BTW, 6.5CM Crit. barreled Large Frame I assembled group after "grudgingly" cleaning the bore 10rds , 100yds, benched scoped, blah, blah, blah

Yes I threw the flyer. Got to giddy


Anyway. As for removing the black "free iron"
Read this... the steel is what gets harder. The black finish can be removed safely.
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-pros-and-cons-of-nitride-barrel-finishes/

Quote ...

"I was surprised to learn from McMillen the only way to remove a properly nitrided treatment is to actually remove the metal. I see a silver appearance throughout when bore-scoping well-seasoned nitrided stainless steel barrels. I thought this was nitride wearing thin, but it turns out the black stuff that comes out on cleaning patches is simply “free iron” resulting from the FNC process. The surface treatment is still fully intact once the black is gone. Proper nitriding will make a chrome-moly barrel’s surface as hard as it can be made. Stainless barrels—which have otherwise been very difficult to toughen up against wear—also become much harder than normal once nitrided."

Thank you for the in-depth response!

I am using JB Bore Cleaning Compound, which as I understand it is the less aggressive of the two.

I'm kind of realizing now (and I knew it could be a dumb question when I asked) that if nitriding just makes the steel harder, then theoretically it should be safer to JB a nitrided bore than a stainless one, and it probably is. The key part for me was understanding that the black coloring does indeed just wear off over time (and that it's purely aesthetic) - I actually came across that exact quote about the "free iron" you posted a little after I posted my initial question. Very helpful there.

I think any time you have any sort of abrasive, the more you use it the more you have the chance to actually remove metal. I've settled into using it with Kroil about every 200 rounds or so on my bolt guns to keep on top of the hard carbon. I would imagine if you were "going to town" with JB every single time, you would shorten the life of your barrel. I know that is a frequent practice in benchrest disciplines, but it's also hard to know how much effect the cleaning is having since those barrel lives are already relatively short, especially when they need to be "competition" accurate. With that said, I'd rather know my bore is clean and performing its best even if that's for a shorter time than if I wasn't cleaning. I can't imagine the difference is all that drastic for a casual shooter like myself.

 

[MontanaMan]

I've dealt with both gas & salt bath nitriding processes for years on various steel materials.

I doubt that you could ever damage the nitrided (diffused) layer on the ID of a gun barrel with JB, of either flavor, even if you polished it everyday, twice a day.

The very 1st thing I do with a nitrided barrel is clean it with JB paste on a brush wrapped with a patch & JB.

Salt bath nitriding tends to leave residue in areas that are difficult to completely flush out really well with hot water after nitdiding, so I polish the bore before ever shooting it.

MM

 

[CMB6o5]

I've dealt with both gas & salt bath nitriding processes for years on various steel materials.

I doubt that you could ever damage the nitrided (diffused) layer on the ID of a gun barrel with JB, of either flavor, even if you polished it everyday, twice a day.

The very 1st thing I do with a nitrided barrel is clean it with JB paste on a brush wrapped with a patch & JB.

Salt bath nitriding tends to leave residue in areas that are difficult to completely flush out really well with hot water after nitdiding, so I polish the bore before ever shooting it.

MM

This is the kind of experience I was lookin’ for! Thank you sir. Super helpful. Will JB the barrel with confidence

 

[Cr1775]

I've dealt with both gas & salt bath nitriding processes for years on various steel materials.

I doubt that you could ever damage the nitrided (diffused) layer on the ID of a gun barrel with JB, of either flavor, even if you polished it everyday, twice a day.

The very 1st thing I do with a nitrided barrel is clean it with JB paste on a brush wrapped with a patch & JB.

Salt bath nitriding tends to leave residue in areas that are difficult to completely flush out really well with hot water after nitdiding, so I polish the bore before ever shooting it.

MM

You don't use a bronze brush ? Nylon correct?

 

[MontanaMan]

No, it's a worn bronze brush wrapped with a cleaning patch to hold the JB paste.

MM

 

[BCP]

I highly doubt it would hurt the bore, personally not a fan of bore paste I'll use stuff like sweets 762 to clean really old/fouled barrels and then just hoppes or CLP.

 

[carbonbased]

@Frank Green from Bartlein has made a lot of posts around here about not using certain abrasives or CLR in barrels due to him seeing lots of damage come through his shop. Read through this or this for starters. Search for Frank’s posts.

He’s seen doofs scrub 0.002” out of a barrel with a drill, brush, and abrasives. CLR will etch even stainless, especially if you let it sit too long.

The man runs a barrel manufacturing shop.

Edit: fixed a link

 

[Bigjake83]

I finally got out my bore scope for one of my semi autos with a Criterion nitrided barrel after some accuracy degradation, and holy cow is this thing stuffed full of carbon (100% suppressed shooting). I clean all my stainless barrel with JB to get hard carbon out but am hesitant for nitride. I know nitride is hard as hell but something about scraping it with an abrasive gave me pause. Saw some anecdotes here and there about rubbing the nitride coating off down to the bare metal, but as I understand it nitride is a hardening treatment, not a coating.

Unsure. Just want to check before I go do anything stupid.

Well don't you just call the barrel manufacturer as ask for yourself?

 

[carbonbased]

Also: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/precision-rifle-cleaning.7157610/post-10703988 on hardness, softness, scratching etc.

 

[CMB6o5]

Well don't you just call the barrel manufacturer as ask for yourself?

To be honest, it has been an absolute pain getting in contact with them in the past. Figured someone on here would have experience and get back to me sooner. And sure enough.

 

[Frank Green]

To be honest, it has been an absolute pain getting in contact with them in the past. Figured someone on here would have experience and get back to me sooner. And sure enough.

Phones/emails etc...are always busy. Got 4 guys that answer the phones and do emails and enter orders...I'm one of them. When the average phone call is 10 minutes per person and you get 84 phone calls in 2 hours (that's not a typo) yes odds are your going to voicemail.

Give me a phone number and a good time during the day.

I'll call ya!

 

[reelserious]

I'm betting on the Nitride

 

[BCP]

OP sitting there with his thing of bore paste in one hand and his dick in the other, still doesn't have an answer lol.

 

[Frank Green]

OP sitting there with his thing of bore paste in one hand and his dick in the other, still doesn't have an answer lol.

Not being mean towards the OP or anyone else...

But that was funny shit! Made me laugh today!

 

[CMB6o5]

OP sitting there with his thing of bore paste in one hand and his dick in the other, still doesn't have an answer lol.

Hahahaha ok this made me laugh

 

[carbonbased]

Hahahaha ok this made me laugh

Just don’t rub one out with bore paste, k?

Practice Safe Bore Cleaning™

 

[CMB6o5]

Just don’t rub one out with bore paste, k?

Practice Safe Bore Cleaning™

Wait, not everyone cleans both their bores with abrasive? I’ve been doing something wrong.

 

[MontanaMan]

@Frank Green from Bartlein has made a lot of posts around here about not using certain abrasives or CLR in barrels due to him seeing lots of damage come through his shop. Read through this or this for starters. Search for Frank’s posts.

He’s seen doofs scrub 0.002” out of a barrel with a drill, brush, and abrasives. CLR will etch even stainless, especially if you let it sit too long.

The man runs a barrel manufacturing shop.

Edit: fixed a link

Can't argue with that about raw stainless & absolutely will not touch a SS bore with a bronze brush, but this thread is about nitrided barrels & they are as different from raw stainless as night & day.

If you want to test the durability on a nitrided surface, go to work on the OD of a barrel with a file & see where is gets you.

MM

 

[carbonbased]

Can't argue with that about raw stainless & absolutely will not touch a SS bore with a bronze brush, but this thread is about nitrided barrels & they are as different from raw stainless as night & day.

If you want to test the durability on a nitrided surface, go to work on the OD of a barrel with a file & see where is gets you.

MM

Hey, I am just pointing people to experts. Argue with them. I’m no engineer.

Earlier in a different post (linked above) I just pointed people to an engineering forum in which they were discussing why soft raw cotton thread was eating through steel guides on an industrial textile machine.

On such a machine, I’m sure cotton (or worse, nylon) thread would eat through nitrided SS too. It'll surely take longer, but the point is that “hard” is not always impervious to “soft” when you have other factors involved (corrosiveness, abrasive particles, speed, impacts, heat, etc).

In other words, in this argument about cleaning, it isn’t sufficient (or persuasive) to just tell people that “I’m an engineer” and “nitriding is harder and won’t be harmed.” We heard similar things about stainless.

Myself, I am not making specific claims about barrel cleaning. I’ll be following advice from barrel makers and certain engineers.

 

[carbonbased]

(updated my above post a bit)

 

[MontanaMan]

Do what you want, then.

But as for me, I deal with wear resistant, scuff resistant gall resistant & reduction of friction with coatings as a job & those coating including hard chromium, PVD, DLC, thermally applied coatings (plasma & HVOF), & gas & salt bath nitriding.

And if done correctly by whoever the nitriding source is, like Rubber City Armory in the firearms business, for example, cleaning with JB is not going to wear out the rifling on a rifle & is far less damaging than firing a bullet & hot cases down the bore.

Frank Green's comments that I read, were directed at raw SS, not nitrided, whether it be SS or some version of chrome moly-vanadium that I could find.

And again, if done correctly, you will not damage the surface with a file with typical filing strokes.

Of course, it's always possible to find some set of circumstances that might abnormally wear or damage a given material / coating.................................rubbing the bore of a barrel, properly done with salt nitriding, with an undersize brush wrapped with a cotton patch & JB, pulled & push by hand, just ain't one of them.

But you do you.........................

MM

 

[carbonbased]

But you do you.........................

Do you see this as me against you, a test of egos — a rhetorical battle?

Rather, I am simply following the best advice I can find. I then relay that info unto this forum, and in turn, learn more. You just provided this forum with another data point.

This is good.

A general note: In whatever field, the experts I trust are the ones who admit they are not the sole arbiters of truth.

Q: What experts carry the most weight? Who is the most trustworthy?
A: The ones who explain their argument well. Those who point to specific examples that they experienced or read about. People who want to share what the universe has unveiled to them (but don't brag). And especially those who leave open the possibility that they are incorrect. See Frank Green and most of the fellows in that engineering forum.

In this specific context, engineers with an egoless spirit of discovery have more gravitas.

The engineers who are the most interested in winning are the least dependable (and the least interesting).

 

[MontanaMan]

Rather, I am simply following the best advice I can find. I then relay that info unto this forum, and in turn, learn more.

Nothing that you've posted about the best advice that you've found appears to be relative to nitrided barrels. Yet you refer to it as being particularly relative to the OP topic as if it's gospel.

When it isn't.

Have you ever cleaned a nitrided barrel?

Once again, I suggest trying a file or nitriding or hard chrome; then do the same to raw stainless.............sometimes direct experience or an object lesson helps.

End of the discussion from me.

MM

 

[carbonbased]

Nothing that you've posted about the best advice that you've found appears to be relative to nitrided barrels. Yet you refer to it as being particularly relative to the OP topic as if it's gospel.

When it isn't.

Have you ever cleaned a nitrided barrel?

Once again, I suggest trying a file or nitriding or hard chrome; then do the same to raw stainless.............sometimes direct experience or an object lesson helps.

End of the discussion from me.

MM

I am not saying anything about a nitrided barrel.

I provided links that show that the soft can wear out the hard.

Merely positing that a hard surface (nitrided stainless steel) cannot be worn out by a softer material is exactly the same argument that many others have written about in the same "trust me, I'm an engineer" tones. Just substitute "nitrided ss" with "stainless steel".

Same thing I've read on gun forums a thousand times.

I'm not saying that you don't know what you're talking about.

I'm saying you're making a poor argument.

 

[carbonbased]

To help you help us, @MontanaMan, would any of these techniques remove any material from a nitrided barrel?

I know I’m expanding the cleaning techniques from just JB Bore Compound (less aggressive than JB Bore Brite). But since you know a lot about nitriding, please give us some input.

Some fairly worst-case scenarios drawn (& expanded) from @Frank Green examples:

2000 rpm cordless drill spinning back and forth for 15 minutes with:

• a wood dowel wrapped in emery cloth?
• Stainless steel brush + a SS rod banging around + JB Bore Brite? Flitz polish? KG2 bore paste?
• Applying some sort of abrasive on a bullet and firing that down the bore multiple times?
• iosso bore cleaner + a SS rod (banging…) + an iosso blue stiff nylon brush?
• Doing any (or all) of these things every range outing, like 4 days a week for a year? I know this is extreme, but there are some extreme OCD fools out there. Frank would know!

Chemicals:

• Leaving CLR in a nitrided barrel overnight?
• How about the above, but for days?
• Now substitute ammonia for CLR?

Keep in mind Frank Green’s measurements below:

Think about this.... a 5.56 barrel the lands only stick up about .0025". On a 308 barrel the lands only stick up .004". The thickness of the human hair average is about .003". So the lands are not any taller than the thickness of a human hair! So put that into perspective when you see a guy running a rod on a drill inside of a barrel!!!!!!!

If any techniques I listed above would remove some small amount of material from a nitrided barrel, what would your estimate be?

If none of the things I listed would have any effect, please brainstorm what would it take to remove 0.001” (or some number) of material out a nitrided barrel’s bore?

These are concrete things you can help us understand. I obviously have no idea. I’m not trying to be an ass. I would like to know.

 

[Rockhurr]

Hi guys! So I used JB compound with Kroil on VFG pellet to clean this barrel. I’m new to seeing carbon and copper fouling so I’m not so sure what the condition is on this barrel after cleaning. Give me your expert opinion if more cleaning is required. The barrel does look a tarnish color as seen in the picture. TIA!

 

[robogunner]

Whatever you do, do not use it on a nitrided barrel unless you don't like the nitride coating. JB's removes the nitrided surface and leaves it bare metal again. I did it to my 11.5" ARP 5.56 barrel after I saw a strange "ridge" down the bore. Afterwards, H bore scoped it for me and confirmed I had removed the nitriding. The barrel shoots good, but there is no more protective nitrided layer.

 

[Bigjake83]

View attachment 8121952
Hi guys! So I used JB compound with Kroil on VFG pellet to clean this barrel. I’m new to seeing carbon and copper fouling so I’m not so sure what the condition is on this barrel after cleaning. Give me your expert opinion if more cleaning is required. The barrel does look a tarnish color as seen in the picture. TIA!

That's more than enough, like Full Retard Mode. If you're cleaning your barrel on the regular like that you're definitely over cleaning. In my experience taking your barrel to high polish increases copper fouling and seems to take longer for your barrel to settle back in.

 

[Rockhurr]

That's more than enough, like Full Retard Mode. If you're cleaning your barrel on the regular like that you're definitely over cleaning. In my experience taking your barrel to high polish increases copper fouling and seems to take longer for your barrel to settle back in.

Thanks for the response. However, I’m surprised that I’ve accomplished Full Retard Mode when all I did was follow the instruction exactly as said on the JB canister. If 40 strokes of JB and Kroil gets a dirty barrel down to a point of no return then JB or Kroil or the instruction is up to no good.

Also, if a mirror polished bore is over the limit why does every bore cleaner manufacturer say “pass wet patch through bore until patch comes out clean” ? So, in your experience, can you share with us what a good cleaned barrel looks like on the inside? Or, what product you used and how many passes, how your patches should look like when it’s “enough cleaning”, etc. so that we all get the same results? Thanks.

 

[n2ishun]

Get the correct sized *tampon* cotton swab bore brush.
Spray the fuck out of it with Carburetor spray cleaner.
Swab the fuck out of the bore.
Keep spraying it with the carb cleaner as it evaporates very fast.
It'll take out the carbon and not hurt the barrel.....but you will have to work for it, don't expect it to happen in 30 seconds....more like 15 minutes of swabbing.
Don't get the spray on any plastic parts you want to keep.

BTW, carb cleaner is made specifically to remove a helluva lot heavier carbon deposits than you'll ever find in a barrel.

 

[Bigjake83]

Thanks for the response. However, I’m surprised that I’ve accomplished Full Retard Mode when all I did was follow the instruction exactly as said on the JB canister. If 40 strokes of JB and Kroil gets a dirty barrel down to a point of no return then JB or Kroil or the instruction is up to no good.

Also, if a mirror polished bore is over the limit why does every bore cleaner manufacturer say “pass wet patch through bore until patch comes out clean” ? So, in your experience, can you share with us what a good cleaned barrel looks like on the inside? Or, what product you used and how many passes, how your patches should look like when it’s “enough cleaning”, etc. so that we all get the same results? Thanks.

You haven't disclosed what barrel blank this is, but regardless JB should only be used a couple times in the entire life span of your barrel. Basically maybe once after your first 100 rds, and then maybe once more somewhere in the mid life of your barrel IF NEEDED

it doesn't matter that you follow the instructions on the JB cleaning process you have to use common sense, it's a tool you use maybe once or twice in the lifespan of your Barrel not a regular cleaning regiment.

Yes you're definitely over cleaning your barrel, and you only need 3-5 5 stroke passes with JB at max.

The polish/finish inside your bore has absolutely nothing to do with how clean your patch comes out, I honestly don't even understand why you would connect those two??

Inside the throat of a Bartlein barrel after its first 100rds utilizing the below cleaning regiment... as you can see not a mirror polished, and they all shoot Sub Half MOA.

This is the same barrel I used this weekend at a local Precision Rifle Match in one of my Custom SP10's I built, after the match (86rds later) I had two shooters from my squad that wanted to try out my rifle.. both of them shot 1/2 MOA 5rd groups off a bench at 200 yards.

I use a few sprays of Hoppes Black Cleaner on a ultra soft nylon brush, spray it on the brush and make 5 passes removing the brush before pulling my rod back through the bore and this is only to ensure I have the bore thoroughly coated with the cleaning solution inside the bore and to remove any debris. After that I let it soak for about 30 minutes while I clean the BCG and everything else. Once it's had its soak time I start pushing patches and by the 3rd or 4th patch its done! The 4th patch is spotless, maybe some slight blue from residual cleaning solution left over in the throat area or inside the Gasport.

 

[XLR308]

Thanks for the response. However, I’m surprised that I’ve accomplished Full Retard Mode when all I did was follow the instruction exactly as said on the JB canister. If 40 strokes of JB and Kroil gets a dirty barrel down to a point of no return then JB or Kroil or the instruction is up to no good.

Also, if a mirror polished bore is over the limit why does every bore cleaner manufacturer say “pass wet patch through bore until patch comes out clean” ? So, in your experience, can you share with us what a good cleaned barrel looks like on the inside? Or, what product you used and how many passes, how your patches should look like when it’s “enough cleaning”, etc. so that we all get the same results? Thanks.

This is a good comprehensive read on the subject and also addresses the issue of over polishing the interior finish.

How to Clean a Barrel | Bartlein Barrels

www.bartleinbarrels.com

 

[Rockhurr]

You haven't disclosed what barrel blank this is, but regardless JB should only be used a couple times in the entire life span of your barrel. Basically maybe once after your first 100 rds, and then maybe once more somewhere in the mid life of your barrel IF NEEDED

it doesn't matter that you follow the instructions on the JB cleaning process you have to use common sense, it's a tool you use maybe once or twice in the lifespan of your Barrel not a regular cleaning regiment.

Yes you're definitely over cleaning your barrel, and you only need 3-5 5 stroke passes with JB at max.

The polish/finish inside your bore has absolutely nothing to do with how clean your patch comes out, I honestly don't even understand why you would connect those two??

Inside the throat of a Bartlein barrel after its first 100rds utilizing the below cleaning regiment... as you can see not a mirror polished, and they all shoot Sub Half MOA.
View attachment 8122132

This is the same barrel I used this weekend at a local Precision Rifle Match in one of my Custom SP10's I built, after the match (86rds later) I had two shooters from my squad that wanted to try out my rifle.. both of them shot 1/2 MOA 5rd groups off a bench at 200 yards.
View attachment 8122145

I use a few sprays of Hoppes Black Cleaner on a ultra soft nylon brush, spray it on the brush and make 5 passes removing the brush before pulling my rod back through the bore and this is only to ensure I have the bore thoroughly coated with the cleaning solution inside the bore and to remove any debris. After that I let it soak for about 30 minutes while I clean the BCG and everything else. Once it's had its soak time I start pushing patches and by the 3rd or 4th patch its done! The 4th patch is spotless, maybe some slight blue from residual cleaning solution left over in the throat area or inside the Gasport.

View attachment 8122123

Again, thanks for the education, but i related patch condition to cleanliness based on what I read on most cleaning agent bottles, to make sure that patches come out clean (assuming without seeing any black carbon residue or blue copper streaks on the patch). So if solvents arent meant to totally remove carbon or copper then I’m confused why they need to come out clean. So I clean until I don’t see the black or blue on the patch . But that’s doing too much so I’m confused.

 

[Rockhurr]

This is a good comprehensive read on the subject and also addresses the issue of over polishing the interior finish.

How to Clean a Barrel | Bartlein Barrels

www.bartleinbarrels.com

Thanks for the link. Good information.