Nylon Brushes

[SingleSeven]

It seems a lot of precision shooters favor nylon bore brushes over bronze brushes. Why is this? What I've read suggests that nylon is less abrasive to the bore than bronze, but the way I see it just one copper jacketed bullet forced down the bore at 60,000 psi does more damage to the bore than a bronze brush could ever do in a lifetime. I'm buying a new rifle and am wondering if I should invest in nylon from the start.

 

[mtang45]

I use nylon and the main reason is not getting false blue on my copper cleaning. Your copper solvent will eat away at bronze brushes just like it does with the copper in the bore. You never can tell when you have all the copper out. With nylon when your patches come out clean, you are done.

 

[Holliday]

This old time gun smith I used to know “Doc” used to go on and on about the fallacy of the safety of using soft metals for cleaning. I cannot quote him directly as it had been so long, but he would mention that soft metals pick up and embed harder metal fragments in the process. Then something about it being like “lapping compound”.

So long story short, you think you are using bronze but really it becomes bronze with impregnated steel and carbon. At least that was his theory.

For some things, such as carbon build up, I of think bronze brushes as a necessary evil and use only as needed. But that’s just me......

 

[Bigfatcock]

Butch’s softens carbon fouling really well. Chemicals are our friends.

 

[kl3309]

Nylon brush and this:

Fuck your rifling.

 

[B y r o n]

I believe in standard brushes and cleaners for carbon fouling and nylon with copper solvents as well as patches for copper fouling.

 

[SingleSeven]

I have definitely seen false blue using bronze brushes and Shooters Choice so that's a good point. Interesting thought about bronze brushes picking up harder metals to form a lapping compound but wouldn't soft nylon do the same? Food for thought, thanks everyone.

 

[SingleSeven]

I did some more research on nylon brushes and found Bore Tech offers a version using steel cores (aluminum loop) and Pro-shot has theirs with brass cores. Question, is the steel core a risk to the barrel and does the brass core still give false blues?

 

[Bugholes]

I recommend you keep using your nylon brushes, that way you'll think your barrel is shot out sooner than it is, and I get the chance to sell you another barrel

Seriously, nylon brushes are good for thing- brushing during your copper solvent process
That's assuming you do brush during your copper solvent process (sweets/ eliminator/ CR-10, not a AP cleaner like Butch's or shooters choice)

 

[...]

ive used both....personally i dont think there is a fuck load of a difference between bronze or nylon.....find something that works for you.

ive not heard of any gun being ruined, or clean more thoroughly, or made more/ less accurate because of brush choice.....its one of those things that everyone debates but has 0 actual real world difference.

 

[Poorboyr]

I’ve spent less time cleaning with bronze than with nylon. With the nylon brushes it never seems to get completely clean.