Patches clean but bore still smooth black

This is a perfect case of too little experience with a bore scope. You can see the ringing from the gun drill or the bore reamer. That fucker is CLEAN. You can also see that the edges of the lands are flaked off pretty bad. If You can see that level of detail then the barrel is clean. I can also tell that it is not a hand lapped barrel. It looks like a shit button rifled barrel. When barrels have that many defects they tend to shoot better a little dirty.

This is exactly the reason we invest in top quality barrels. Consistency of bore and groove size and internal finish consistency make a big difference in how they shoot AND clean. A good barrel in the sweet spot of its life will shoot to point of aim with at most 5 rounds of fouling. In my experience it is more like 1 round. After 5 rounds the velocity will settle in. If you have a barrel that won't shoot without a lot of fouling, it is likely towards the end of its life or a rough factory barrel.

I also don't ever try to dissolve copper fouling with solvent. I clean with abrasives every 200-400 rounds. The abrasives will remove the copper from the tops of the lands and grooves while leaving the firecracking and other flaws mostly filled in with fouling. This method has helped me to achieve longer barrel life than typically stated as well as good accuracy and consistency.

As an aside, even good quality barrels sometimes have voids in the steel and some defects that make ugly spots in the bore. I have seen this in many barrels. If they shoot there is nothing to worry about. The best use of a borescope is to know if your barrel is clean. According to the photos you posted, that gun is ready for another range trip.
 
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Please keep confirming that you're an idiot. People here are long past fudd tribal knowledge on just about anything rifle related.
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Exactly! I have said this for years. First the Catholic church let the Bible be translated out of latin, then they let the masses buy digital calipers.

WTF is next, affordable mini computers so we can scan our own vehicles?

When will we learn……



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Yes , total waste of time . Would be seller claimed "low round count " . Some folks are born ignorant and only get older , some folks strive to learn as they go . Fuck the ignorant assholes .
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I also don't ever try to dissolve copper fouling with solvent. I clean with abrasives every 200-400 rounds. The abrasives will remove the copper from the tops of the lands and grooves while leaving the firecracking and other flaws mostly filled in with fouling. This method has helped me to achieve longer barrel life than typically stated as well as good accuracy and consistency.

As an aside, even good quality barrels sometimes have voids in the steel and some defects that make ugly spots in the bore. I have seen this in many barrels. If they shoot there is nothing to worry about. The best use of a borescope is to know if your barrel is clean. According to the photos you posted, that gun is ready for another range trip.
I think this is right. There is a reason a lot barrels need "fouling" shots before settling into precision. "Fouling" being the misnomer here. Right amount of copper and carbon levels aid precision. Whatever stays in the barrel after abbrasives just needs to stay. Removing the precision hampering build up is the most important.

I just started using IOSSO paste mixed with G96 oil & the Thorroclean system for initial 200rnds treatment of AR barrels to burnish the gas port sharpies. I can see quite apparently on the target which sessions the gas ports smooth out and stop fucking up the bullet jackets.
 
The only time I clean my barrel is if I'm going to let it sit for awhile.

Carbon: BoreTech C4 Carbon cleaner

Fouling: BoreTech Eliminator

Storage: Clenzoil, turns out to be one of the better rust inhibitors

Steps:

1) Scrub the barrel with C4 and patch it until no more carbon on the patch
2) Scrub the barrel with Eliminator and patch it until it's mostly copper free
3) Patch it several times with Clenzoil
4) Done