Author Topic: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?  (Read 5608 times)

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Offline Clint007

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What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« on: August 14, 2018, 08:55:46 PM »
I shoot my pistols a lot.  I?ve tried a few things to clean the barrels. Spray with solvent cleaner then brush & patch. Soak in Hoppes overnight. Bore snake. All of the above in various sequences. Etc.

I?ve noticed that after work with an abrasive barrel-safe brush, follow-on soaked patches (Hoppes) come out dirty. After a few more soaked patches...they are then clean appearing.  Then I brush again and notice the patches to follow are dirty.  Repeat cycle.  I assume the brush is breaking up debris that was adherent to the inside. I can see the little debris scuffs in the barrel held up to a light.  Problem is it seems like a LOT of cycles and still the barrel isn?t clean, even after using fresh brushes.

I?m not terribly OCD and I get that mostly ?clean enough? is good enough. But what IS the best way of thoroughly cleaning a barrel without resorting to unreasonable amounts of time.

And...I have an ultrasonic cleaner. and it does not remove those caked on scuffs of residue....and least not after 45-60 minutes with the solutions I?ve used....

Thanks!

Clint
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Offline gwvt

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2018, 09:15:08 PM »
When I want to get a bore completely clean, including copper fouling, I use Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner. It works very well and requires no scrubbing. Just let it sit for 15 minutes or so and then run a couple patches through.

Offline rdcinhou

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2018, 04:29:51 AM »
Have you considered that maybe on the second pass that debris that was left on the brush was transferred back into the barrel?

Have you ever cleaned the brush?
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Offline SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2018, 05:05:31 AM »
I make several passes with a brush and bore cleaner, spray out with aerosol solvent,let dry and run a couple lightly oiled patches through the bore. This is plenty good enough.

Offline Earl Keese

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2018, 06:35:03 AM »
Sounds like possible lead fouling, what bullets are you shooting?

Offline John_

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2018, 06:49:43 AM »
When I want to get a bore completely clean, including copper fouling, I use Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner. It works very well and requires no scrubbing. Just let it sit for 15 minutes or so and then run a couple patches through.

Thanks for the info. Going to try this stuff. Amazon has it btw.
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Offline gwvt

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2018, 12:08:18 PM »
Yeah, it's pretty widely available. I see it in various stores as well.

Offline Clint007

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2018, 01:59:09 PM »
Have you considered that maybe on the second pass that debris that was left on the brush was transferred back into the barrel?

Have you ever cleaned the brush?

Thanks, my original draft post which I edited for brevity was to mention that, yes, I have confirmed it with a new brush...plus I can still 'see' the debris in the rifling even tho the patches come clean after awhile.

I load and shoot only CMJ, JHP, or plated. No lead or coated lead.

I'll try that bore cleaning agent...Thanks!

C
Temere phrase latine usus sum ut magna canetis

Offline Blackwatch

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2018, 02:29:05 PM »
I put mine in the dish washer...which really irritates my wife!! Just kidding  :)

Typically run a couple of wet patches (M-Pro 7 cleaner) on a brass jag (sized to bore) to get most of the debris/fouling out then run through several times with a bore brush wet with MP7, dry patch and lastly a couple of patches with Slip 2000 EWL

Occasionally use Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner (turns blue with copper) or M-Pro 7 Copper remover in between dry patches and Slip 2000 EWL.

Clint007, I'm interested to hear if you find a process that does not produce dirty patches after second brushing (as mentioned in your initial post).


Offline Joe Allen

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2018, 03:25:48 PM »
I run the barrel in an ultrasonic cleaner for about 20 minutes with heat on, then hit it with a brush. Cleans up nice.

Offline dbarn

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2018, 11:00:38 AM »
Many may scoff at what I do, but I usually shoot nearly every weekend.

After using a tooth brush on the feed ramp area, I simply run a bronze brush through with Hoppe's  #9 then follow up with a homemade shred of paper towel tightly crammed into the breach end and shoved through the muzzle end. Usually comes out pretty black and bore is left nice and shiny. The half sheets work pretty good using about a 2" wide piece torn horizontally.

Woks very well for me. YMMV

Offline rdcinhou

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2018, 03:56:43 PM »
I also use Hoppes No. 9 and brushes, but I also use RamRodz https://ramrodz.com/.

There are still times that I like to use the cotton t-shirt "leavings" (got a big bag of them at Wal-Mart a while back) through the barrel with a jag.
CZ24/27/38/40P/45/52, Vzor 50/70,75BΩ,75D Compact,P01/07/09,P10M/S/C/F(9mm,.45), Phantom,SP01 Tactical,Shadow 2 (Blue,Urban Gray), 82/83/85 PreB, 97BE,97BD,97BDE,100,1911A1, 2075D RAMI,452 American,550 Urban Counter Sniper,805 Bren S1,Drake G2,Duo,Z,vz24 8mm Mauser,FK 7.5 BRNO Field Pistol, PSD

Offline Tim_B

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2018, 04:10:27 PM »
I used to have the patches do the same thing you described but then I found something else that works much much better and cuts the time it takes to clean the gun.  I saw some bore squeeg-e's at Bass Pro so I bought a few and tried them.  They fit on the end of a cleaning rod and they work much better than patches.  The rubber rings have a much tighter fit in the bore than patches and they do a good job of bringing the gunk out when you pull them through.  I use two rods.  One with a bore brush on the end and one with a squeeg-e on the end.  And you can just leave it on the rod.  No having to constantly changes patches anymore.  Since I started using the squeeg-e I have never used patches again.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/remington-squeeg-e-bore-cleaner

I haven't seen them in too many stores but Field and Stream and Bass Pro sell them.  I think Midway USA has them too.

« Last Edit: August 18, 2018, 10:26:28 PM by Tim_B »

Offline Blackwatch

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2018, 08:28:05 AM »
This thread piqued my curiosity so during the weekend I took a couple of "cleaned" guns out the safe and immersed the barrels in Kroil for 30 mins...first patch through was dirty! Proceeded with running a brush through followed by foaming gun cleaner...patches were substantially blue & black. Finished with another run of M-Pro 7 cleaner on brush/patches and final pass with Slip 2000 lube.

I guess Kroil loosens deposits and provides a slightly deeper clean!

Offline Blackwatch

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Re: What are most effective ways to clean pistol barrel?
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2018, 06:22:47 PM »
Typically run a couple of wet patches (M-Pro 7 cleaner) on a brass jag (sized to bore) to get most of the debris/fouling out then run through several times with a bore brush wet with MP7, dry patch and lastly a couple of patches with Slip 2000 EWL

Occasionally use Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner (turns blue with copper) or M-Pro 7 Copper remover in between dry patches and Slip 2000 EWL.


Quick update: the cleaing process I'd been using wasn't as thorough as I thought. Recently I was recommended Wipe-Out Patch-Out" for removing layers of fouling and copper build up in a 1942 Mosin Nagant that had been "scrubbed" many times. It was astonishing how many black and blue patches came out but finally the barrel is shiny!

Now I was curious about how effective the other cleaning products I'd used were so I took an AR-15 out the safe that had previously been cleaned, ran a dry patch through and as expected it only picked up residual lubricant from the prior clean. I then applied Wipe-Out on a nylon brush and ran it through the barrel a few times and let it work for a couple of hours. Short story even shorter - I did the Wipe-Out process 5 or 6 times before a patch would come through clean...intial patches were black (fouling) or deep blue (copper).

Suffice to say Wipe-Out is now my go to barrel cleaning product  :)