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Shooting & Reloading - Mausers, Big Bores and others >> Big Bore Rifles
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Homer
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Reged: 07/04/09
Posts: 3081
Loc: Canberra, Australia
How I clean Barrels
      #136745 - 05/06/09 08:57 AM

G'Day Fella's,

Years ago(1985 ish), I realised that I didn't know it all when it comes to barrel cleaning, so I decided to ask the consistently best, local Bench Rest target shooters "How do you Blokes, Clean Your Barrel Bores"?
Local BR Champion and World Class BR & long range shooter and gentleman, Stuart E, seemed to have the best grasp on this task! Stuart in his usual dry and easy going manner offered up among other things, the following advice in relation to, aggressive strong ammonia smelling chemical solvents, "It appears that the more you use these solvents, the more you have to use them"!

I have tried several times but have not been able to post this "How To" in one complete posting, so I will post it in a series of smallish paragraphs. Please bare with me, as I hope it may be worth it.

HooRoo
From
Hommer,
Back soon!

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 11:50 AM)

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136746 - 05/06/09 09:37 AM

The cleaning continues, #2

It would appear that these aggressive types of chemical solvents (ammonia at least), are not only taking out the jacket fouling, they may be doing less than desirable things to the barrel bore itself, during and after the jacket fouling is dissolved?

Ever since receiving this advice from Stuart, I have avoided using any brand of solvent, that proports to be an aggressive chemical bore solvent, or any strong ammonia smelling solvent not only in my own firearms but also those of my customers!

Break

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 12:47 PM)

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Homer
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Reged: 07/04/09
Posts: 3081
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136748 - 05/06/09 09:44 AM

The Cleaning continues,

It appears, a Product Review in Sept-Oct, NZ R&R Magazine seems to back this up as it reads - "Bore-Tech Copper Remover works extremely quickly without the use of ammonia or other chemicals that may damage the bore and is ideal for those really bad copper fouled barrels"
So if this is a true assessment of this product, it may be the exception to my rule?

Break

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

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500Nitro
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136749 - 05/06/09 09:46 AM


Wipe out and patch out do the same. No Amonia.


I don't like Sweets, apart from the fact it is Amonia based,
it also stinks to high heaven and gets up your nose when cleaning guns.

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: 500Nitro]
      #136750 - 05/06/09 09:57 AM

The cleaning continues,

The following, is how I have cleaned barrels, for 20 odd years.

If I'm presented with a New barrel, I thoroughly clean the bore (see below) and then proceed to "run in the Barrel". This has to be one of, if not the most Boring (Pun intended) jobs on the planet but it delivers Long Term advantages with easier future cleaning. See any of the major barrel manufactures web sites (Shilen etc), for instruction on how to go about doing this. But Remember that you need to understand what they mean when they say "Clean the Bore" during this process. Read on as I hope to better explain what you need to do to achieve this.
If you still don't understand what we mean, please ask as it is better to ask a Dumb Question, than to make a Dumb Mistake!

I only use the following cleaning products to clean barrels. Hoppes #9, Hoppes Bench Rest (both chemical solvents) and Remington Bore Cleaner (now called Remington 40-X Bore Cleaner) and JB's Bore Cleaning Compound. These latter two products are both abrasive type bore cleaners.
Please read the instruction that come with all of these products and only use them as directed by the manufacturer! If you don't, you risk damaging the bore of your expensive firearm!
Also, I only use Dewey Cleaning Rods and when possible, Dewey Brushes and Jags to clean firearms.
I generally don't use a Bore Guide and always wear disposable rubber gloves. I try to clean firearms outside or next to an exhaust fan.
NOTE- Chemicals (Any of them), should not be breathed in or placed on your skin!!!

Bronze bore brushes when wet with a chemical bore solvent, help to loosen up jacket and powder fouling and primer residue, within the bore.
I wash the Bronze Bore Brush with Mineral Turpentine (turps), as soon as it has come out of the bore. Bronze is a Copper alloy and Chemical Bore Solvents, will dissolve the bristles in the brush and reduce there service life. The Turps helps to neutralize this chemical reaction and also helps wash all the fouling and other unwanted dirt from the brush, prior to it being pushed back up the bore!

I would just like to say, that I NEVER leave a chemical bore solvent in a barrel for more than 15 minutes and I suggest you Never use any product, that is not specifically designed for cleaning firearms!
Automotive products are for Cars, not Firearms!
I have seen a 458WM, turned into a "Smooth Bore" from the owner "Cleaning It" with an Automotive Paint, cutting compound!


Break

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 01:27 PM)

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136753 - 05/06/09 10:07 AM

The Cleaning continues,
Once the firearm is confirmed unloaded and Safe to handle, I place the rifle in a cleaning cradle and push a solvent wet patch (usually Hoppes BR), through the bore and then leave it for 10 to 15 minutes. What we are doing here, is activating a chemical reaction between the chemical bore solvent and the jacket fouling. And in case you don't remember, chemical reactions happen faster at higher temperatures. In Winter, I place the firearm in the sun or another warm place to assist with this.
I then push a solvent wet Bronze Brush (of the correct size for the caliber being cleaned), back and forward through the bore (5x5) and then, patch out the bore with three or four clean patches.

Break

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136754 - 05/06/09 10:17 AM

The Cleaning continues,

I then look down the bore from the muzzle with a powerful and bright flash light and look for any visual sign of Copper fouling adhering to the bore (I also look for signs of dissolved Copper,which shows up as a Blue or Green stain on the patches, post chemical solvent being in the bore). If copper fouling still exists, I repeat the above process another 2 or 3 times. If this hasn't removed the copper fouling, I then use the Remington 40-X Bore Cleaner as directed by the manufacture . If the barrel is still fouled with jacket material, I then use the JB Bore Cleaning Compound, as per the instructions.

In my experience, this process will clean out all jacket and carbon fouling from a rifled bore.

Break

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 12:00 PM)

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Homer
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Reged: 07/04/09
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136755 - 05/06/09 10:37 AM

The cleaning continues,

I then clean all the solvent and cleaning compounds from the muzzle, the Chamber and locking lug recess on bolt actions rifles (see Sinclair International for a "Lug Recess" cleaning tool). I then push a patch wet with Alcohol(Methylated Spirits) through the bore to confirm the removal and neutralization of the chemical solvent. Once this has evaporated away (use a Hair Dryer to assist evaporation in Winter).
I then Push a clean patch wet with "Sweets Gun Oil" ( same maker as "7.62 Solvent") through the bore and put the rifle away in storage. If I'm heading out for a shot, or handing a firearm back to its owner, I patch out the Bore and Chamber of the rifle with 2 or 3 clean patches, and off I go. By doing this, I have removed the excess oil from the bore but there still remains a thin film of oil to protect the bore and chamber from corrosion in wet weather or conditions of high humidity.

Don't forget to put a small drop of heavy oil or grease on each of the Bolt Locking Lugs to lubricate them.

Break

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 11:40 AM)

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136756 - 05/06/09 10:59 AM

The Cleaning is now complete,

This may seem excessive or tedious to some readers but in my experience most shooters and hunters should keep to shooting and leave the cleaning to someone that understands what they are trying to achieve and willing to properly, go about doing it.
Again, I believe this is the reason for the plethora of "Easy Cleaning" bore cleaning products that are on the market at present but I firmly believe that there is "No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".
Don't get me wrong, I would loved to be proved wrong on this. But only time will tell!

I would just like to say that I have No Commercial interest (other than to pass on the positive experiences I've had using them), in any of the products mentioned in this, I hope informative insight into, how I clean rifle barrels.

HooRoo
From
Hommer

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

Edited by Hommer (05/06/09 04:52 PM)

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JabaliHunter
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Reged: 16/05/07
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #136774 - 05/06/09 06:48 PM

I used to use Remington Bore Cleaner (previously called gold medallion, now called Remington 40-X Bore Cleaner) but have since switched to Montana X-treme copper cream which is less coarse than 40-X. Other products that I have used successfully when I can't get copper cream (Midway UK is forever on backorder and Sinclair et al can't send overseas) are carburettor cleaners (like Mercury/Quicksilver power tune) which are great on carbon deposits/rings and safe on metals and alloys and patch-out (liquid concentrated wipe-out). Alot of people use brake cleaner (e.g. Renault) but I think carburettor cleaners are more effective - I can't see the difference between the inside of a rifle barrel and the inside of a race engine cylinder (the cylinder is probably more susceptible to chemical corrosion than a stainless rifle barrel). I don't brush as the copper cream does the same job more effectively IMHO. Some of your benchrest friends may question your scubbing the bore back and forth with a brush as reversing the brush may cause excessive abrasion in concentrated areas - lots of people push the brush only one way and remove it at the muzzle end before reversing the rod and re-attaching the brush at the muzzle (very tedious) and reversing the brush over the crown is a big no-no. I always remember my old college coach (UK Palma team shooter) and his mantra of "oil, dry, medallion, dry, medalllion, dry, oil - repeat if patches not clean" (rare if done after every course of fire!).

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DarylS
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: JabaliHunter]
      #136784 - 06/06/09 12:30 AM

I used to have a very complicated regime for cleaning and clean they were when finished. As to the heavy ammonia solvents, CR10 and Sweet's, if left too long in the barrel, it's true the more you have to use them. I let them sit for no more than 10 minutes, then patchout with 2 patches, dropping off at the muzzle, then oiled with hoppe's #9, just for the oil in it. Nowadays, it's a poor cleaner - in comparrison to days of yor, but does have use for it's oil content.

Nowadays, when cleaning at the range or during a day's shooting of gophers in the field, I use Butches, once or twice, cut 50/50 to 70/30 with Kroil oil, then patch dry and continue shooting.

Once 'home' or at camp, I spray some Wipe Out into the bore and postition the rifle with the muzzle slightly down for an overnight sit. In the morning, I patch it out and it's clean. One patch using butches w/ kroil and wipe dry with 2 patches, falling off at the muzzle, then start shooting again.

Wipeout makes complete cleaning a modern rifle easy - but remember to use something with oil in it to re-wet the bore, wiping dry with 2 patches, falling off at the muzzle.

Works for me.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Bramble
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: DarylS]
      #136825 - 06/06/09 11:24 AM

Goodness, I never realised that it was so complicated.

I will have to ask my man how he finds time to do all that and polish my boots as well.

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kamilaroi
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Bramble]
      #136832 - 06/06/09 01:02 PM

Quote:

Goodness, I never realised that it was so complicated.

I will have to ask my man how he finds time to do all that and polish my boots as well.



Geez Louise,

you certainly know how to TTP.

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DarylS
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: kamilaroi]
      #136851 - 06/06/09 11:35 PM

Properly cleaning a rifle barrel has always been complicated and takes much longer than cleaning a muzzleloading longrifle.

Just a few years back, not many rifle barrels were cleaned down to the steel which is a necessity for proper breakin in the first place. Seems the norm is for someone to buy a rifle then go out and shoot off a box of ammo - handloads or more often, factory ammo to 'see how she shoots'. the guilding metal picked up by that first box of ammo has never been cleaned from the bore and is probably still there. Those who actually clean the rifle, run a patch or brush with solvent down the tube - maybe once in 20, 50 or several hundred rounds, then patch it dry and continue shooting.

The end result is that proper cleaning takes time. Back in the 90's, maybe 1996, "Precision Shooting Magazine" did a comprehensive article on barrel cleaning with the "Cleaning Question" going out to select the members at that time - the best of the BR shooting community. Many cleaning methods were similar, but there the similarity stopped. Everyone has his 'pet' method - this proved that none are wrong as these guys are the winners more times than not however they were all slightly different, showing there is a lot of leeway in cleaning. What the various methods did show is that proper cleaning constitutes an extensive cleaning regime. As custom barrels get better and better, we see the total absence of guilding metal fouling - something the 'ol '06 can't do. Getting the coppering(guilding metal) out calls for even more elaborate methods or better solvents. I've found Wipe-Out to work, but as with most solvents, it leave a dry bore afterwards, which must be lubricated prior to that first, fouling shot. As noted, I use a solvent with kroil added. The oil in the kroil helps to lubricate that first shot, even though the solvent'kroil mix is patched out with 2 dry patches, falling off at the muzzle. With the use of good solvents, I've found brushes are a thing of the past - I don't use them in any bore now.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Ripp
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: DarylS]
      #136853 - 07/06/09 12:28 AM

Quote:

Properly cleaning a rifle barrel has always been complicated and takes much longer than cleaning a muzzleloading longrifle.

Just a few years back, not many rifle barrels were cleaned down to the steel which is a necessity for proper breakin in the first place. Seems the norm is for someone to buy a rifle then go out and shoot off a box of ammo - handloads or more often, factory ammo to 'see how she shoots'. the guilding metal picked up by that first box of ammo has never been cleaned from the bore and is probably still there. Those who actually clean the rifle, run a patch or brush with solvent down the tube - maybe once in 20, 50 or several hundred rounds, then patch it dry and continue shooting.

The With the use of good solvents, I've found brushes are a thing of the past - I don't use them in any bore now.



Darryl

Two items I find interesting in your post...as it seems with some the "barrel break-in" is not necessary...and yet, when one reads the sites of many "Top" end barrel manufacturers..most suggest this practice..I have done this on all my guns..and yes, they all seem to clean really easy, with the high end barrels all seem to clean just a tad easier/quicker than the standard factory barrels...I shoot once--clean, shoot once clean for 10 shots...then every 2 for 6 and every 3 for another 12..then every 5 for a few times...

The second item is that you no longer use a brush at all...I was told at a siminar I went too by Jarrett rifles that one needs to push a brush through to get out the copper and using a solvent all along won't do it...now this has been about 4 to 5 years ago so maybe before
Wipeout was even on the shelves in the local gun store..but none-the less, that is what they stated at the time...guess I need to invest in one of those "fancy" bore scopes and see how this all shakes out..was going to buy one before but was "scared" of what I mind find...

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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DarylS
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Ripp]
      #136890 - 08/06/09 12:07 AM

Ripp - I've had the same 'feelings' of what I might find with a bore scope.
As to the brush - the bristles of bronze will not remove guilding metal by abrading it, they are actually softer than the fouling - so say some of the 'experts'.
The brush may physically dislodge some powder fouling, but I prefer to use a solvent that disolves it to be removed by the patch.

If any barrel doesn't need the 'fire/clean/fire/clean -etc - breakin, it's got to be the highly evolved bench rest barrels, so painstakingly made, lapped, rifled & lapped again - yet those are the barrels proper breakin of shoot, clean, shoot, clean etc, is suggested for, by the barrel makers themselves.

So - what is needed for a rough, slam/bam/thankyou mam - punched out 100 before lunch type rifle barrel on a $400.00 complete with scope rifle?

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Ripp
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: DarylS]
      #136899 - 08/06/09 02:58 AM

Quote:


So - what is needed for a rough, slam/bam/thankyou mam - punched out 100 before lunch type rifle barrel on a $400.00 complete with scope rifle?



A new barrel....

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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bwananelson
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Ripp]
      #136908 - 08/06/09 04:11 AM

a patch of kroil oil let it sit then a patch of j+b paste over a brush cleans all copper powder and quickly bores shine.

--------------------
THERE ARE NO DO OVERS IN LIFE DONT LET A CHANCE AT A DREAM SLIP AWAY.

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Homer
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: bwananelson]
      #137069 - 10/06/09 10:37 AM

G'Day Fella's,

Sorry I've been away for a few days, initially game fishing (Saturday with, www.hotshotcharters.com.au ), then Deer & Pig hunting (Sun, Mon & Tues). And to think the British used to send people out here for punishment? If they only knew!!!

Thanks for your comments on my posting. Glad to see I havn't as yet received any seriously derogatory
responses.

I may be a bit old fashioned (and philosophical in my old age) especially in the way I go about things but I firmly believe, "If it ain't Broke, Don't Fix it"!

The firearm that I have used as a bench mark to confirm my cleaning strategy (as per "How I clean Barrel's), is an old Tikka LSA55 bolt action, with the original factory, Cut Rifled carbon steel .222Rem barrel.
This Tikka has been treated and cleaned as per my above post and it will still shoot 0.250" (1/4") 5 shot groups! It has now fired just over 3600 shots (mainly Kangaroo's & Rabbits) and several times, I have fired over 50 shots in one session, without cleaning. The load that I use is no slouch either, as it pushes a 40 grain Sierra HP (#1385) at over 3500fps. Just as a side note, if you shoot a squatting Rabbit dead center with this load, inside 100 yards. The rapidly expanding bullet, physically rotates whats left of the rodent 180 degrees and lands him on his head! Sorry, I'm obviously easily amused!

Anyway, when this rifle starts to shoot 1" groups all of a sudden, I may change my cleaning method but untill then, it will be barrel cleaning as usual.

Sorry, I neglected to mention this before.
When your are pushing and pulling a bronze brush through a barrel, it is critical that all of the brush completely exits the barrel, before you reverse it and pull or push it back into the barrel. If you reverse the brush while it is still in the bore, it can damage the bore at this location!

HooRoo
From
Hommer

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"

Edited by Hommer (10/06/09 11:03 AM)

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RHB
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Homer]
      #138366 - 03/07/09 03:17 AM

Quote:

Sorry, I neglected to mention this before.
When your are pushing and pulling a bronze brush through a barrel, it is critical that all of the brush completely exits the barrel, before you reverse it and pull or push it back into the barrel. If you reverse the brush while it is still in the bore, it can damage the bore at this location!




Even so, this is still a wrong practice as it weakens the bristles and you could damage the crown in the long run. Also, those who do not use a bore guide may well leave some gunk in the lug recesses. There is only so much cleaning that a lug recess cleaning kit will do.

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Paul
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: RHB]
      #138404 - 03/07/09 08:05 PM

You're not old-fashioned, Hommer, far from it.

When I was a kid the farmers I knew regarded cleaning guns as a ritual
like a priest washing his hands. A bristle brush was shunted up and down the
barrels from the wrong end a few times, sometimes even with a bit of oil that
claimed to do everything. Of course pitting resulted but people just thought
that was bad luck. When I started using humble aqueous solutions of Young's 303 as
a solvent on successive patches, blokes would look at each other as though I was nuts - and not because they were using something better.

I guess people had other things to soak up their time then, like washing dishes and
going to church.

By the way, how long have shooters been breaking in barrels? A serious reader of shooting mags as a kid, this is a concept I'd never heard of until recent years. Just when I thought non-corrosive primers and stainless barrels were going to lighten the load, we are charged with doing this. I suppose it makes sense but the makers who promote it could at least lap the barrels if smoothness is that important. Once cars had to be extensively run in - but not any more. We expect them to pretty much right when we get them. I do remember Mannlicher-Schoenauer claimed their barrels were easier to clean because of the rifling/finish, however.

Cheers
- Paul

Edited by Paul (03/07/09 08:09 PM)

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DarylS
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Paul]
      #138405 - 03/07/09 09:54 PM

Some barrels are lapped, Paul, like Pac Nors and other very accurate bench-rest barrels.

Lapping hunting rifle barels usually doesn't take place due to the 'hands-on' work. This would necesitate increases in pricing. Granted, a lot of rifles today are priced too high for what you get - yet they don't have lapped barrels. Too- they shoot qite well even without proper breakin.

Proper breaking in a barrel will make it shoot better, yet not many people at the range in the fall would notice the difference, nor would they take the time and spend the money to do it. They think a rifle is ready to kill animals right out of the box and about all new rifles will do just that. It depends on what you want from the rifle.

Proper breakin merely makes the rifle easier to clean and extends the shooting time before cleaning is necessary.

As I've said, it all depends on what you want from the barrel. Properly broken in barrels, like the Pac Nor's mentioned, don't copper foul at all and hold sub 1/2" groups, even when shooting tiny bullets in excess of 4,000fps. It is indeed a pleasure to use on on the gopher fields and not having to clean it for 300 to 600 rounds due to no changes in accuracy for the duration. Many other factors come into this and some powders are one of the prime 'causes' of frequent cleaning requirements. Some foul more than others, some bullets foul more than others. Sopme barels, even when broken in properly as we know the methods today, continue to copper foul and need cleaning more often than others.

Years ago, people didn't know much or anything about proper cleaning and are just now learning about this. Witness the 'farmer' who uses motor oil or some other concoction from the barn to clean his rifle/s. Another 'new' venture in shooting is "barrel breakin" & it's rewards - many are just now learning about his as well.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Tatume
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Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: DarylS]
      #138406 - 03/07/09 11:49 PM

Quote:

Just as a side note, if you shoot a squatting Rabbit dead center with this load, inside 100 yards. The rapidly expanding bullet, physically rotates whats left of the rodent 180 degrees and lands him on his head!



If you do the calculations, you will be surprised at how unlikely this is.

Quote:

Proper breakin merely makes the rifle easier to clean and extends the shooting time before cleaning is necessary.



Breaking in barrels has never been demonstrated to be beneficial. Many people believe in it, and most people believe it will cause no harm.

A before and after test is obviously impossible. The best approximation to a test would be to purchase several barrels from the same batch and treat half of them before comparison. This was done some years ago and the results published in "Precision Shooting." The barrels were each fitted to one benchrest rifle, and were installed and removed during the test. The conclusion was that no difference could be found, in either cleaning, fouling, or accuracy.

Hart, the company that makes my benchrest barrels, has this to say:

Q What do you recommend for barrel break-in?
A We do not believe that a break in procedure is required with our barrels. If you follow our normal cleaning procedure, outlined in this brochure, you should not have any problems with your new rifle. You always want to clean your rifle as often as your course of fire will allow. If you have time to shoot one and clean, that would be fine, but we personally do not feel it is necessary.

--------------------
Take care, Tom
NRA Life Member

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010166
.224 member


Reged: 21/01/09
Posts: 44
Loc: Australia, Perth
Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: Tatume]
      #138410 - 04/07/09 03:20 AM

It's nice to see how everyone else does it. I shoot roo's for a second job and I have shot up to 80 odd roo's in a night (there are misses there too), and gone out the next day just to see how it shoots and I can still shoot under MOA at 100 yards.I will scrub the arse out of my barrel till I get clean patches (I will use what I got), then put an oiler through it.I think you can shoot a barrel a hell of a lot before the average person can tell any difference, and a barrel can last some people a life time. But what I am really trying to say is how can you tell if one procedure is better than another, without something to work against. The benchrest boys know thier stuff I won't encroach on them, but for the rest of us? I take as much care in reloading as I do in cleaning my rifle, and I don't think Bugs or Skippy can tell if he gets hit 1/4 to 1/2 off point of aim. Maybe I'm a bit rough, but that is what works for me.

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CptCurlAdministrator
.450 member


Reged: 01/05/04
Posts: 5284
Loc: Fincastle, Botetourt County, V...
Re: How I clean Barrels [Re: 010166]
      #138440 - 04/07/09 08:55 PM

I am not a believer in this "shoot one and clean" break-in procedure either. But I do believe in a thorough cleaning after a shooting session, including the removal of all fouling.

For an interesting add-on to the discussion, and a contrary opinion, take a look at the discussion of this topic on the Kreiger Barrels website:

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm

Essentially, they say the throat is where break-in is required.

But my questions is, "If you shoot 20 rounds the first session, then clean all fouling from the bore and throad, haven't you done the break-in?"

It's rare for me to have a new barrel anyway.

Curl

--------------------
RoscoeStephenson.com

YOUR DOUBLE RIFLE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.



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