The cursed borescope.

[Malxwal]

I definitely would not agree, the whole reason for this thread was due to not having a bore scope for around 3-4 months and thinking g my previous cleaning regime was working (as it did before) ….it simply wasn’t and took a bit of work to get back to where it should be on 3 different rifles.

One of which (the highest round count) had ES’s all over the shop and it’s clear why now.

A good clean and went out to try one today with @Malxwal and a 3 shot group at 0.4”….

View attachment 449905

Regards,
Gixer

I watched this, it was done in a hurry and and a less than ideal position. This a stalking rifle running plain old soft point boat tails.
Would have been great to see the 2k+ round count factory barrel being shot back in, but time/daylight was trickling away, and a very ominous sky approaching.

 

[gixer1]

So next question, what is your cleaning regime that wasn’t working and what did you change to get it where you want?

The issue I had Pablo was that I didn’t have easy access to my borescope, so I continued what I had been doing to get the barrel clean previously. Which was - wet patch with Boretech Eliminator. Leave for 15-20 minutes then scrub with a nylon brush soaked in Eliminator, then leave another 15 mins and brush again, then patch out until clean, then a bore boss pull through 2 x with a spray of napier light oil on the end on the second pull. I then borescope to check and it was pretty clean.

I then went 3-4 months without bore scoping it and my thoughts are as the barrel has upped round count it’s dirtied up faster and with me not cleaning as well as I should have it’s accumulated.

It’s come back to very clean now but it did take some effort!

I usually clean after every use for my target rifles, and then a more vigorous clean after 200-300 rounds, however, I think moving forwards after the 200-300 I will use the thorroclean on them.

It’s an odd thing as if you listen to Frank Green (of Bartlein Barrels) you would never use an abrasive cleaner. If you listen to Brian Litz, you would use it all the time…there are numerous opinions, I don’t think any are wrong but I don’t think abrasives are the introduction of doom if used correctly on a barrel, but I would t put abrasives on a bronze brush and then use a power drill on the cleaning rod!

Regards,
Gixer

 

[gixer1]

I watched this, it was done in a hurry and and a less than ideal position. This a stalking rifle running plain old soft point boat tails.
Would have been great to see the 2k+ round count factory barrel being shot back in, but time/daylight was trickling away, and a very ominous sky approaching.

You also are being modest after your very impressive 0.3” group and average group size of .6 across 4 groups!! And the was it 2.6 fps ES….? All shot from a muddy puddle just before the rain!

 

[Malxwal]

You also are being modest after your very impressive 0.3” group and average group size of .6 across 4 groups!! And the was it 2.6 fps ES….? All shot from a muddy puddle just before the rain!

Aye, but a far heavier rifle with bigger bullets. One occasionally gets lucky.

 

[shoppe]

Some days ,its all lucky shots!

 

[Malxwal]

Some days ,its all lucky shots!

Gixer did some creative accounting...

 

[Scotty99]

I definitely would not agree, the whole reason for this thread was due to not having a bore scope for around 3-4 months and thinking g my previous cleaning regime was working (as it did before) ….it simply wasn’t and took a bit of work to get back to where it should be on 3 different rifles.

One of which (the highest round count) had ES’s all over the shop and it’s clear why now.

A good clean and went out to try one today with @Malxwal and a 3 shot group at 0.4”….

View attachment 449905

Regards,
Gixer

The comment was a little tongue in check. I do have a bore scope and I do use it occasionally to check the state of my barrels and to double check that my cleaning regime is doing what I need. Having a bore scope is not recommended for anyone with an OCD tendency as bore scoping the bore and checking every mm can soon become an obsession. As with most things if used judiciously and as a tool to check the efficiency of one’s carbon and copper cleaning regime then crack on.

 

[Heym SR20]

If you think about it, what does a barrel need to do. It needs to contain pressure and impart a spin on a bullet. And it needs to do it consistently.

A barrel will only be shiny and new once. Ie when it comes off the rifling machine and has had its final polish etc.

Once it starts being used it will look different. And as it gets older it will show signs of wear and tear.

Does this really matter?

Really depends on the end user and what the barrel is being used for.

A barrel used for benchrest target shooting has very different criteria as to when its worn out compared to say an AK 47 or 303 in the hands of rebel forces. A benchrest barrel is probably worn out after a few hundred rounds. The AK - a few tens of thousands or rounds.

My view on barrels is to keep them free from corrosion and pitting, and not to let fouling build up to level where it interferes with reasonable accuracy. My rifle barrels - I run patch with a drop of light oil after use. This wipes out the powder residue. After every 20 to 50 rounds I run a few patches with copper solvent and let them soak for a while and then wipe them out. This knocks back any copper / carbon fouling but doesn’t eliminate it.

 

[GlennUK]

There are some who'd argue the only portion of a rifle's bore that matters is the last 2" at the muzzle.

K

Im glad it's only the last 2" at the end that count....................................

 

[gixer1]

If all you ever shoot is deer at under 150 yards, cleaning likely isn’t going to be a big concern, and most rifles will fire thousands of rounds and remain relatively accurate.

However, if you want the ability to shoot a bit further and consistency then cleaning is required.

I don’t know of many successful competition shooters in any fullbore discipline that don’t clean.

 

[Ratsbadboy]

The issue I had Pablo was that I didn’t have easy access to my borescope, so I continued what I had been doing to get the barrel clean previously. Which was - wet patch with Boretech Eliminator. Leave for 15-20 minutes then scrub with a nylon brush soaked in Eliminator, then leave another 15 mins and brush again, then patch out until clean, then a bore boss pull through 2 x with a spray of napier light oil on the end on the second pull. I then borescope to check and it was pretty clean.

I then went 3-4 months without bore scoping it and my thoughts are as the barrel has upped round count it’s dirtied up faster and with me not cleaning as well as I should have it’s accumulated.

It’s come back to very clean now but it did take some effort!

I usually clean after every use for my target rifles, and then a more vigorous clean after 200-300 rounds, however, I think moving forwards after the 200-300 I will use the thorroclean on them.

It’s an odd thing as if you listen to Frank Green (of Bartlein Barrels) you would never use an abrasive cleaner. If you listen to Brian Litz, you would use it all the time…there are numerous opinions, I don’t think any are wrong but I don’t think abrasives are the introduction of doom if used correctly on a barrel, but I would t put abrasives on a bronze brush and then use a power drill on the cleaning rod!

Regards,
Gixer

There's the problem right there. You need to scrub with a bronze brush. A nylon brush is as good as useless. Even my Tikka T3x manual tells me to push/pull a bronze brush soaked in solvent 10-15 times after each use.

 

[gixer1]

There's the problem right there. You need to scrub with a bronze brush. A nylon brush is as good as useless. Even my Tikka T3x manual tells me to push/pull a bronze brush soaked in solvent 10-15 times after each use.

Nah, nylon brushes with chemical intervention are fine, it’s the amount of time scrubbing that’s sometimes not enough.

 

[shoppe]

The nylon brush has to be the dark blue thick bristle and really really stiff type for them to work. I cant remember the make.
I have been using them for a good few years now and work well.
The white nylon brushs with the really thin soft bristles are no use.
Also, give the chemicals time to work.

Shoppe

 

[gixer1]

The nylon brush has to be the dark blue thick bristle and really really stiff type for them to work. I cant remember the make.
I have been using them for a good few years now and work well.
The white nylon brushs with the really thin soft bristles are no use.
Also, give the chemicals time to work.

Shoppe

The make is Iosso, but the boretech ones are as good as well George.

 

[shoppe]

Aye,thats the ones.
Cheers