Clean bores?

[Garth Gustafson]

My son and I shot a sporting clays course yesterday and we put 300 rounds thru my 2 Parkers. I use RSTs exclusively and the bores were filthy. I laid out the barrels last night for a good cleaning using my typical combination of bristle brush, patches, Hopppes #9 and gun oil and I sat down to spend some quality time with the old girls.

I must be an idiot because I ended up with a pile of 50 lead streaked Hoppes soaked patches and although the bores looked ok, after all that effort the patches still weren’t coming out clean. I probably could have continued running patches thru the bores all night but I finally ran out of patience.

What am I doing wrong?

[Bill Anderson]

Worrying too much about shiny bores is what would be wrong, in my opinion. Each shot cup melts a little from friction each time you fire the gun and traps the burnt powder in the softened plastic. But, even after you listen to several cleaning opinions from different members, when you fire the first RST you will get right back to the same look down the bores that you had before you started all the cleaning. If you don't see a noticeable change in hits or misses, or changes in patterns, keep firing, enjoy yourself and worry less about having factory shiny bores at the end of each day. When you go home push out the heavy gunk, stand the shotgun on it's muzzle and go watch some TV and have a drink.

Bill

[Kevin McCormack]

I have mentioned this to Morris Baker many times over the years; whatever powder they are using in their 'Lite', Falcon Lite', etc. it burns filthy dirty. I always douche my barrels with excess (dripping) patches of Hoppe's #9 and let them hang muzzle down for a few hours or overnite, then swab them with clean patches I cut from old T-shirts over a wire brush. Because of the residue in the bristles of the brush, they never come out completely clean, but the bores wind up like mirrors after 2 or 3 passes.

[6pt-Sika]

To each his own ! Typically I run a wooly booger Rod thru a couple passes each barrel and they’re shiney . If I shoot a bunch of buckshot or slugs I might use the bronze brush with Hoppes and patches . When I shot skeet/trap all the time a couple times a year I’d get some brake cleaner/gun scrubber and scrub wash the bores until I was satisfied . Here’s a picture of the label on one of my Woolley Booger rods

[Randy Roberts]

Originally Posted by Garth Gustafson

What am I doing wrong?

Garth this is an easy one. Your Son should be doing the cleaning

[PML]

Originally Posted by Randy G Roberts

Garth this is an easy one. Your Son should be doing the cleaning

That is funny. My son stopped by in need of guns, shells, pistols, rifles, etc late last evening to go chasing roosters and stuff today. I got home this evening and the roosters were cleaned, guns were spotless, and everything was put away where it should be. Good kid!

PML

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Patrick Lien

That is funny. My son stopped by in need of guns, shells, pistols, rifles, etc late last evening to go chasing roosters and stuff today. I got home this evening and the roosters were cleaned, guns were spotless, and everything was put away where it should be. Good kid!

PML

I can relate ! When I was a good bit younger and they had decided I was okay to hunt or shoot by myself anything in the House was okay to shoot . It was never mentioned but I knew well before hand if it wasn’t mine and was put up dirty that would most likely put a kink in gun borrowing relations at the old home place

[William Davis]

Shot a round of Clays with a friend who used his O/U & factory AA shells, he said they were 1325 FPS. I used my Trojan & 2 reload recipes 3/4 - 7/8 powders 20/28 & Unique all in AA hulls. Velocity little over 1100 FPS

Sorting out empties yesterday was struck by how clean his hulls were. Not a spec of powder residue inside the hull. My Unique loads are always very dirty, 20/28 less but still dirty. Seems to me some powders burn clean others dirty , real difference in how clean a load burns is pressure. Higher the pressure more complete combustion . And we always look for low pressure loads

No doubt holding pressures down contributes to dirty bores. Easiest way to clean is spray some solvent, I use Balistol, and let it sit overnight , next day one pass with a cut down blue shop towel wipes most out, 2nd clean patch bright and shiny.

My opinion, worth what it cost.

William

[Harry Collins]

Like Kevin, I too give my bores a good sloshing of solvent and let them sit overnight muzzles down. In fact I do this with rifle and pistol. After they are cleaned and put up I go back in about three days and clean them again just to make sure all is well.

[Garth Gustafson]

Originally Posted by Randy G Roberts

Garth this is an easy one. Your Son should be doing the cleaning

Good one Randy! Very true.