Bronze brushing routine

[Dave-G]

Long story short, after 8000~9000 rounds my Quad HMR barrel went way off and normal cleaning was doing no good: I eventually noticed the cleaning rod wouldn't start to rotate in the barrel until the brush was maybe four inches or so up the spout. Thinking it had serious throat erosion and that it was almost certainly a gonner I reversed the bronze brush direction in desperation while it was still just inside the barrel a few times.

 

The rod now rotates from just inside the barrel as it should. I've not shot it again yet so don't know if it's been saved. Does anyone else reverse the direction of the brush before it comes out the other end?

[phaedra1106]

Not with the bronze brush, I clean my fullbores after every outing (and yes they still shoot just as well!) but I do go backwards/forwards and scrub the barrel with patches soaked in Hoppes or Montana Xtreme before giving a single swab through with bore protector.

 

Maybe there was a load of crud in the grooves, I assume you've stuck a torch up it and had a good look ? (the barrel that is!).

[CharlieT]

I presume you do replace the brush regularly

[Dave-G]

I presume you do replace the brush regularly

 

It's the first time I have ever done that, out of desperation. Chit or bust scenario really.

[cooter]

The only time I had to reverse a bronze brush was in an effort to remove a carbon ring after using Varget.

 

Ordinarily I use a nylon brush with a little solvent cleaner on it, and only use the bronze brush if I need to when when doing a deep clean.

 

Using a nylon brush I run through a few times, followed by patches, then, when the patches are nearly clean, I reverse the brush a few times but never pull it fully back in case it drags crud into the action.

Patch again until clean.

[apache]

In rifles I only ever go 1 way with bronze - happy to scrub both ways with nylon.

 

Never cleaned my HMR properly but I can attest to Wipeout being amazing stuff. Buy a can and follow the instructions. If you thought it was clean before you'll be amazed what comes out!

[Salopian]

A very interesting subject.

I would like to open this debate up a little, please.

What are your thoughts on a correct cleaning regime? Why do you not pull the bronze brush backwards?

Will a soft bronze actually mark the steel? Will it actually affect accuracy?

Finally for shotgunners, what do YOU find removes plastic wad fouling best from just in front of the chamber forcing cone?

[BlaserF3]

I have only ever pulled a bore brush back in a shotgun. never a rifle. It caused the brush bristles to bend, result not a very efficient brush anymore. I use a chamber brush rather than an ordinary bore brush as I find it does a better job.

 

For plastic fouling I find WD40 will remove it, but I don't like using it anywhere else. In Beretta barrels I find that when using fibre wads, the lead fouling sticks like **** to a blanket. I have used the finest steel wool fixed to a short dowel and soaked with Napier solvent as a last resort to remove this leading.

 

If the fouling is very stubborn I give the solvent time to work, patience does help.

[seeker]

for the wad fouling in a 28 I usually use acetone or some hoppes and let it soak. have also used bore foam and brake cleaner. each has its merits and problems.

A piece of short cleaning rod and drill does speed thing up with the phos bronze or a jag wrapped with a bit of Hessian.

[Dave-G]

Just to finish this thread - tried the rifle again this morning. It's doing no better than a 40mm group of five at - fifty yards so I guess it's fubar'd.

[goldypurple]

if you have super cleaned it,it may well take more than a couple of groups to test, it may take up to 50 shots or more with the hmr to be bang on again

[Luckyshot]

Just to finish this thread - tried the rifle again this morning. It's doing no better than a 40mm group of five at - fifty yards so I guess it's fubar'd.

 

My last HMR did exactly the same, it was a CZ 452 American and after 18,000 rounds bought new by me so no exactly what it had done wouldnt group any better than 4" at any distance. Got rid of it and replaced it with a CZ 455.

[gixer1]

Not to pour fuel on a fire but is this another problem for the hmr? Never really heard of a 22LR being "shot out"

 

Regards,

Gixer

[Brad93]

A .22 is a lead bullet, HMR is a high-velocity, copper jacket round. The additional velocity and hardness of the round means a barrel will neve last as long on a HMR. Let's say an Barrel on a CZ has lasted 8000 shots, let's say you spent £450 on it, that's about £0.06p per shot. Let's also add ammo into the equation, 8000 rounds of hornady .17hmr say £15 a brick of 50. That's £2400 worth of ammo at 30p a round, therefore each shot is costing you 36p there about. That's not exactly bad.

[gixer1]

A .22 is a lead bullet, HMR is a high-velocity, copper jacket round. The additional velocity and hardness of the round means a barrel will neve last as long on a HMR. Let's say an Barrel on a CZ has lasted 8000 shots, let's say you spent £450 on it, that's about £0.06p per shot. Let's also add ammo into the equation, 8000 rounds of hornady .17hmr say £15 a brick of 50. That's £2400 worth of ammo at 30p a round, therefore each shot is costing you 36p there about. That's not exactly bad.

 

I was more making the comparison of both 22 and 17hmr being used for pretty much the same purpose - bunny bashing and the odd fox....regardless of bullet type the sensible option would be the 22...which I guess why they are the most popular caliber.

 

Regards,

Gixer

[Dave-G]

I was more making the comparison of both 22 and 17hmr being used for pretty much the same purpose - bunny bashing and the odd fox....regardless of bullet type the sensible option would be the 22...which I guess why they are the most popular caliber.

 

Regards,

Gixer

 

Well - same quarry at least. But the frangible round has a lot more to it than the ricochet prone 22lr. I have heard umpteen ricochets after 40 grain lumps of lead remained intact and went on to strike something else after passing through brer rabbits head. If you are shooting in wide open countryside then that is a luxury you are lucky enough to exploit.

 

Ok so the 17 grain - same-ish weight as a .22 air rifle pellet - is travelling at more than twice the speed but after it has passed through something the lower weight - even if it remains intact - will do less damage elswhere. Most times it will fragment, so lets say three fragments weighing 5~6 grains? and non airfoil shaped will do zero damage. Then there is the point and shoot trajectory at the average bunny range most lampers will encounter - with that taking out the range miscaluculating issues in the dark.

 

Finally, bunny don't know where the sonic crack came from unless the shooter gives away other information, whereas the phut of the 22lr firing is easily loosely pinpointed at least.

[Sharpshooter.123]

It's quite funny really, since iv had my 22lr iv only had one ricochet (wide open countryside) I'm sure il encounter more but at least I'm not shooting out my barrel

Hmr is a good round BUT it has not got a place in my cabinet, if I decide to go bigger il hop to a 22wmr or failing that just use the 223 with homeloads

[Dave-G]

Well I've cleared off the barrel to my RFD - who also very kindly stripped down the bolt and found a load of crud that MAY have caused a lesser power strike from the firing pin than ideal. However, given the barrel has had so much use and that I get £2 for every bunny I can get I'd rather make it more likely that every one I pull the trigger on gets me £2 for the cost of a 20p bullet.

 

The one for one variation is being hand delivered to the FLO this evening and I've been advised to expect it back from anywhere between a week to 12 ish weeks. I have enough .22lr rounds, 17 REM rounds and air rifle pellets to last me a few weeks. It will be good to play with the 17 REM again, which now that I've had it for three years and one day I can expect to get it de-restricted too.