Seems about 15 years ago bore break in and routine cleaning involved lots of scrubbing with bronze brushes and use of some possible aggressive copper removal solutions. Now it seems letting the copper build up isn't as worried about and some claim bronze brushes harm bores. It now seems many do minimal cleaning with less harsh bore cleaners and nylon brushes, maybe particularly with stainless steel barrels.

What changed, and have you changed your cleaning procedures to a less aggressive approach?

People that I believe know what they’re talking about seem to support the “let the chemicals do the work” approach. For nongas guns I use a couple/three applications of Gunslick foaming cleaner followed by (usually) one application of TM Solvent. For ARs, it’s just the TM Solvent.

I’ve been doing that for several years, but recently I saw a Brownells video that emphatically claimed that brass/bronze brushes (that the company sells) do not/cannot harm the bore if used correctly. Now for the TM Solvent application I first use it with four or five passes of a bronze bore brush, then apply more solvent on a patch and let things sit for an hour or so before finally patching things out. The brush does seem to break out more fouling than just the foaming cleaner or TM Solvent by itself.

When to clean is of course another big controversy. My practice is to clean the centerfires after every session and with my rifles I’m happy with the precision I get following that procedure. Perhaps it varies with the barrel and I suppose it’s possible I could get even better results by letting some degree of fouling build up and use them that way, but that doesn’t suit my beliefs about how things ought to be. When someone says it’s necessary to build up a layer of “good copper,” I can only wonder if he had a better barrel it wouldn’t be necessary to cover its imperfections with copper. Yes, I’m no doubt wrong, but my way of doing things works adequately for me.

Edited: Why I keep typing that when I want than is a mystery.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...935/m/3180031505/p/1

I now use Ballistol for my do all cleaner and don't worry about copper fouling unless my grouping suffers. Which hasn't occurred yet but then again I'm not shooting the rifle throughout the year. With my new cleaning regiment it shoots and groups just like I left it. Hray

Barrel break in and cleaning has always been a bit of a voodoo dance and lots of strongly held opinions.
Some people insist a break in period is crucial or beneficial and others say it is a load of bull.

Most long range competitors these days will say they don’t clean until accuracy degrades.

I shoot long range precision 22 and there is absolutely no doubt a clean spotless bore will NOT. Shoot as accurately as one that has a few rounds down the tube

It’s pretty much accepted among serious 22 Long Rifle shooters that the barrel must be fouled with a number of shots for precision to settle down after cleaning. Some believe that it’s important to lay down a layer of the specific lube that a particular manufacturer uses on its bullets, and therefor it’s even necessary when changing brands. Based on the opinions I’ve seen, I shoot only wax lubed bullets from my two semiprecision rifles, and I especially avoid any of the copper washed types.

But all that applies to 22 LR shooting, not centerfire. As I understand it, a “carbon ring” can build up in 22 LR barrels and that can affect accuracy/precision, but that’s another matter. I never clean my 22 LR barrels, but I suppose that some time I should check to see if that carbon ring is making an appearance.

I was never a big bore scope guy, but I've since learned that without one you will never REALLY know what's going on, what you're actually doing in there. Despite what people say, the patches won't tell you.