chickenchoker wrote:What's wrong with a bronze brush with a brass core?

A little painful up through the groin, right BB

My custom Hunter Rifle me came with a matching custom cleaning rod-


A length of trimmer line with a knot in one end and an angled cut on the other.
Skewer a patch or two for a tight fit and pull through with a patch with your favorite solvent a cople times, and your good all year.
However I clean the bolt, receiver, and trigger group and keep the camming and engagement surfaces properly lubed.


Fancy cleaning rod and bore guide vs a brick of good practice ammo?
The ammo will make your gun and you more accurate IMHO........

Bob259 wrote:

chickenchoker wrote:What's wrong with a bronze brush with a brass core?

A little painful up through the groin, right BB

It is a little inconvenient when you have other plans.

chickenchoker wrote:What's wrong with a bronze brush with a brass core?

Without theorizing about cause and effect, I know that .22 rimfire bores cleaned with a bronze brush foul easier and clean up harder than similar bores cleaned only with patches. This doesn't seem to affect accuracy, but when you're as OCD about clean bores as I am it matters. This seems hard to square with benchrest shooters brushing out their bores regularly, but I believe they change barrels often enough that it doesn't matter.

I've been able to confirm this in a series of 1712's that I either bought used or was cleaning up for friends prior to a big match. All of these rifles, both patch only and brush cleaned, were owned and used by serious shooters and had many thousands of rounds of good to very high quality ammunition through them, so I don't believe that was the difference. Bore paste and metal polish seem to help temporarily, but nothing so far really reverses it. I may try Otis LifeLiner, but so far the $80 cost has put me off.

Right now, I clean every time I shoot using patches and a good quality cleaning oil. This doesn't seem to scrub down to bare metal so the bore retains some seasoning, but it gets the fouling out and cleans adequately in 4-6 patches with 8-12 pulls through. I'm not trying to get the bore bare metal clean, just satisfy myself that the rifle is properly cared for.

Other excellent shooters only clean when accuracy falls off and this obviously works well for them since many of them shoot far better than I ever will.

That M. Werks bore guide is nice, love mine. Get the insert for a .187" rod, which matches what you will be buying from here. ;)

http://www.ivyrods.com/

edit - I got my three in 36" lengths, which is more than enough for my 1712, CZ 453 Varmint, and Brno #5, but you can get longer/shorter if you wish. Denny makes the best rods, and he and his wife are awesome to deal with.

jneihouse wrote:And don't forget the bore guide

Indeed. I was assuming that anyone who would go to the expense of a 172 and then want to put a cleaning rod in it would already have a bore guide on hand ready to go.

A bore guide is what I need to get through this thread.

tbone49 wrote:A bore guide is what I need to get through this thread.

If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree.

Forgive me BB, for I am one of the unclean.

tbone49 wrote:Forgive me BB, for I am one of the unclean.

You too?

I agree with Shorty; the Ivy rods are excellent.

I'm not even going to get into this cleaning debate.

steve b. wrote:I agree with Shorty; the Ivy rods are excellent.

I'm not even going to get into this cleaning debate.

Nope, ain't gonna do it.

you dont have to debate, just let the uninformed masses on to how you clean your barrels. You've probably put more rounds through different brands of barrels to know what works. I myself would like a solid answer on this topic but it aint goin to happen. Come on Steve tease us with a nugget of info from that brain of yours

Okay, I'll bite. Occasionally, maybe twice a year when the normal routine with patches and cleaning oil doesn't work, I do clean with BoreTech Rimfire Blend on a pull through line. If that still doesn't help it's time for a Dewey rod, a bore mop, and metal polish for 100 strokes (tedious...) and a coat of oil.

Tell you guys a little secret...

I'm working on that very topic in a 5 part article that is going to print in Precision Shooting.

I will be evaluating 18,000 rounds from a total of 4 different manufacturers, out of 6 different barrels. It will be full of data for you guys to sink your teeth into.

Now before everyone freaks out and tells me they don't have a subscription to PS, no worries. I will copy the article and e-mail it to you once it prints, if you so desire.

Also, got a killer interview with Mark Pharr underway, and Cathy W as well. I havn't forgotten about this groups, and this website will get plugged in every silhouette related topic as well.

s.