Barrel cleaning

One shot on kill

I picked up the new to me tikka 243.

Gun is spotless but first order of business is to be sure the barrel is clean and free of copper etc. I know how to pull trough brush mop etc but I've never used copper solvent before what's the crack with it and best way to use it.

EWQuinn

A bunch of stuff on the market including Bore Tech Eliminator, Shooters Choice, Sweets 7.62, Butch's, Barnes CR-10, Montana Extreme and more.

I just let regular old Hoppe 9 sit overnight in the barrel, gets lots of the copper out. I honestly think copper effect on accuracy can be a bit overblown unless you are a precision benchrest shooter. I also uses Butch's and it works just fine. For the tough jobs, occasionally I use Sweet's 7.62, but on this and any other aggressive solvent, follow instructions, don't let it sit too long in the barrel and use it away from the wife & kids and in a ventilated area.

When the bore is clean of carbon, soak a patch or mop with copper cleaner, always run through the bore from breech to muzzle and coat the bore. Having a guide tube in place of the bolt can keep solvent & crap out of the action. Follow instructions of the product, but generally let a good solvent sit a prescribed time between patches so it can do the work. Repeat the cycle of running wet patches till you are happy & the green-blue patch color diminishes. When complete dry patch all the stuff out, then coat with an appropriate bore oil / protectant.

Cass

I use KG, and MPro-7 products mostly. KG 1 for carbon removal, and MPro-7 or KG 12 for copper removal. It's important to remove the carbon first otherwise when the patches come out clean you think the barrel is. It's not. It's only the carbon cleaned out. The copper will stain the patches a blue/green colour. When the the copper solvent patches are running wet, and clean then the barrel is clean.

My routine would consist of the following:

1. KG/M-Pro7 for regular barrel cleaning. (Butch's Bore shine now and then for heavy cleaning.)
2. Run a KG/MPro-7 soaked patch through the barrel. This is a carbon remover to get the grime out first.
3. Leave to sit for a few minutes.
4. Run another wet patch with KG/M-Pro7 through the barrel to moisten the fouling, and remove the first lot of carbon..
5. Run a nylon brush up and down the barrel about a half a dozen times. Clean the brush each time with a spray oil to prevent a build up of gunk on it.
6. Run another KG/M-Pro7 patch down the barrel to remove fouling while treating the barrel again.
7. Leave to sit for a minute or two.
8. At this stage have about 15 or so oiled patches at the ready.
9. Start running them down the barrel one after the other until they run clean. The patches need to remain wet to prevent dry carbon sticking to the bore.
10. If they come clean before the 15 great. If not use more.
11. When they run clean and wet, then start using the dry patches.
12. Run as many as is needed until there is no more oil on the patches coming out.
13. Now repeat steps 2-12 using the copper solvent instead of the carbon remover. You are looking for wet, and clean patches. If there is any hint of blue or green then there is still copper in the barrel.
14. When you are all done use the mop and run it up and down the barrel again about a dozen times.
15. On the last run leave the mop half protruded from the muzzle. Wipe around the muzzle and clean any fouling on the crown. The mop will prevent anything running back down into the barrel.
16. Remove the bore guide and use a tooth brush, patches and bore brush to clean out the chamber, breach, etc.
17. Wipe down the rod, brushes, jag, and bore guide.
18. If the rifle is being stored away for a few weeks i roll up a soft cloth and place it into the chamber up against the breach and store barrel up.
19. On the off chance that i have somehow missed some residual this will collect it.

Most will have there own method. Its as personal as ammo choice, rifle choice, etc. One small tip though. Each time you run the rod up the gun have a cloth in hand to wipe the rod. This prevents any residue or gunk from the barrel sticking to the rod, and being run up and down the barrel like a paste.

dev110

One shot on kill wrote: »

I picked up the new to me tikka 243

One step that Cass forgot to mention is

• Stick up some pics of the new toy

:D

Cass

I don't want to see a dirty gun. Clean it, then stick up pictures.

One shot on kill

Will do guys gonna clean it mount scope and stick up a few.

Cass

That sounds like a fairly efficient way to clean it. I think the main thing is to take your time and don't rush it and don't be afraid to always run the rod up once more.

Robotack

Is Hoppes #9 sufficient to clean a bore on it's own? That's all I use with patches / jag but I never soak it over night. It certainly "looks" clean, but then it looks clean after boresnaking so that's not much to go by.

bravestar

One shot on kill wrote: »

I picked up the new to me tikka 243.

Gun is spotless but first order of business is to be sure the barrel is clean and free of copper etc. I know how to pull trough brush mop etc but I've never used copper solvent before what's the crack with it and best way to use it.

Why not shoot it first and see if you actually need to clean out some copper yet?

I know I will probably get lynched for saying it but it is possible to clean too much. I like shooting better

One shot on kill

I like shooting more aswell but I'm my gun now and it will be spotless before I put a round down it and I will do my best to keep it clean.

Hoppes does it not say on the bottle not to soak the barrel

bravestar

One shot on kill wrote: »

I like shooting more aswell but I'm my gun now and it will be spotless before I put a round down it and I will do my best to keep it clean.

Hoppes does it not say on the bottle not to soak the barrel

fair enough, just sayin I like it dirty, you should try it sometime :P

One shot on kill

bravestar wrote: »

fair enough, just sayin I like it dirty, you should try it sometime :P

Ah no I get your point I just don't know how long it has been there for and if it was ever cleaned right in the first place. Start off on the right foot, its more keeping it clean because i wouldn't use it as much as I should so just to keep it right.

Cass

bravestar wrote: »

Why not shoot it first and see if you actually need to clean out some copper yet?

I know I will probably get lynched for saying it but it is possible to clean too much. I like shooting better

bravestar wrote: »

fair enough, just sayin I like it dirty, you should try it sometime :P

Whether the gun is new or second hand you should always clean it thoroughly before firing.

If it's new then it's to clean of any grease/dirt from manufacturer/test firing in the factory.
If it's second hand you have no idea of the cleaning regime the previous owner had.

By cleaning before shooting you can be sure that the gun will be starting with a history you know off.


Some guns like to fire when a little dirty so you can determine this as you learn about the rifle, but always, always clean before firing the first shot from a new gun.

One shot on kill

Cleaned her up spotless the other nite. The barrel wasnt to bad but took 18 patchs to get them out the far end clean.
Had a bit of a problem setting the scope up but I think I have that sorted now. I didnt have a gun clamp or vice dont like the vice doe i have to say. So i improvised and set up a leveling system (cabinet maker style) i have to say the gun was solid i should have set something up at the butt. But because i had my eye releif marked with a bit of tape i didnt really need to touch the rifle after. Two screws on ea h side of the fore end and the gun was solid. Ill prob spend more time and make one that is a little bit more pleaseing to the eye.

Just bore sight it and let a few rounds down range.

Anyway its a tikka t3 lite in stainless. With optilock bases and rings with a hawke sidewinder 30 6-24x56. Threaded for a mod and I hope to trade the misses in for a roedale bolt shroud and bolt knob.


I know what you thinking with the mount.

( I've seen it all now )

EWQuinn

One shot on kill wrote: »

I like shooting more aswell but I'm my gun now and it will be spotless before I put a round down it and I will do my best to keep it clean.

Hoppes does it not say on the bottle not to soak the barrel

Hoppes No 9 should be adequate for most purposes, and does a decent job on copper (for a reasonable price). It gets most of the copper out of my barrels. Choice of gun cleaner is the like choice of cars or beer.

It says not to cork up the barrel, which i think refers to an old practice of corking barrels for storage. Its relatively mild and leaving it in the barrel overnight does no harm, copper comes out nice deep blue & purple, less patches. It think leaving it in less would do the same as overnight but I find it convenient. Dont let it soak on your fancy nickle plated gun, it will harm the plating, but not the steel in the bore of a rifle.

Better living through chemicals.