SS Bore Brushes

[Gammon]

I have stated in the past that I used SS bore brushes on my pistols with no apparent wear. Boy, was I wrong! Most of my high volume shooting was done with custom pistols fitted with SS BarSto barrels and a few S&Ws with SS barrels. These guns were cleaned on a regular basis with SS bore brushes and showed no signs of excessive wear in the bore. Recently, I installed a stock (chrome moly) barrel with a comp in one of my Para P-16s and proceeded to put about 5 thousand rounds through the gun, cleaning it every thousand rounds or so with a SS bore brush. The barrel is now so badly scored that I intend to replace it next winter after the IPSC season is over. Apparently SS barrels can take SS bore brushes, but chrome moly barrels cannot. Be careful.

[Bud White]

Ive heard this before ive only used stainless a few times on really bad leaded barrels that people have brought to me and mine from some hot loads.

[wichaka]

Never use anything as hard or harder than what you've got............as you now see what happems.

Stick with brass and some good cleaner. For tuff stuff, let the barrel soak, it'll come out.

[Icepick15]

Wilson Combat 2005/2006 catalog has what they call their "#424,45 .45 ACP Chamber Cleaning Tool" listed on page 64. It's described as having "...very stiff stainless bristles to thoroughly clean your chamber...". When I saw this item, I thought the same thing as Wichaka said. I have alwlays been told that stainless bristles are usually harder than chrome moly barrel steel. From the looks of this tool in Wilson's picture of it, I would imagine that it is inserted into the chamber and then twisted. Seems to me that it would score the chamber. Anyone with any experience with this tool? Am I correct in my thinking that it could score the chamber? I have never used stainless brushes in anything other than stainless barrels and stainless revolver cylinders.

[Gammon]

Use an M-14 chamber cleaning brush; stiff bronze bristles that do an excellent job. Chamber cleaning shouldn't be much of a problem, the real chore is removing leading from the barrel. I am now using Chore Boy brass pads and M Pro-7 with good results.

[stans]

A fast way to remove lead in sheets is to cut copper mesh Chore Boy pads into strips, wrap the strips around a bore brush and push it through the barrel. I have found a dry bore works best with this technique. The copper is soft and won't scratch the barrel, but it takes the lead out.

[Jim V]

Or go to a marina and pick up some medium bronze wool (it comes is several degrees of courseness) and use that to remove the lead. Black powder cartridge rifle shooters use it with good results.

[Hunter]

I favor the brass bore brushes soaked in Hopps #9. The brass is softer than the steel the barrel is made of to prevent accelerated wear and scratches to the inside. For the final clean I use old socks(that are clean) turned inside out and cut into patches. The inside of the socks seem to soak up the Hopps and clean the barrel well. Then a light coat of Rem oil or CLP to inhibit rust.

[LHB1]

Quote: "From the looks of this tool in Wilson's picture of it, I would imagine that it is inserted into the chamber and then twisted. Seems to me that it would score the chamber."

Icepick,
That is exactly how it is to be used. Wilson recently sent me one of their chamber scrub brushes as a free gift after I bought one of their pistols. IN THEIR LITERATURE enclosed with the brush, Wilson admits the tool may scratch the chamber until it becomes worn but they have not found that to be a problem.
Well, I WOULD DEEM IT A PROBLEM if it scratched my chamber and have NO plans to use the tool on my beautiful Wilson pistol. The tool is in my junk box and will stay there.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

[jrg065]

Thanks for the information.

[Hawkmoon]

I am surprised that stainless steel might be harder than chrommoly, but maybe it is. Nonetheless, as Wichaka said, never use anything harder than your barrel/chamber to clean it. To that I would add "or as hard as." You can take two identical knives and use the blade of one to score the blade of the other. Use only brass or bronze (or nylon) brushes in your barrels and chambers.

[Unclenick]

Chrome-molybdenum steel can be made harder than stainless by heat treating it. The problem is that hardening a barrel or chamber much over about 30-35 on the Rockwell C scale makes it too brittle to survive repeated exposure to chamber pressures reliably. Since it is drawn back to this lower hardness after quenching, it is no longer any harder than the stainless.

That said, the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu pointed out that water, the softest thing, can overcome rock, the hardest thing. Just give it time and it will wear a rock away. In this same vein, Merril Martin pointed out some years ago in Precision Shooting, that even a bronze brush could mark a steel bore if you reversed the stroke direction with the brush still in the barrel. The bristle tips are then forced up into the metal as they switch trailing sides, and will microscopically dent it. Hard to imagine, but he had the borescope photos to prove it.

Most of the bench rest shooters now use only Kroil and Remclean on a bore. No brushes at all.

Nick