Bore Brushes

[Muleskinner]

Just wondering if anyone uses bore brushes on there ML'er......I dont really think its necessary to use one but I am thinking it probably wouldnt hurt either.,....your input appreciated

[roundball]

Just wondering if anyone uses bore brushes on there ML'er......I dont really think its necessary to use one but I am thinking it probably wouldnt hurt either.,....your input appreciated

FWIW, I personally believe its very worthwile and always include brush strokes as part of my cleaning regimen...never felt confortable that a "round jag" and soft patch could 100% clean the sharp 90 degree square corners of all the lands and grooves.

Double check my math, but if I have 6 lands and 6 grooves, that's 12 sets of square corners that run the full length of your bore.

Every 12" of  bore length is 12 sets of corners that are 12 inches long or 144 linear inches of corners per foot of barrel length.

A 42" bore = 3.5 feet
3.5 feet x 144 inches/foot = 504 inches
504 inches divided by 12"/foot = 42 linear feet of sharp 90* corners to get clean    

And, knowing that 90% of time I use Natural Lube 1000 on my patches, and that bore butter can build up, after I initially pump flusing a dirty bore, I run a bronze brush up and down a dozen tmes or so, then pump flush again.

What convinced me was how misleading a "clean white patch" can be as follows:
I got a bore to the point of a clean white patch, then ran a good bore brush up and down a couple dozen strokes...next cleaning patch or two came out almost black with all the crud that the brush loosened up.
So ever since then I always include some brush strokes...only adds 20-30 seconds.

Remember a Dentist's favorite saying:
"You don't have to brush ALL your teeth...just the ones you want to keep"
 

[doug]

      I have always used bronze bore brushes and warm water.  Am not convinced that a jag and patch cleans completely, particularly in an original gun with a frosted bore.  I think the jag and patches might be ok for smoothbores but still find the brush more convenient

cheers Doug

[Canute Rex]

I have started using a bronze bore brush as a jag. The bristles stick through the patch and loosen the crud while the patch mops it up. Shiny bore!

I also make 9/16" washers out of green Scotchbrite scrubber and put them on an 8-32 screw in between two brass washers. This makes a good 50 cal bore scrubber and a good tight groove filling jag. Your diameter may vary.

[smylee grouch]

I use bore brushs also but make shur you use the kind that wont come apart down in the breech area. Some brushes have the brush crimped and some have the wire loped around . I had one come apart once and was lucky that I had a patch around it so when I used a little 4f to pop it out the patching sealed the bore enouigh to create obturation and send brush out the muzzle end. After I cleaned the gun up I rounded up all my brushes and soldered them together so it wouldnt happen again.  Gary

[Daryl]

Never used them in a muzzleloader and don't believe they are necessary - I don't get any fouling buildup tha tisn't cleaned out spotlessly with a jag and patches.  I quit using bore brushes in my modern guns years ago as they weren't necessary there either ,as the barrels can be cleaned perfectly without them suing proper solvents.

I don't use bore butter or other chap-stick-type lubes, which I'm told will accumulate in the corners of the rifling and perhaps making some fort of brushing necessary.

BR shooters are adament to NEVER reverse a bronze brush in a bore as flexing the bristles backwards when reversing it will actually damage a 4140 or 4150 chromemoly barrel.  Our ML barrels are not as hard as those and some are downright soft in comparrison. I wouldn't do it.  Damage in the breech would/could set up the barrel for problems in corrosion later, or at least make it more likely to foul badly there- over time.

[Habu]

I started using a bore brush to clean my smoothbores after I noticed some leading and underlying pitting in the bore of my first Bess barrel.  I routinely shot a bare ball sandwiched between two wads, and there were some streaks of leading I hadn't noticed.  Two weeks later the bore was frosted under the lead.  I suspect that if you're not shooting a patched roundball at least occasional use of a brush might be a good idea.

[Darkhorse]

Never use them in any of my ML's since 1976. No problems with jag and patch.
I would never use one in a modern custom made barrel, the steel is too soft. Maybe alright in a production gun, your choice.
After buying a nice Tikka (blasphemy I know) carbine a couple years back and reading the owners manual, I stopped using them in CF's also.

[Naphtali]

Those people who load lubricated naked projectiles - has anyone tried any variation of ScotchBriteŽ wrapped around a jag for use as brush substitute that can be worked fore-and-aft in barrels without scoring its interior? I have been told there are several variations af abrasiveness available. This material would appear to have similar scouring characteristics as a Tornado-style brush while having less severe scouring ability.

Just a thought.

[Daryl]

One of the very best lead scrubbers is using a well undersized bronze brush, with strands of copper off a Kurly-Kate kichen scrubber wrapped around it. Unlike steel wool, it doesn't leave steel or in this case, copper 'fines' in the bore.  If there is no leading, no brush or 'scouring' is required.

[roundball]

Just curious...from those who seem to think storing a bronze bore brush in the same room with a steel barrel is going to harm it   , after using bronze bore brushes...heavily and often...in every rifle, shotgun, handgun, and muzzleloader I've ever owned since the 1960's...including years of weekend cleanings after trap and skeet shooting where I'd have them chucked in drills to easily remove the plastic wad fouling from the screw in chokes...now exactly what should I be on the look out for that's going to happen

[hanshi]

I often use bronze brushes during the cleaning process.  I also often substitute the scotch type scouring pads and bore paste.  At the range if I need to wipe the bore (rarely) for any reason I often use a brush to keep from pushing fouling down the bore.  It is amazing what you can get out of a bore even after your patches come out clean.

[Daryl]

Just curious...from those who seem to think storing a bronze bore brush in the same room with a steel barrel is going to harm it   , after using bronze bore brushes...heavily and often...in every rifle, shotgun, handgun, and muzzleloader I've ever owned since the 1960's...including years of weekend cleanings after trap and skeet shooting where I'd have them chucked in drills to easily remove the plastic wad fouling from the screw in chokes...now exactly what should I be on the look out for that's going to happen

I don't use them becasue they aren't necessary - just as using phoney powders or having to wipe the bore while shooting isn't necessary. It's just something else to do which has no benefit in my shooting - of anything.
I warned about reversing the bronze brush in barrels - it's common knowledge amongst the worlds most accurate shooters that you don't reverse a bronze brush inside a bore. With a muzzleloading rifle, that would happen every time you ran it down the bore.
Just because you haven't seen any detriment in your guns means nothing, but perhaps tells us something else.

[smylee grouch]

There are bore brushes on the market made from some other substance, may be nylon idont know but would they scrub enough? I wouldnt think they would harm the bore. Is there anyone with experence with these brushes?    Just a thought.    Gary

[roundball]

Just because you haven't seen any detriment in your guns means nothing, but perhaps tells us something else.

Mine was a rhetorical post...what it tells you is that nothing detrimental has happened...and won't...as least not in our lifetimes
 

All this talk about reversing bristles in a ML...all you do when the brush bottoms out is rotate the rod clockwise, the bristles will curve, effectively becoming shorter, and the brush slides right back up...