Brush or no brush

[kaintuck]

no bore brush......clean the lock, the oil everything down, rig the bore.

but then it's been 2+yrs since I have gone shooting!

marc n tomtom

[hammer]

Yes, I do.    I have cleaned bores with just water or water and soap or cleaning solution and any number of patches.   Finally they will come out perfectly clean.   Everything looks clean and shiny with the bore light.

 Then put a good squirt of WD40 down and a few more patches and eventually they too come out clean.

 A good gun oil copiously applied, put away, taken out weeks later and the dry patches to wipe the bore come out stained (no, not rust!).

Seems  the real test  of cleanleness is to be able to push a very tight, dry cleaning patch all the way down the bore with no resistant, no jamming.    And to feel smooth all the way down, no drag, no restriction, to the bottom of the breech and back again.  I can only get that by the jusdiscious use of a bronze brush, particular at the breech end.   Always a surprise what continues to come out of a 'clean' bore with that.

What causes the hard to remove fouling?   My theory is the burning of both the powder and lube together can leave a hard, possibly greasy 'varnish' on the walls that builds up over time.    

[Topknot]

Howdy do Molly, I have no use for a bore brush but I do use a tooth brush to clean around the nipple hole and part of the barrel around the nipple to get all the burnt powder off. Just a couple of three patches on my jag thru the bore and thats it. I do oil both inside and outside after drying everything.

                                             topknot

[Molly]

Well, it still looks like "no brush" is still in the lead (about 2 to 1) but mind you I consider a Scotch Bright pad as well as tow to be more "brush like" than "patch like" and tallied them accordingly.  A few of you were bold enough to admit using a brush for external cleaning but not the bore.  No one seems to have picked up on what I see as a logical inconsistency in that.  If it requires a brush to clean the external parts someone needs to reconcile why no brush for the bore....(apart from the potential of having it "break" off and need to be removed).  Interesting that several have used brushes in the past but not any longer.

Hammer, I think you are touching on a point made earlier.  Clean clean and clean some more.  Patches come out spotless, right.  NOW, squirt some Ballistol, Rem oil or CLP down, run a brush down once or twice and then swab it again.  I bet a dirty patch comes out!  However, Hammer, WD usually does not bring out the crude like the other products noted...or at least that's my experience.

Mind you I'm not about to change my routine no matter what the final total may be (I do like the scotch Bright idea)  but it's pretty clear that there seems to be more than one way to skin the cat!   Ooooo, sorry TomTom.

[hammer]

Thanks Molly.   I agree about WD40, not the best cleaner.  I use it to spray the internal lock parts to flush away any loose dirt.  Just used here for demonstration.

For those with a stuck brush, usually a good twist will rearrange the bristles and allow it to be pulled out.    (Easier in a really clean barrel).   If still jammed or broken off the simple solution is a metal tube slightly smaller than the bore and longer than the barrel.  Bevel the inside edge at one end.    Push it down to the breech and over the bristles and pull both out.    Couldn't be easier.   
Or a long thin rod or wire with one end bent back on itself a little.   Push down through the bristles and hook out the brush.
Good luck,
Peter.

[nosrettap1958]

I never use WD-40 as a cleaner. After cleaning with hot soapy water I spray the parts with WD-40 so it lifts the water off the metal surfaces.  After using all that water I need some peace of mind knowing there is something in between all that water and the metal.

[Pete G.]

No bore brush, but I use a brush on the lock parts. I see no inconsistency at all. A jag cleans the bore perfectly, but there is no such tool available for external surfaces.......no wait, yes there is; a brush.

[nosrettap1958]

I think that's what it is Molly why people don't use a brush in the bore anymore because there is just to big of a risk having the brush stuck or broken off in the bore.  That's why I never used one.

[Molly]

Reason enough I suppose, crawdad.  I was able to get one out.  It did cause a lot of anxiety but it was not as hard as I expected.  For sure I don't try to use one until the bore is as clean as I can get it with just patches.  And I use a good healthy dose of lub with it.  Also, I do not want to ever try to use a brush bigger than the bore cal.  Mashing the bristles back going down can be a problem when trying to pull it back out but I know Hammer's suggestion of giving it a twist can somewhat address that problem.

But hey, I can see an opportunity here to design and patent a brush pulling tool....maybe?

[nosrettap1958]

"But hey, I can see an opportunity here to design and patent a brush pulling tool....maybe?'

I think you may have something there Molly  
 

 
  
 

[Standing Bear]

It a already exists.  Nylon bristle brushes. I used mine 10-15 times today at a match. Sometimes w a patch over the lower end of the brush.
TC

[PPatch]

I do not use a brush

dave

[smokinbuck]

Molly,
Easiest way to pull a stuck brush out of a barrel is to use a piece of tubing just under bore size. Slide it down the barrel and around the brush. It will encase the bristles and allow you to pull the brush out. Ask me how I know.
Mark

[Kermit]

I don't. And so I never need tricks to extract a stuck brush.

[Dewey]

No brush.

[rmatt]

I use nylon brushes. Never an issue sticking one in the bore.

[B.Habermehl]

The only time I use a brush is on the neglected barrels that show up on customers guns. BJH

[Ky-Flinter]

Bore brush, no.  Toothbrush on the lock, yes.  It's not an inconsistency, it's cleaning 2 differently shaped things.  Cloth patches work fine in my barrels, and a toothbrush works fine on my locks.

-Ron

[Molly]

Well, "No Brush" still leads but the recent margin is 5 to 3 so we brush users are gaining.  I hope to go to the range this week and will photo some evidence to support my practice.  One thing for sure about BP shooting, esp traditional firearms, is that people form their opinions and it does not seem to matter what others think or do, their way is the only way and the best way. That's OK.  I'm the same way however I still have an open mind and will look at options.

[Daryl]

Bore brush, no.  Toothbrush on the lock, yes.  It's not an inconsistency, it's cleaning 2 differently shaped things.  Cloth patches work fine in my barrels, and a toothbrush works fine on my locks.

-Ron

Exactly, Ron. Under the pan, in the frizzen pivot, around the feather spring - blow it off and spray with WD40. Water gone, shake or use air to blow off the excess, replace.  Neat thing about the WD40, (I never  have to brush the inside parts, spring, tumbler, sear, where the moly grease is, as no fouling EVER gets there) it does not spray off the moly grease. I usually only replace the grease once a year.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

In the past, I have tried using a bronze brush in my 50 cal rifles.  I did not see an advantage, so I ceased.  I use a jag for the particular bore, turned down slightly to receive two thicknesses of flannel, for cleaning,  It is a tight combination and requires all my strength to withdraw once bottomed in the breech.  I hydraulic water (only) in and out of the bore with this system to clean.  I flush with liberal dose of WD 40, then dry the bore with a patch wet with the same.  I store my rifles muzzle down.

BUT, I DO use a bronze brush in my shotguns!  A patched jag alone takes too long to loosen the huge build up of fouling left after shooting shot.  I finish with patched jag, water, then dry and oil as with the rifle.  Again, I store them muzzle against a wooden floor.

I use a 'shop' toothbrush around the lock parts, and the standing breech.

[Daryl]

I use a 'shop' toothbrush around the lock parts, and the standing breech.

Yeah- good idea on the shop brush, Tracy didn't like me using her's.

[56 kodiak shooter]

I use a breech brush made by bill slusser a custom gun builder here in south central pa., never a black ring

[Tony N]

Tooth brush on the lock and cloth patches only in the barrel. No bore brush ever

~Tony

[Stormrider51]

No brush.

SR51