Removing wad fouling from barrel

[Clark8907]

When I started reloading TSS for turkey hunting, I spoke with my choke manufacturer and he recommended denatured alcohol. It works wonderfully and thats all I use now for cleaning my shot gun barrels.

 

[HookMeUpII]

When I started reloading TSS for turkey hunting, I spoke with my choke manufacturer and he recommended denatured alcohol. It works wonderfully and thats all I use now for cleaning my shot gun barrels.

This is probably a good solution. Good enough to get the stuff off but not damage the finish/metal.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Soak a few patches with Ed’s Red. Just keep it off any stock (wood or plastic) and you’ll be fine.

 

[rookhawk]

Dedicate an old cleaning rod for this: mount a bore brush, chuck in a drill, spin on a layer of fine steel wool, oil it, spin it inside the barrel. According to decades of use, then careful measurement by the shotgun gunsmith Ralph Walker it will EMPHATICALLY NOT wear the inside of the barrel at all. But it will be quickly clean as a whistle and burnished bright. Have never found quicker, easier or better.

Nothing good comes out of the use of steel wool. It's harder than bluing which means it can scratch. Its fibers get stuck everywhere leading to rust.

0000 Fine Bronze Wool is softer and the remnant fibers that get everywhere don't rust your gun. Amazon has three packs for about ten bucks.

 

[Forrest Halley]

Why is this necessary? What benefit other than to our OCD does it provide?

As to companies not making things if it weren't necessary...there is a demand and that is all that is necessary for production.

 

[steve white]

Nothing good comes out of the use of steel wool. It's harder than bluing which means it can scratch. Its fibers get stuck everywhere leading to rust.

0000 Fine Bronze Wool is softer and the remnant fibers that get everywhere don't rust your gun. Amazon has three packs for about ten bucks.

I'll try it! Of course it is a given that a swab will be run through the bore afterward, so no particles either way will be left behind.

 

[fourfive8]

Never had steel wool fibers cause a problem if care is taken during use and they are flushed/swabbed out. Plus, if rust forms on steel wool fibers, wouldn't rust form on other steel parts of the gun anyway if allowed to do so?

Also, some mentioned Chore Boy for bore swab material. It works well for removing heavy leading- just make sure it is 100% copper. Some isn't. And I don't think bluing is on bore surface so use of steel wool wouldn't affect bluing there anyway - just a straw man argument. I would be much more worried about caustic bore cleaning chemicals damaging bluing or bore surface (and wood stock finish for that matter) than steel wool. Brass or bronze wool also works for removing plastic fouling... for those "squeamish" about steel wool . All in all, plastic shotgun bore plastic fouling removal is relatively easy.

Rust on bore surface is a much bigger and tougher problem because rust is harder than most steels and has already done damage. Rust can be caused by neglect where moisture from condensation is trapped underneath bore deposits and fouling. Pays to keep bore clean and protected when not in use. Heavy copper fouling can also be a tough one to remove. Carbon fouling is one of the most often overlooked. Carbon fouling is hard and tenacious. It commonly builds up in the throat and just ahead of chamber. It's a common cause of accuracy and function issues in some rifles and many handguns, revolvers and 22 rimfires. Carbon fouling removal also requires mechanical means like serious scrubbing with bore brush or aggressive swab material. Spinning a bore brush or steel wool (or brass wool if shaky kneed ) swab is one of the best ways to remove carbon ring from handgun cylinder chambers and throats. Carbon is non-reactive so is similar to plastic in that it resists removal using only chemicals.

 

[rookhawk]

Never had steel wool fibers cause a problem if care is taken during use and they are flushed/swabbed out. Plus, if rust forms on steel wool fibers, wouldn't rust form on other steel parts of the gun anyway if allowed to do so?

Also, some mentioned Chore Boy for bore swab material. It works well for removing heavy leading- just make sure it is 100% copper. Some isn't. And I don't think bluing is on bore surface so use of steel wool wouldn't affect bluing there anyway - just a straw man argument. I would be much more worried about caustic bore cleaning chemicals damaging bluing or bore surface (and wood stock finish for that matter) than steel wool. Brass or bronze wool also works for removing plastic fouling... for those "squeamish" about steel wool . All in all, plastic shotgun bore plastic fouling removal is relatively easy.

Rust on bore surface is a much bigger and tougher problem because rust is harder than most steels and has already done damage. Rust can be caused by neglect where moisture from condensation is trapped underneath bore deposits and fouling. Pays to keep bore clean and protected when not in use. Heavy copper fouling can also be a tough one to remove. Carbon fouling is one of the most often overlooked. Carbon fouling is hard and tenacious. It commonly builds up in the throat and just ahead of chamber. It's a common cause of accuracy and function issues in some rifles and many handguns, revolvers and 22 rimfires. Carbon fouling removal also requires mechanical means like serious scrubbing with bore brush or aggressive swab material. Spinning a bore brush or steel wool (or brass wool if shaky kneed ) swab is one of the best ways to remove carbon ring from handgun cylinder chambers and throats. Carbon is non-reactive so is similar to plastic in that it resists removal using only chemicals.

Ask Purdey, Boss, Holland, or Westley if they think steel wool is a good idea. Ask a yacht builder the same question. Micro-hairs are like glitter, they get all over the place and then they fester. You pick them up in your rags and they can put swirls in your finish or they can get clogged in checkering where they will rust under the next drop of slacum you use to top-off your oil finish every couple of years.

The only thing I use steel wool for related to fine guns is to put a piece in vinegar to create tint for traditional finishes when red alkanet root is not the correct color match. (that's old-school British trade technique for stains)