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Posted: 12/18/2024 1:28:05 PM EDT
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I read an article written by a female professional trap shooter where she mentioned the best tip for reducing cleaning time in a shotgun/choke was to run a boresnake through right after shooting when the plastic wadding and gunk is soft. This got me thinking because the thing that takes me the longest on a shotgun is indeed the wadding that is hardened and melted in the choke. Even soaking it in Slip 2000's choke cleaner for hours made no difference. I had to scrub it hard with a SS brush. I contacted Slip 2000 and they had no solution but did mention they have seen this happen sometimes. On the Benelli the bolt/carrier/chamber/bore are all chrome lined and with the Otis 12-gauge kit, the bore is clean within a few minutes. The chrome lined bolt/carrier just wipes clean basically. I accidentally decided to wipe my suppressor mounts with Clorox wipes a few hours after shooting just to prevent the carbon from smearing all over the gun cases and other gear, and noticed the carbon and copper fouling that normally required a lot of scrubbing on my Rearden mounts, came off just by wiping - like literally down to the bare metal. I can't see any ingredients in the Clorox wipes that would stand out as carbon cutters but thought maybe the degreasing action is what strips off the carbon? Since the Rearden mounts are 17-4 I don't really worry about corrosion since I'd be doing a full cleaning a few days later with CLP, etc... In the past I left the Rearden and Q Cherry bomb mounts coated in carbon until I could get to cleaning the guns. They'd always take some scrubbing and soaking with Boretech C4 / Copper Remover to get clean. But once I started using a Clorox wipe within a few hours after shooting, they were super easy to clean. That got me thinking once again... has anyone experimented with water based cleaners on a Ripcord or Boresnake right after shooting? Or even just pulling an Otis patch through? Years and years ago, I used a Hoppes Boresnake and made the mistake of using CLP on it - the stuff never washed off the snake and it just got really grimy and never worked for me, but I'd never tried it right after shooting at the range. I like the Ripcord a bit better and i see I can attach a patch loop at the very end to apply some CLP to prevent corrosion. My goal isn't to replace proper cleaning, but rather to make my life easier during the full cleaning sessions. |
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Carbon and copper- Bore Tech eliminator, they also make stand alone carbon and copper cleaner which I have not found any better. Wadding is polyethylene so no chemicals to dissolve that, as stated, easier to remove when warm, I suppose a hairdryer to bore might help, I've never tried that. Hands down Bore Tech is the best I've ever used in 50 years. |
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Originally Posted By Tejas1836: Carbon and copper- Bore Tech eliminator, they also make stand alone carbon and copper cleaner which I have not found any better. Wadding is polyethylene so no chemicals to dissolve that, as stated, easier to remove when warm, I suppose a hairdryer to bore might help, I've never tried that. Hands down Bore Tech is the best I've ever used in 50 years. I use Bortech C4, Copper Remover, and Eliminator. Their Shotgun Cleaner isn't all that great but I still use it. The question would be are you using them at the range right after firing? I was thinking of putting some of that on the Ripcord followed by a patch of CLP. This is just to pull as much gunk off the hot bore as possible to make my full cleaning sessions go faster. The Clorox wipes cleaned all of the muzzle devices as if the carbon was just a light dusting and its just a water based disinfectant/degreaser. |
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Butch's Bore Shine strips plastic out without trouble. I use an old brush with a patch wrapped around. I use home made pull throughs, and never a nasty Boresnake with carbon imbedded. Get two or three so a clean one can be rotated in while the last one is getting a bath. |
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When teaching Armorer courses, we see lots of heavily fouled po.lie shotgun barrels, generally the fouling has been there for decades. These guns have been abused and neglected. We have people clean the barrels for both the carbon and plastic fouling. Everyone is supplied with a cleaning rod, shotgun chamber brush, bore brush, tornado brush, brass jag with patches, and some Slip2000 Carbon Killer and Choke Tube Solvent. We have everyone first scrub the chambers, then scrub the bore. When scrubbing, we have everyone dip their brushes in the Slip2000 Carbon Killer, then scrub the barrels while they are wet with the solvent. The scrubbing with a bristle brush will scratch the fouling, and let the solvent break the fouling down. Then follow it with a few patches on a brass jag, and inspect to see what fouling has been removed and what is left, sometimes people have to repeat this procedure to break the fouling down and get decades of fouling removed. Once the jagged patches are coming out clean, inspect the internals of the barrel, and any fouling you usually see will be melted plastic wad material inside the barrel. This plastic fouling will often times look like pitting. To remove the plastic fouling, use a fresh bore brush with some Slip2000 Choke Tube Cleaner, and scrub the barrel wet by dipping the brush Choke Tube Cleaner. Let it soak, then repeat the wet scrubbing. The use a brass jag, combined with one of Brownells Super Duty cleaning patches, and you will see lots of the fouling come out. Once in a while we see a barrel that has had decades of plastic fouling built up in the barrel, these we like to soak over the lunch break, then scrub them after an hour of soaking, and then jag it out, this long soak in the Choke Tube Cleaner along with the scrubbing, will allow the solvent to break up the plastic fouling up enough to get it removed. CY6 Greg Sullivan "Sully" Weapons Armorer SLR15 Rifles DefensiveEdge.com (763) 712-0123 |
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While clorox wipes don't have clorox in them, they have a lot of ingredients with the name "chloride" in them. Generally speaking anything with that kind of name will deteriorate metal over time. I do know in the military, they used this cleaner that was really powerful to clean the engines on the ship. However, the thing kept breaking after a few years, well below the manufacturer's stated life span. The breakage was something that required an entire new engine to be placed in since the metal would break and cannot be repaired. They investigated and found that the cleaner used contained chloride/chlorine and it was deteriorating the metal to the point that it would break after some time. As such there's a complete ban on anything with the ingredients from being used to clean metal. If I remember right, the entire millitec controversy came from this fact that they used chlorine in their products. Generally speaking, don't use Clorox wipes. And stay away from anything with the words: Clorox, Chlorine, or Chloride when it comes to metal but as a disinfection method. |
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Originally Posted By sully: To remove the plastic fouling, use a fresh bore brush with some Slip2000 Choke Tube Cleaner, and scrub the barrel wet by dipping the brush Choke Tube Cleaner. Let it soak, then repeat the wet scrubbing. The use a brass jag, combined with one of Brownells Super Duty cleaning patches, and you will see lots of the fouling come out. Once in a while we see a barrel that has had decades of plastic fouling built up in the barrel, these we like to soak over the lunch break, then scrub them after an hour of soaking, and then jag it out, this long soak in the Choke Tube Cleaner along with the scrubbing, will allow the solvent to break up the plastic fouling up enough to get it removed. I never had any issues with the fouling in the chrome lined Benelli. It's the damn chokes that foul up and take forever to scrub. The Carlsons are 17-4 SS and I've used the Slip 2000 Choke Tube Cleaner to soak and scrub and everything as per instructions. It won't easily touch the fouling in the choke. The only way I have been able to get them clean is with a SS brush, scrubbing it for about 30 minutes to finally get them clean. No amount of soaking or even an ultrasonic cleans that up easily, and no product that i found has been able to clean the chokes easily. Not sure if it is plastic wadding but feels like a hard polymer, looks dull and gray. The wadding and fouling i pull out of the bore are flaky black bits. but i have to assume the stuff on the choke is plastic wadding. That's why when the female pro trap shooter mentioned running a boresnake through right after shooting that it was intriguing to me. As for the others talking about their favorite cleaning tips or warning me about using the Clorox wipes - they don't seem to be reading the entire post and just catching on keywords. i am not soaking or using the Clorox wipes as a substitute. i only found that when i used the clorox wipes to clean the 17-4 muzzle devices (which i ran with suppressors) that it took the carbon/copper stuff off very very easily. it was only to prevent smearing the carbon all over the inside of my cases until i have time to give everything a thorough cleaning and lubricating. i was thinking of using slip 2000 725 or something similar to spray on a ripcord to pull through the bores to get rid as much of the hot gunk at the range as possible, maybe followed with a patch of CLP until can get to cleaning them properly. Was wondering if anyone experimented with the water based cleaners. CLP and other oils that soak into the boresnakes makes it almost impossible to wash off. |
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The difference in what you are experiencing with build up at the choke tube and what we see in Armorer courses is possibly that most of the Police model shotguns we see are an improved cylinder and not choked down tighter, and most but not all Police model shotguns generally don't have screw in choke tubes. For stubborn build up you may try some of the lead remover type cloth products out there, we have good success with stubborn build up using these. There are several of these available from Birchwood Casey and Pro Shot, etc. They can be found online, and at many gunshops, to include Cabela's and Basspro. Cut off a patch, and place it on a brass jag, and swab out the barrel, you can scrub at the hard build up spots, and if the fit on the jag isn't tight enough then simply put a cotton patch behind it to build up the diameter. (Note: Some of these can take off bluing if you rub the outside of the gun, so be carefulm it isn't something I personally worry about on the inside of a barrel. Some of the ones that we use are:  CY6 Greg Sullivan "Sully" Weapons Armorer SLR15 Rifles DefensiveEdge.com (763) 712-0123 |
 
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Clorox wipes have water in them, whatever else they contain. Applying a mild solvent like water to a mount that has JUST been coated with fouling should help prevent the fouling from “setting” and hardening. WATER BASED CLEANERS DO NOT corrode weapons. Slip 2000’s 725 degreaser is water based and is excellent at cleaning stuff. I haven’t tried it with any “boresnake-like” device, but it should help quite a bit. |
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Originally Posted By zencarl: Water based shit is going to rust your guns. Only use petroleum and petroleum distillates. You're in Montana: the average humidity is low enough that the water ain't stickin' around long. |
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Originally Posted By gtsteve03: www.amazon.com/dp/B001VXU7OE This or the Simple Green HD (purple color) works great on my guns and will not react with aluminum like regular SG. The purple HD is all I use unless something is really dirty. |
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Originally Posted By GSAR426: This or the Simple Green HD (purple color) works great on my guns and will not react with aluminum like regular SG. The purple HD is all I use unless something is really dirty. Simple Green HD is all I use to clean my firearms. Been using it for years zero rust |
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I'd stop using them immediately. Bleach, N-Alkyl (C14, 60%; C16, 30%; C12, 5%; C18, 5%) Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride and N-Alkyl (C12, 68%; C14, 32%) Dimethyl Ethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride and Alkyl C12-18 Dimethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride are all corrosive agents to most metals. How corrosive depends on the concentration. They work good because Chloride ions love carbon molecules. Bleach and Chlorides will penetrate and disrupt the passive oxide layer that protects most metals accelerating corrosion. Now the concertation in the wipes is low and with modern gun finishes. It's most likely not going to affect it. But my worry would be the threads where the finish is worn and the fluid will wick in and get trapped. Clorox own website recommends use on Stainless steel. Which is very low in carbon. It doesn't say anything about regular steel or aluminum. My guess would be not recommended. |
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Not sure how this isn’t common knowledge, but black powder shooters have the best solvents for removing carbon and similar fouling. Hands down, it simply melts carbon off the bore and washes off with warm water. If you have a badly fouled rifle, use a black powder solvent. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002218812?pid=329620 |
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Originally Posted By FedDC: Not sure how this isn’t common knowledge, but black powder shooters have the best solvents for removing carbon and similar fouling. Hands down, it simply melts carbon off the bore and washes off with warm water. If you have a badly fouled rifle, use a black powder solvent. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002218812?pid=329620 Thanks for sharing. Not a bad price either.. |
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Guys worried about water based cleaners is funny. It's not soaking in water, you clean with it and dry after. Any residual will quickly evaporate, then you can apply a protective treatment, AKA a wipe down with your preferred rust prevention product. The classic blackpowder cleaning solution is water and ballistol. |
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