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How To Clean Barrel Chamber?


n2299

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I'm picking up a new .40 SVI fitted with Schuemann's bull barrel.

While it will be a huge change in my cleaning routine, I'm going to follow Schumann's advice of just cleaning the chamber and not the bore.

I understand quite a few members here also don't clean their barrel. I wonder if you can advice me on the best way to clean my chamber?

Shuemann wrote that he scapes off the deposit with a brass rod. Can I use a Dewey brass chamber rod to do this? Or should I use a .45 chamber brush from Brownells?

TIA

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You can also use a bore brush for a larger caliber, that way it will be a bit snugger in your chamber.

They also make brushes for cleaning the chambers of revolvers which are larger than the bore. I've used those with good results in the past, but now I can't find any of mine (they were made for cleaning the chambers of .45ACP and .45 colt revolvers and noticeably larger in diameter than a .45 bore brush).

Also, Wilson Combat makes a chamber cleaning tool, which is essentially a chamber brush on a short handle.

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I take the edge of a rag and feed it into the chamber. Keep stuffing it in, until no more will go. Twist it around several times, and pull it out. Might have to repeat once or twice.

You can make it more difficult if you want. ;)

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While it will be a huge change in my cleaning routine, I'm going to follow Schumann's advice of just cleaning the chamber and not the bore.

I understand quite a few members here also don't clean their barrel.

This is a new one to me! Anyone care to elaborate?

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Wil certainly believes many things..... :huh:

Like wearing a hockey mask when testing new barrels? I heard that this one and the word pisture made me laugh out laugh. I don't know the truth in it, but it was funny to picture. ~ S

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I'd clean my .40 barrel maybe once a year, just for fun really. But I'd clean the chamber only before a major match with a tight-fitting brush.

Well, if it's good enough for the Ghost Dog, it's good enough for me. B)

I would like to thank everyone for their replies. I'm certainly going to give this new routine a try when I pick up my new toy next week. :)

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Wil's comments concerned stainless centerfire autoloading pistol barrels (i.e., 1911s) using jacketed or plated bullets. Wil's & Brian Enos' cleaning comments would NOT apply to the use of lead bullets & I would suggest you clean any barrel used w/ exposed lead as per manufacturers recomendations. As for cleaning Glock barrels after shooting coated bullets, see my post on Precision bullets in the reloading section.

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  • 4 months later...

I'm using a nylon bore brush wrapped in a FP-10 soaked patch. Scrub the chamber then the rest of barrel. I noticed it doesn't really scrub off all of the lead deposits and I can still see small areas of deposits. However, these lead deposits doesn't seem to get bigger anyway even after extended shooting sessions. Totally different effect when I use a more aggressive approach (like bronze or steel brush), the deposits grow larger.

However, with my glock and lead ammo, I scrub the barrel after every range session.

YMMV. :)

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Any scratches or rough spots WILL increase fouling which happen with incomplete or poor scrubbing with bronze or steel brushes. Take a technique from the benchrest shooters and only use wet patches (no brushes) or solvents (used in moderation).

If you have a good bore and it's fouling is minimal and doesn't get worse over time..........just keep shooting.

:)

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I'm with Mr. Holliday. The Glock plastic rods get a large patch (shotgun size) pulled through the slot folded and then pulled over the tip. That gets dipped in Kroil and the chamber gets swabbed in a rotary motion with this tight fitting patch setup. After that, I run a loose fitting dry patch through over the tip of the plastic rod to get the barrel dry and then reassemble the sucker. I even let a little film of Kroil stay in the chamber.

The only metal that touches my chambers and barrels anymore is the cartridge case & the projectile. When I feel the need to scrub things I use "nylon" bore brushes that are available from Sinclair International and coated, or plastic cleaning rods like the Dewey, and the Glock ones.

If your gun is working with your ammo properly, your chamber shouldn't get too cruddy and require abrasion to get it clean anyway. A lot of carbon buildup here and maybe you oughta look at whether you are experiencing poor case sealing, or some other pressure related problem.

NONE of this applies to lead bullets. This thread concerning never cleaning barrels (as Carlos mentioned) relates to JACKETED projectiles in STAINLESS pistol barrels. I do clean barrels not made with stainless, and anything that gets lead shot through it, I just use "nice" brushes, with my patches & solvents nowadays.

Regards,

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I use one of those handy Wilson chamber cleaning brushes (bronze) on the little handle they sell. I rarely clean the bore, but when I scrape the muck out of the rails and relube, I will do a few turns of the chamber cleaner. Atferward you can't see any crud in the chamber, although they never get that dirty in the first place.

I use something called a chamber maid on my ARs. It's a piece of plastic coated steel wire cable attached to a T handle. You put an AR or M16 (with adapter) chamber brush on the end and you can really go to town. Then I field strip the bolt carrier, wipe and scrape as necessary, reassemble, relube, and I'm ready to go again.

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I say clean your barrel even if it's clean already. It's good karma.

This will sound crude as hell to some but it works and there are no ill effects after years of it. My chamber cleaning is done with a fired steel case that has the mouth notched up with a file to make it look like a hole saw, and the case head has a slot sawed into it. First I brush the chamber out with the Wilson chamber brush and them I drop this case in and turn it with a screw driver. Pretty much nothing else, no brush, will get the crud out of the step in the chamber upon which the case headspaces. Before anyone panics about wearing stuff out, nope. I'm anal about cleaning, I do it a lot, I do it when it's not necessary. there is no prob. Of course, I'm not driving it with an electric drill and pushing real hard either. For the bore, especially with lead but also with jacket fouling, I use a bore brush wrapped with strips of copper pan scrubber. Again, I've found nothing that works better-- it takes out all the crap in a hurry.

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The Glock cleaning rod and nylon brush are what I do 99% of my non-lead-related gun cleaning with. Good stuff.

I love the brass case with the teeth on it. I wish I'd have known about that when I had my old Series 70...

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