Cleaning an old bore

J Beard · May 13, 2013

Inherited a Model 1905 Winchester chambered in 35 Winchester self loading.
I've got everything to start loading cartridges,except primers and powder.
It's sad that it's easier to find dies for an obsolete cartridge than the primers to load it.
Outside the rifle looks great for being over 100 years old.
The bore is lightly rusted but doesn't look too bad, I'm assuming it's from corrosive primers.
I think my wife's brother may have fired it a few times before offering it to me and didn't know about old primers.
I ran a brass brush thru it and it looks like it will clean up pretty good but I want to do this right.

Recommendations?

My original post on this rifle, looking for load data.
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=111080

rickyp · May 13, 2013

Depending on the condition this could be a long prices.
I use a foaming bore cleaner. spray it in and let it sit a while then run several patches and brush trough it, then repeat, repeat, repeat, Then when it looks somewhat clean I use some copper remover and do it all over again. until the patches come out no longer blue. then I oil the bore and let it sit for a day or two and then clean it and check it. if it still not clean I start over again with the foam cleaner.

coopermania · May 13, 2013

Did you get the new cases from Quality ? Were you impressed with them ?

Boondock Saint · May 13, 2013

WipeOut is really good stuff. You'll pull a good 20-30 patches full of all kinds of funk, and possibly many more, with that barrel. Consider using Accelerator too for faster (not better) results. No brushing, either. Can't recommend highly enough. I was sold the moment I hit a "clean" barrel with this stuff and had gobs of funk coming out.

WipeOut - http://www.midwayusa.com/product/11...t-brushless-bore-cleaning-solvent-8-oz-liquid

Accelerator - http://www.midwayusa.com/product/46...bore-cleaning-solvent-accelerator-8-oz-liquid

Bob A · May 13, 2013

Cleaning an old bore?

Personally, I bathe every Saturday.

J Beard · May 13, 2013

rickyp thanks, not familiar with foaming bore cleaners I will look into them

coop no I am planning to make my own from .38 special cases and a little time on a lathe.

Boon thanks for the info, gonna read some more before I jump though. Says its safe for modern finishes, I want to be careful with this one being as old as it is. Any idea how it does with corrosive primer residue?

Mooseman · May 13, 2013

From the title, I thought this thread was about my boss.

E.Shell · May 13, 2013

J Beard said:
rickyp thanks, not familiar with foaming bore cleaners I will look into them...

"Foaming bore cleaners" is not Wipe-Out. Be careful with the look-alikes. Wipe-Out is a very effective foaming cleaner that will not damage barrel steel. Others copy the original formula, more or less, and can cause damage if not used precisely in accordance with directions.

Wipe-Out does an excellent job of breaking down metal and powder fouling, but is not marketed as a solvent for corrosive primers. I would suggest first using Wipe-Out to get it *clean* and to remove subsequent jacket fouling, then conventional solvents intended for corrosive primers to remove and help neutralize new corrosive fouling.

matt1 · May 13, 2013

haha if you get really tired of attempting to clean it the proper way if it is covered in rust and accuracy isn't very important... you can just put a brass bristle brush attachment on the end of your cleaning rod and put it in a drill. I poured a lot of oil in the barrel then with a steady hand as to make sure the rod didn't touch the sides of the barrel, spun away... Ha worked great. Was shiny smooth in a few min and shot perfectly accurately after still. Would obviously NOT do to a gun of any value though. hehe

J Beard · May 13, 2013

Thanks E.Shell for the info. Can you recommend any particular solvent for corrosive primers? I hear of people using windex but that sounds like it is for immediately after firing corrosive loads.

Matt that has crossed my mind, I just want to see if I can do the right thing first!

Jimbob2.0 · May 13, 2013

I've seen a lot of guns really come back. Remember most of these surplus guns we tout had some form of bore corrosion.

I would start with old trusty hopes 9 and a copper brisle brush work it hard watching the muzzle or using a guard. If its not dangerously pitted shoot a coupe dozen rounds and clean again. Bullets going down a bore can do a great job of fire lapping minor imperfections

101combatvet · May 13, 2013

I would first get all the fouling out with Hoppe's. I'd swab the barrel with a patch soaked in Hoppe's.... let it sit for 12 hours and run a clean patch through it until it is clean. May have to repeat that process several times. You can also try Sweets using the same method. Inspect the bore. If you have pitting or rust you can run a patch with a little amount of JB bore paste down the barrel a few times. Make sure you get all the paste out with more Hoppe's and a brush and then patches until clean. I've restored a few barrels using this method with excellent results.

J Beard · May 15, 2013

Thanks guys, a friend tells me military bore cleaner is made for corrosive primer fouling so I will start with that, then move on to Hoppes 9 as I have both of them, brush it out and see where it gets me.
If that doesn't get me where I want to be I will get some sweets or JB bore paste. Probably bore paste first.
I don't want to get too chemically aggressive unless I have to, so I will start basic and work my way up to what works.
I'm not quite ready to start handloading yet so fire lapping will have to wait.
The only rounds I have are about 20 old commercial loads which I believe are corrosive primed, I'm just going to keep those for their historic value. No need to add any more primer corrosion to whats already there.

I have been reading every review and watching every video I can find on all of the products you have suggested.
Thanks again for your help.

101combatvet · May 16, 2013

Take it slow and let those solvents work for you. :thumbsup:

J Beard · May 17, 2013

Thanks, will do.

And thanks for serving.

Chaunsey · May 17, 2013

wipe out is excellent for this.

it gets a lot of the fouling out that nothing else will.

corrosive salts just have to be dissolved then you can clean with anything.

i would clean some of the rust and gunk out, then run a few patches of windex, or old military bore cleaner down the bore, hell, even soapy water works, but its best to avoid water. then continue cleaning as normal.

another way that really works well is an electronic bore cleaner, a few passes with that and the bore will be as clean as it could reasonably be, works especially great for rust and copper.

heres an article on making your own.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/copperout/index.asp

J Beard · May 18, 2013

Thanks Chauncey
I like the electronic bore cleaning idea, electroplating the metals to the rod.
The other gunk that comes with it is a nice bonus.
I may try this after I clean it manually.

Cleaning an old bore

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