The Lucas bore guide, help please.

[Pydpiper]

I now have a 1 piece Dewey rod with accessories, and today my Lucas Bore guide came.
So, a dreaded cleaning question comes next:
How does this guide work? It is 2 pieces, and it it pretty obvious how it goes in, so here are my questions;
1. How far does the bore guide go in? Will it just stop at the end?
2. What is the secondary part, the smaller tube that slides in to the bore guide?
3. The bore guide has a large slot in it, what is that for?

I am willing to take any tips on using this unit too.

Thanks as always guys!
David

[skipper]

First clean out the your rifle's chamber so the guide can make a good seal. Then, slip the front portion of the bore guide into your rifle chamber until it bottoms out with the slot facing up. (the slot is for pouring cleaning fluids into) Slip the smaller rear piece (insert) over your cleaning rod and then screw your brush into the tip of the rod. The smaller insert aligns your rod with the bore and forms a seal around your rod so cleaning solutions dont drip out. Now you start the brush into the bore guide and slide the rear insert into the guide to form a seal. You can drip your cleaning solution into the top of the bore guide through the slit or dip your brush into the cleaner before inserting it into the guide.

The guide has seals on both ends to keep cleaners from flowing into your chamber or out of the end of the guide. (make sure your chamber is free of grit first) I like to keep my barrel as level as I can so the cleaning solution stays in the bore without dripping out the end of the barrel or flowing back towards the chamber. After I'm finished brushing, I remove the rod, guide and all. I have a separate rod just for pushing patches without using the bore guide. I keep repeating brushing and then patching until the bore is squeeky clean. I usually brush 10 time forward and back before I swab with patches. I also use two different brushes. One for the initial brushing and then I switch to a newer/tighter brush after the bulk of the crud has already been removed. When the new brush starts to lose it tightness I will make it my initial cleaning brush and switch to a brand new brush for the second phase. This way I am always replacing brushes. They don't stay tight for very long.

[Pydpiper]

Thank you for the well worded description, that cleared everything up.
How do you clean your chamber, is that another attachment for my cleaning arsenal?

[skipper]

I use a cotton bore mop with Hoppe's #9. Sometimes I use Flitz metal polish to polish my chamber. Unless you have a problem with blow-by you shouldn't have much to clean, with the exception of the very end of your chamber past where the neck of your case neck would lie. This area is sometimes hard to clean and that's where the Flitz works wonders. Just be sure to get it all out.

I had a problem in the past with not getting the throat area clean enough. I thought it was clean but the powder residue had built up in that area and turned into a very hard, almost porcelain like substance. It was killing my groups. You can find out if you have that kind of build up pretty easily. Wet a patch with bore cleaner and use a jag to push that patch just into the throat area. Let it sit there for 15 - 20 minutes and then push it on out of the muzzle. If it's black, you need to keep scrubbing until you get a clean patch. Again, Flitz to the rescue.

[Captqc]

Good info from Skipper. You can get a chamber mop from Sinclair International that makes cleaning the chamber easy. Gary