SmallCaliberCentral

I haven't posted in awhile but my Reminton 700 VTR in .204 Ruger is finally starting to shoot well. I have over 200 rounds through it and it's getting dialed in - 9 dead groundhogs yesterday!

Anyways, I have misplaced nearly all my cleaning stuff (most of which my brother bought for me since I am new to rifle shooting) except a Bore-Stix rod. It's a long story as to how I misplaced the cleaning supplies so please don't ask!

After researching here, I have a Lucas bore guide on order and it's due in next week.

I need some jags and brushes now. I have a gift card a Cabela's that I would like to use but they only sell nylon Dewey brushes in .22 cal - is this going to work?

If not, then what brush (brand and caliber) do you recommend?

Check out Sinclair International part number BB-20 20 cal bronze brush and jag #58-2000 or #20JM. Gary

also look at midway, natchez, wideners, midsouth and some of the other shooting suppliers on the net that at this time i can't remember the names. maybe even your local sporting goods store near you. don't try using any 22 cal stuff in your 204. you can really screw things up. also, if there is a sportsmans warehouse close to you, give them a try. i know the one close to me stocks 20 cal. stuff.

For what its worth-I no longer use brass or bronze brushes only nylon. A while back I switched over to Wipe Out products both the foam and Patch Out. So I only use jags with patches and occasionally run a nylon brush down the bore. This has been working great for me so I'm sticking with it. Just adding my 2 cents worth. Dave

You might pull up Graf & Sons website as well... they usually have a good stock of the .20 cal brushes... I've switched over to the nylon brushes as well and only use the bronze one very occasionally....

If you can find the "Pro-Shot" brand, I've found their patches, brushes, etc are excellent quality and usually a lower price that some of the bigger name items..

Thanks - I am looking for a nylon brush but wanted to get it from Cabela's since I have a gift card there.

For what it's worth.....friends and shooting buddies, Darrell Holland (Holland's Gunsmithing) and Chris Ditcher (Pac-Nor Barrels) did an experiment on a heavily carboned and copper fouled barrel (22-250). This barrel was cleaned first with just patches and checked with a bore scope. It was then cleaned 'normally' with patches and bronze brush w/solvents, checking progress with a Hawkeye bore scope along the way.

The real eye opener was when the barrel was sectioned on the milling machine to really check it out first hand. The ony way that barrel got really clean of all copper and carbon, was a through scrubbing with patches to wet the gunk, then repeated use of bronze bore brushes with solvent, then Witches Brew (Holland's). Nothing else got the barrel truly clean.

Now I use Kroil and Shooters Choice at 40/60% (a la the BR boys), and bronze brushes to scrub that barrel, custom stainless or factory, doesn't matter. If copper is present, the Barnes CR-10 gets used. When I get home from an extended shooting outing, I then use Witches Brew on a bronze brush, and baby oh baby, does that barrel ever get clean then!

You can kid yourself using only patches or nylon brushes, but if you think that harder than steel carbon is coming out with a gentle nylon brush workout, then you're only kidding yourself, believe me. It takes elbow grease, bronze brushes, and good cleaning compounds to get that crap out of a good shooting barrel. Below is my box of cleaning stuff....a bit more than patches and solvent.....



When you're all done using the 'other' methods, look at the muzzle at 45* to the sun outside. Chances are you'll still see traces of copper fouling on the lands and grooves. And guess what's lurking just ahead of your chamber that you can't see..... Oh and by the way, I go through about 4 or 5 bronze brushes on a good shoot....500 rounds or more. When you don't feel good resistance in the bore, time for a new bronze brush. Save the nylon brushes for copper solvent so it doesn't eat your brush.

Rick, I think that is probably really good advice on the brushes... I've always wondered about the real effectiveness of the nylon brushes, but my barrels seem to shoot well and I get very little staining on the patches after the initial soaking...and they usually are coming out clean after about 5-6 patches..

I guess I need to break down and invest in a borescope..

Is that a kit you put together yourself, or a commercial one??

Turtle: I wouldn't say you're doing anything wrong there buddy, but you appear to have good quality barrels if they clean up nicely by only using nylon brushes. We should all be so fortunate.

That box you mention is my old USMC Match Shooters Box, now modified for my field varmint bench shooting. They were manufactured in the 50's through the late 60's, had compartments that did not fit my current stuff, so now modified it now holds more cleaning and maintenance supplies than you'd imagine. I use Plano fly fishing plastic boxes for patches, jags, brushes, and other ancillary items needed for proper rifle cleaning and maintenance, and it all seems to fit in there nicely even today.

Borescope: Yep, we all should have one, but sheeesh! The price tag is a new rifle!

For me, when I’m in the field, unless I’m cleaning a moly-coated barrel, I use a Shooters Choice/Kroil mix, bronze brushes, jags and patches.

Brushes; I get them from Russ Haydon’s Shooter Supply in 1 dozen packages I believe they are from Sinclair but I can’t be certain.

Jags: There are several different types out there and for the most part I use the Dewey Parker Hale style if I can find them but I don’t think they’re available in 20 cal. For the 20 cal I use a Montana X-Treme and a Dewey brass jag with a pointed tip.

Patches: I prefer the old military cleaning patches myself. I haven’t found anything on the market that suits me better.

Solvent: As mentioned I usually use a Shooters Choice/Kroil mixture. However, when the copper fouling has thickened up, I turn to Sweets 7.62. However, and please heed the following; Its been rumored that Sweets 7.62 has ruin barrels if it’s left inside the bore too long, so it is imperative that all of it is removed when the cleaning is complete. I have never seen this myself but I’m just passing it on.

Technique: I pretty much follow what Rick described in his post. But, if I have allowed the fouling to build up, I wrap a patch around the jag (the Parker Hale flavor works great for this) and apply a small amount of J&B Bore Paste and scrub the barrel paying particular attention to the throat. Afterwards, I then take a new patch using the loop and 7.62 and swab the barrel and let it sit for a few minutes. During this time I’ll clean the bolt or any other task. After about 15-20 minutes I’ll dry patch the barrel and re-swab with 7.62 and if it’s not-blue (and it usually isn’t) I thoroughly clean and then oil the bore.

Moly-Coated: For moly-coated barrels I use Nylon brushes (Sinclair IIRC) and Kroil and the job is done in a snap. After 1000 rounds or so or, if the rifle isn’t going to be shot for an extended period, I scrub the moly out using pretty much the same technique described above. When the rifle is needed again, I simply recoat the tube and head-out!

Regarding jags, brushes and loops. There are may opinions out there what to use but one thing you need to be sure of "make sure that the thread size and type (interior / exterior threads) is compatible with your cleaning rod.