Bore brushing.

[WarDawg]

I didn’t know what forum to drop this in. I take it we don’t have a cleaning forum separate. I read about how to use the water cleaning method with jag and patch. But I haven’t really read about how often people use a bore brush. Also shooting round ball lead , do these rifles get a lead build up with the need to scrub it out ? Thanks WarDawg

 

[maillemaker]

During competition, I only clean with wet patches.

At home, I clean with soapy water and a brass bristle brush and finish up with patches.

 

[tjiann]

If you use a brush, inspect it to make sure it's in good shape before putting it down your bore. Not pleasant when one gets stuck and breaks off. Also suggest you have a brush removal tool in whatever caliber your shooting. I stopped using brushes in the field after witnessing how many broke off in guns cleaning between relays in N-SSA competition.

 

[rafterob]

Shooting a patched round ball will not leave any lead build up. If using a brass bore brush, make sure you get the style that is twisted through the threaded mount not compressed into the mount.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Since patched round balls won't leave lead in the bore, it's best to leave the brass brush in a sub caliber to use to clean out a chambered breech. Brass brushes work best in one direction. Reversing direction can put a lot of strain on the threads of the bore brush or the compression fitting of some brushes. A brush that is basically the groove diameter is okay, but a small wad of all copper "Chore Boy" brand scrubber on an undersized jag will work better. Boiling water will also loosen lead. The heat from the boiling water causes the lead to expand at a different rate than the steel of the barrel, loosening the lead and then the lead is pulled out with a normal cleaning patch.

Best to avoid brushing the barrel. There are some who use a bore brush and swear by them. There are others who use the bore brush and start a 20 page topic about how to remove a lost bore brush from my barrel.

 

[WarDawg]

Anyone use the nylon style brushes ?

 

[RiverRat]

I never had the need to use a brush on the bores of my rifles. I only shoot patched rbs and I never had a problem with the bore with lead deposits. If I did need to brush the bore, I would first soak the bore with ballistol and use a nylon brush where the bristles would easily bend when pulling the brush from the bore.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

You have shooters who say they always use a bore brush. Then at an average of at least one per week there is someone wanting to know how to get a bore brush that is stuck in their barrel out. probably best not to use one. If you are using a patched round ball how are you going to get lead in the rifling?

 

[Uncle Miltie]

No need to ever use a brush on a muzzleloader barrel, ever.

 

[WarDawg]

Thanks for the reply’s. Trying to get more educated by the time I’m off to go get my feet wet. Y’all are definitely are molding my knowledge better as I shoot and figure out and form my own opinions based on my own experience . Short cutting me. Thanks again. No brushing or me !!

 

[kyron4]

Nylon bristles with wire looped into threaded stud. Twist 180* at bottom and pull out.

 

[nkbj]

There's good reasons why mid 1800's target shooters had brushes as part of their range kits.
If shooting patched round ball you won't likely need to use them.
And, yes, nylon bristled brushes can be useful though they won't get at hard fouling as well as brass.

About twenty years ago I started shooting long lubed bullets in .40 and 46 bore muzzleloaders much as was done a century and a half before and ran into the cleaning of hard fouling between shots. I learned really quick that brushes must be built to take it and not come apart. Fortunately for me when it happened I have a piece of brass tubing in the barn to get the brush out of there.

 

[westrayer]

Conical bullets can leave leading. Use of a good lube on the bullet helps. The worst thing is the plastic sabots. I don't want to advertise for anyone, but check out lead removal products. I have both powder fouling and lead removal from Bore Buster that I use on patches after shooting and cleaning with hot soapy water. I am sure that there are others as well. I then make sure to coat the bore with something like 1000+ of BoreButter to help keep fouling to a minimum next time.

 

[Salty]

I have a long piece of copper tubing that fits just inside my bore. If ever my bore brush breaks off the tubing will retrieve it.
I also use it as a powder drop.

 

[westrayer]

FWIW, I shoot a soft lead bullet in both my original Springfield TD carbine and Sharps. I never get leading because I use a good BP bullet lube on the bullets. I cast them at 20-1 so just a hair harder than a pure lead ML bullet.

 

[French Colonial]

I posted this on another thread and will again.

You can use a brass brush if you are careful, start it about halfway and pull it out and then a little deeper and then a little deeper. Alternatively you can insert it about halfway and twist it and pull it out and a little deeper and twist etc. What your doing is getting the bristles to lay over.

I bought a very trashed Dixie Tennessee Mountain rifle that was rusty and you could not see any rifling in, it had not been cleaned in decades, cleaned it with patches. Dawn and water and then brushed it vigorously for a time and then with Dawn and water again. Apparently it was just dust and whatever in the barrel and I won the last match I shot in with it.

I only use a brush on a very rare occasion but if you follow the above directions you will not have a problem.

 

[wiscoaster]

....

At home, I clean with soapy water and a brass bristle brush and finish up with patches.

Anyone use the nylon style brushes ?

I clean using @maillemaker 's method but use a nylon brush and only bump it up to a brass brush if the nylon brush followed by patches didn't completely clean out the grooves.

I don't know how @Uncle Miltie is getting his rifled bore spotlessly clean if he never uses a brush. In my experience, patches only method usually leaves something to be desired wrt getting into those grooves.

 

[rdavidson]

Try Tow works for me.

 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I was a full time brush user for decades. Until I got one stuck, mostly due to a momentary lapse of brain power. Long story short. I ruined my Hawken barrel and had to pick up another from an upstanding member of this forum, thanks again Mike. I will NEVER use a brush of any make up ever again on any BP rifle I own. I soak and swab as much as needed until its clean. I will use a half bag of patches before I grab a brush. Matter of fact, I threw all my brushes away and now have only (2) jags. A .50 and a .54.

That's my .02123 cents

 

[45man]

FWIW, I shoot a soft lead bullet in both my original Springfield TD carbine and Sharps. I never get leading because I use a good BP bullet lube on the bullets. I cast them at 20-1 so just a hair harder than a pure lead ML bullet.

I agree, I never get leading because of the lube. Now once I tried WW lead in my BPCR and got severe leading but never with pure lead. I have never had lead in a muzzle loader with Maxi Balls.