Clean with paper towel?

[Appalachian Harry]

Does anyone here ever clean their smoothbores with paper towel?

Just trying to find good material to use that absorbs a lot of water and cleans my 20 gauge Fowler efficiently and effectively.

If not, any recommendations?

I don’t want to buy just shooting cleaning patches I would rather go to a fabric store and buy a whole bunch of fabric and cut it up into pieces or go to the grocery store and get some good paper towels...

 

[mushka]

Paper by it's very nature disintegrates when it gets wet. Wet and down a barrel it might be problematical. Try several kinds of paper and see.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Does anyone here ever clean their smoothbores with paper towel?

Just trying to find good material to use that absorbs a lot of water and cleans my 20 gauge Fowler efficiently and effectively.

If not, any recommendations?

I don’t want to buy just shooting cleaning patches I would rather go to a fabric store and buy a whole bunch of fabric and cut it up into pieces or go to the grocery store and get some good paper towels...

When I am rough cleaning any of my ML rifles (not smoothies) especially in the field I can use PT. Not for the full clean, but just to get the major foweling out.
The downside is that you have to be extra careful not to poke through the PT with the jag. Some PTs when wet tear big time. Keep that in mind, but it works for me.
Larry

 

[deerstalkert]

go to the auto parts store and buy their blue paper shop towels by the roll. very absorbent and strong.

 

[Robby]

I buy yards of the heaviest cotton felt the fabric store has, take it home and wash the crap out of it, maybe two, three times, it becomes fluffier and much more absorbent, then tear it into strips of different widths, fold the strips in on itself and start cutting. You can make a pile in a very short time.
Robby

 

[azmntman]

Use them all the time to get the majority of moisture out. Always finsh with a dry patch and when its dry and clean I am done. PT saves patches

 

[ohio ramrod]

Bounty really is a better towel., I use bounty with my worm on the smooth bores.

 

[Flintlock]

Umm. cotoon, linen or tow. After wiping excess moisture out use a dry patch or tow, run it down to the breech and stand muzzle down for 30-60 minutes. Easy and traditional. You can use old shirts, underware, socks, the back of the dang couch (nobody see's that anyway). Thrift stores and garage sales are great soarces for cleaning cloth. Never in my life have I bought cleaning patches.

 

[Brokennock]

Yes. I'll use a piece of paper towel folded double to soak up extra water when cleaning. Doing so in a smoothbore works fine for me, probably not be a good idea in a rifle.

 

[PatriotKnight]

Does anyone here ever clean their smoothbores with paper towel?

Just trying to find good material to use that absorbs a lot of water and cleans my 20 gauge Fowler efficiently and effectively.

If not, any recommendations?

I don’t want to buy just shooting cleaning patches I would rather go to a fabric store and buy a whole bunch of fabric and cut it up into pieces or go to the grocery store and get some good paper towels...

Old cotton t-shirts make great cleaning rags and patches.

 

[gerryherd]

I’ve used blue Scott shop towels from a roll and white (paper) Rags in a box. Cheap & convenient, but There is a risk of leaving soggy paper lint and debris down at the breech which could dry and catch a spark. Use a breech scraper or some such to be sure you’re leaving a clean breech and clear flash channel. Flannel patches, old cut up skivvies, or tow fibers on a worm have advantages over paper.

 

[toot]

I use the heavy mechanic blue paper towels that WALMART sells. they are tough & rely hard to tear.

 

[oldwood]

Tried paper products years ago. Still go with cotton cloth, like old tee shirt , cotton underwear , most anything that won't fray off and stick in the bore , and then cause a spot of rust later . Caution.......Best to not take yur wifies' underware , lessin she parts w/ it freely. Some are sensitive to underware theft. ..................oldwood......

 

[Jim Wag]

Roll the
Paper towel
Around you're
Bore mop
Cigar style
Twist the end

Jim in La Luz

 

[SolidLeadSlug]

Baby wipe have been working GREAT, but it has to be the non-flushable ones. Seems to also remove any residual oil so rust sets in if you dont oil very well.

 

[fistmil]

Been using old T shirts for 50 years. Have never purchase a commercial cleaning patch in mi life. One T shirt can make quite a few patches.

 

[Daveboone]

My cotton T shirts are predestined for the scissors. Dickie T shirts are a wonderful heavy cotton, but the darn things hold up for ever.

 

[sheriff john]

Don't like to stuff nothin' in the front end that I can't pull out all of. That includes frayed cloth. Threads and strings at the bottom of a barrel are like wet hair in a shower drain, un-noticed 'til you get a build up. Ackempucky against the breech plug whether it be strings or paper holds oil, solvent, water, etc. doesn't just burn up, sometimes won't flush out. Many bore brushes have bristles on the sides, not the ends and cannot clean the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The last batch of baby blanket flannel that I bough from from Joann's was a little thinner than my last batch so my cleaning patch jag fit is a little looser on some guns. To rectify this I put a patch sized square of paper towel between the cleaning patch and the jag to give me a tighter fit in the bore.

 

[ZUG]

I do the same as Eric -- I can vary the tightness with the paper towel trick .