New Lyman GPR?

[Eric M]

Just bought a Lyman GPR. My question is after reading the manual it says to clean the bore with either WD-40 or Hoppe's because of the oil they put on it to preserve it. Anyone have any experience with this or suggestions?

 

[Ken Rummer]

I use mineral spirits on a fiber brush to remove the preservative. It took a while to get it clean. Other solvents may be better but mineral spitits will work and I just happened to have a bottle on the shelf.

 

[mykeal]

Yep. And it must be done.

WD-40 and Hoppe's No. 9, and obviously mineral spirits (paint thinner), will work. Any universal solvent for oil based compounds will do the trick.

I used brake cleaner (NOT fluid) and had excellent, fast working results. Others have used carburetor cleaner or acetone.

Once that's done, be sure to clean out the solvent with hot, soapy water, then rinse with plain water and dry thoroughly. If you want to be sure all the water is gone, flush with alcohol, although just drying with cloth should be enough. Finish with a thin coat of Ballistol or Birchwood Casey's Barricade.

 

[Eric M]

Thanks for the info.

 

[BrownBear]

The better it is cleaned the better it will shoot right off the bat. For that job I've found brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner from the auto store to be best. It's cheap, and readily available. Put a little on a cleaning patch and swab. Three or four patches is all it takes, but Hoppes or WD-40 can take dozens of patches and still not get the job done completely.

If you're going to use Remington caps the nipple is fine, but if you're using CCI the nipples are very slightly oversize and can cause misfires.

Oh, and the crowns are often sharp along with the rifling, leading to cut patches for the first 100 or so shots. Lotsa guys lap the bores with Scotch green kitchen pads, but I just shoot mine.

The GPR is quite popular here on the site and if you go back in the threads you'll find lots of troubleshooting and fine tuning info. Of course, asking is good too!

 

[ohio ramrod]

Carb cleaner or brake cleaner work well to disolve the packing grease. Just make sure you keep if off of the finished wood!. Many people find that with a new GPR it helps to rub some scotchbrite or fine emory cloth between the ball of your thumb and the crown of the muzzle to break the sharp edge. Some like to take a bronze bore brush and toothpaste to remove any fine burrs from the rifling, others just prefer to "shoot it in ". Do not use lapping coumpound or valve grinding coumpound on a new barrel!! This is my personal opinion and worth what you paid for it! :hmm:

 

[Eric M]

Thanks for all the advice. I had some WD40, and like you guys said, it took alot of cotton patches to clean it. It did come out though to a completely white cotton patch when it was done. I then used hot water with dawn dish soap and clean it that way after I was done. I dried the barrel and ran some rem oil through the bore. I am going to put a few coats of tru oil on the stock and ram rod as well. I think I will shoot the gun as mentioned prior to get any rough edges out. Thanks for the continued information and keep it coming.

 

[longcruise]

I use AutoZone engine degreaser. It's an enzyme based foaming degreaser. Let it work and wash away with water. Don't use hot water since it will kill the enzymes. Barrel needs to be dried afterwards just as would be done in an after range session.

 

[Carl Aldridge]

My GPR Kit came with a bottle of Butch's Black Powder Bore Shine. When I finished building the rifle, I used it to clean the preservative out of the bore. The first patch dissolved the grease, it came out as a pink sludge. Another wet patch and a few dry patches and the bore was shiny. I also use it at the range to clean between five shot groups, it's good stuff. When done shooting I do the usual soap and water cleanup.