Plastic Deposits in Shotgun Barrel

[Old Sarge]

A friend of mine asked me at work the other day, how do you get plastic deposits out of a M/L shotgun barrel. I told him "I don't know". However, I know how to find out. Anybody out there know what kind of solvent to use for plastic deposits? I asked him if he was using the plastic cups, and he said yes, but he will never use them again. I believe he was using the CVA cups. Thanks in advance for the help.


Tom

 

[paulvallandigham]

Acetone will do it, but Shooter's choice Solvent does pretty well for me, getting plastic out of the barrel. I still soak the barrel with the solvent for 20 minutes or so, and then use a bore brush to get the plastic loose, so it comes out with a cleaning patch I push through with the same brush. IO prefer using bore brush rather than a swab to clean the plastic and solvent out, as the bristles of the brush grab hold of the cleaning patch, making sure it both goes in and comes out of the barrel.

You might suggest to your friend that the next time he uses plastic shotcups in his gun, that he used a greased cleaning patch to lube the barrel after he seats the shotcup and OS card. That lubes the bore so that the plastic cups slides over the surface, rather than rubbing off plastic on the barrel. Then, there is little or no plastic in the barrel to clean off!

 

[Tkendrick]

When I'm not burning the black, I shoot a lot of skeet.

I get a lot of plastic buildup in my barrels, and I've not found any solvent that works particularly well.

A tight fitting bronze brush and a liberal application of elbow grease seems to be the only cure. I've tried a lot of different solvents, none of them seem to work much better than any other. I'll be watching this thread closely, hoping someone has found something that works.

 

[Old Sarge]

Thanks Paul. I knew you would know. I was going to PM you but didn't know if that was proper. Thanks again. I brought his barrel home with me yesterday after work. I'll tackle it tonight. Many thanks again :bow: :bow:

Tom

 

[Gus]

Butch's Bore Shine works.

 

[roundball]

Pick up a can of acetone at Ace Hardware or Low's, etc...it'll dissolve it...I think its a principle ingredient if 'graffiti' remover

CAUTION:
1) Even its vapors are extremely flammable
2) DO NOT let it touch the finish on the stock

 

[paulvallandigham]

The big problem I first had with any of these solvents is my being in a HURRY all the time when I am cleaning gun! I hate to wait. I had to learn to do that. Even put the kitchen timer on to tell me when enough time had passed.

Acetone IS dangerous stuff- both flammable, and toxic. I think that anyone who can spell it to find it in the paint and hardware store should be expected to be bright enough to read carefully the directions on the can. Do not inhale the fumes. Its far worse than breathing in gasoline fumes!

My former wife laughed when she saw my holding the work out at arms length, with my head turned to the side, and only side glances telling me where my brush was putting the acetone on a gunstock I was stripping. I was outside on the driveway, where the air was blowing across and from behind me to take the fumes away. However, I had a pan under the stock to catch any spills, and it was those fumes that I was trying to avoid. Nasty stuff, but it works.

Just give it time to soak into the plastic. :thumbsup:

And I still think its smarter to grease that barrel so that the plastic CAN'T rub off on the bore, than to have to deal with removing the plastic later!

Zonie uses cushion wads, which he lubes only on the outer edges, so as to not make them weigh too much. That lubes the bore as the cusion wad is driven down over an OP Wad. I run a greased cleaning patch down the barrel in front of the jag as I am seating the OS cards on top of the shot(cup). Either way, the waxes, and oils from Wonderlube do a fine job of filling the pores of the steel barrel so that plastic won't " Stick ". :hatsoff:

 

[Old Sarge]

Thanks guys!!! I'll get 'er outta there now! My friend will be happy and I'll never have that problem now! Thanks again. This forum is absolutely great!!!!! :hatsoff:

 

[bingo1952]

All I ever use is a bronze bristle brush, hot soapy water, and scrub. You will get negligible build up with a single shot and most of the latter accumulation will be deposited on top of the fouling from the previous shots so that when the hot cleaning water dissolves the fouling the plastic is released from the inside of the bore. Now if you don't use a 1/8" over powder card to keep the combustion gases off the base of the plastic wad then you have a real nightmare on your hands that will require the use of solvents to remove the plastic. Black powder burns hot enough that it will actually deposit melted plastic on the bore walls rather than just the smears you get if using an over powder card. I have been shooting plastic wads in this manner for 25 or so years and I don't have any left over plastic in my bores. :2

 

[Capt. Jas.]

WD-40 and a bronze bore brush. Spin it with a drill. WD-40 is super for plastic build-up. I even use it on modern choke tubes after thousands of shots. :thumbsup:

 

[Deadeye]

Walmarts carburetor cleaner and Brownell's double tuff bore brush removes it with little or no scrubbing.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I cannot stress enough the need to clear the barrel of that junk. Several years ago I had the unhappy experience or ruining a perfectly good, nearly new Remington 870 12ga. Plastic had built up from the shells being fired. I chambered a slug and fired. The barrel burst and gave me quite a ride. We changed our policy for handling those weapons on very hot days. It was approx 120+ degrees that day, and the barrels were even hotter.
Long story short, I would get it out no matter what it took.

 

[Old Sarge]

Just finished cleaning it up with Shooters Choice bore cleaner. I had the stuff for a while but never looked on the bottle to see what all it did clean. turns out plastic is one of them. Thanks...it did a great job. Thanks again Paul.

 

[slowpokebr549]

I agree with Runnball,I always clean with hot amonia water, it took out plastic when I used cups. The real answer is just avoid the darn things and stick with traditional loading methods.