Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Any advice for getting the crud out of a shotgun barrel?

Getting ready to Dyna-Tek a shotgun and I can't believe how long it is taking to get to bare metal. I have used so far, Carb Cleaner, Hoppes #9, Flitz, 2 ATF & Solvent soaks, Marvel Mystery Oil, steel wool wrapped brush, JB bore compound. This is on a chrome lined barrel that looked clean when I started. My only guess is that it is successive layers of plastic and carbon lining the bore like the rings on a tree.

This one is almost done after 48 hrs. but I have six more to go. I think I will patch, then soak, then hook up a steel wool brush coated with JB to a drill, then do boiling soapy water, and hopefully only repeat once more. Then Carb Cleaner, dry patch, alcohol patch, then dry patch. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Sounds like it's well in hand. I always went straight to Ed's Red, and put a cleaning rod w/bronze brush in a drill chuck, followed by patches or a bore mop. The trick (which I confess to not being religious about) is to not let it get that bad in the first place!

Put a little Kroil on the bronze brush while you're spinning it around.

I don't know but BROWNELLS - SHOTGUN WAD SOLVENT is wicked nasty stuff. Eats all kinds of plastic including tile floors. I'd use brake cleaner afterwards to get rid of any residue.

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Carb cleaner is petroleum derivatives, maybe acetone and alcohol. Can't hurt steel. Brake cleaner, dry cleaning fluid, is a safer no residue degreaser. Not flammable like carb cleanar. Won;t hurt steel either.

0000 steel wool wrapped around a brush tight enough to heat up the barrel when driven by a low to medium speed drill motor is what I use. Learned of it in Ralph Walker's Shotgun Gunsmithing book. He said he'd never been able to measure any difference in bore diameter after doing it for years in his favorite guns.

+1 on Ed's Red. Slather it in. Let it soak overnight and then wipe it out. That's the easy way. I've taken some serious crud out using this method.

BTW: On shotguns, I use the acetone component. For everything else, I leave it out of the Ed's Red recipe. Acetone is a known carcinogen. On shotguns, it's great for dissolving plastic wad residue.

1+
Keep it moving in the bore so the barrel doesn't get too hot.

Thanks.

First one down the next ones get the power tools and boiling water like I've used on black powder rifles. I just did a rifle barrel in about 15 minutes compared to 48 hrs. for the shot gun. Maybe I should clean it better every 50,000 rounds or so? But the bore looked mirror bright so I had no idea how crapped out it was. If the same amount of crud was in the choke it could easily change it to one or two degrees tighter choke.

Yessiree Bob- Ed's Red, bottled and sold by Brown-give-me-all-your-money-ell's for about five times more than it would cost a guy to make himself.

I worked a couple of years with a gunsmith. His trick was to use an electric drill and an bore brush. He used an oversize brush for the chamber, ie, a 10 ga brush in a 12 gauge. On rusted, super nasty barrels he would wrap steel wool on the brush.

Piece of PVC with ID a bit larger than max OD for the barrel..end cap it then Fill it up with Hoppes or Kroil and soak the barrel for about 30 min.

I would have STARTED with a few passes of an oiled stainless steel 12 ga. brush before taking power tools to it.

For the plastic fouling especially I have had pretty good luck spraying Hoppes Elite gun cleaner or Outers Nitro Solvent down the barrel and letting it sit 5-10 minutes. Then spray again right before scrubbing. Then taking an undersized bore brush and wrapping until it's a tight fit in the bore it with either the copper (or steel) mesh scouring pads from the dollar store for a scrub out. Scotch Brite pads around a brush works good too. Other solvent types probably work well too. The method is more about the mechanical removal of the plastic. I use the same method to remove leading from slugs too. I try not to use power tools unless there is rusting. Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck to you.

This is what a lot of professional shooters use, and it is simply hard to believe how well it works:

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The Marine Corp has now adopted the product.

Plastic destroys the patterns in a shotgun, which is why we saw a lot of shooters using this product at large sporting clay tournaments, couple of swipes through the bore and it is clean.

Amazing product!

We also found that a few patches cut to fit through a rifle bore after firing makes cleaning later a lot easier!

I maintained 4-H trap guns for several years, mostly 1100 and 11-87. That means cleaning weekly after usually a flat or so through each gun. Started out mixing up Ed's Red because we didn't have much money. Excellent at removing powder residue and leaving enough lube for good functioning. Plastic wad residue with a bronze brush, not so much. Choke tubes were a mess. I splurged on a bottle of the wad solvent and my cleaning time dropped by about half. Left spots on the tile floor when drops made it past the newspaper, left black marks where I stepped on a drop and it melted my shoes.(Nobody cared, crappy old clubhouse since remodeled. We now have an inside toilet, whoopee.)

The stuff is nastier than acetone and smells like it too. Wads use a type of plastic that is very solvent resistant, pretty much acetone proof. The wad solvent has trouble too but does better. More like it gets under the plastic and loosens it and come out in chunks and ribbons when you brush it. Best part when you dry patch to finish it leaves something on the metal which resists wad fouling from sticking. Choke tubes were a near but not perfect fit and a lot of fouling would build up at the back of the tube. Easiest way to remove was with a brass scraper. After Brownell's solvent lit scraped off more easily and in bigger chunks. Which is why I recommended post cleaning with brake cleaner if you're looking for a chemically clean surface.

Buying Ed's Red already mixed up makes about as much sense as buying Roundup readyto use instead of a generic concentrate. But some rich (or stupid) people are willing to pay for the convenience. Good for them.

Steel wool (I like 00) and a drill motor works well but a PITA I think. I hate cleaning guns so whatever makes it faster and easier...

"Bare Metal" is the complimentary partner to the "Completely Clean Patch"; sort of like Leprechauns and Unicorns.

This. Hasbeen

Whatever works for you us perfectly fine. Just so you know acetone is the component of Ed's Red which is a solvent for nitrocellulose (unburned/partially burned powder).

The only ingredient in Ed's red that might dissolve plastic is the acetone. Acetone has never been proven to be a carcinogen that I am aware of and it's what womens nail polish remover is made with.

Hilco stuff looks good, I will give it a try. Mystery Oil was one of the better home remedies. The Winter Green and Stoddard's solvent got under the plastic and softened it some. I will start adding this to my home brew Ed's Red. I also made a life time supply of bore compound by mixing diatomaceous earth with oil. Feels just like JB and I could detect no scratching on a test piece of steel. I like making improvised stuff and also it is a 100 mile round trip to the nearest location I can buy gun products.

I'm not sure I want to use something that will eat my shoes.

Another Dyna-Tek question. Will any oil or wax remove the coating? Directions say not needed but no warning on what it would do if used. The action does feel smoother after all the cleaning and Dyna-Tek.

The main ingredient in the Brownells solution is Naptha. Might try this instead of the acetone in Ed's Red for outdoor use only.

I used Marvel Mystery Oil in my Ed's Red - it was sitting on the shelf with no present uses, and I like the odor. Didn't have any kerosene.

Acetone is altogether different than naphtha, I think acetone was added to dissolve nitrocellulose residue which naphtha or the other additives won't.

Naphtha, stoddard, k1 kerosene, while not exactly the same thing are pretty dang close. I cant see any of them dissolving plastic fouling. You really need some nasty stuff to dissolve plastic and carbon.

It seems it is a matter of whatever will get under it to aide in removal. Anything that would actually dissolve it I would be afraid to use. Orange oil also worked but not a good thing to leave in the barrel due to the acidity.

Carb cleaner and brake cleaner will definitely remove plastic fouling---BUT----should only be used in well ventilated areas, AND will leave the metal completely dry. You'll need to oil your bore after using carb cleaner or a couple of humid days will produce rust.

Carb cleaner did help and again I think the Winter Green in the Mystery oil helped too. Orange oil softens the plastic as well. First one is done and I was surprised that after three soakings the copper anti siege grease was still on the choke tubes. Hopefully with the Dyna-Tek it won't get this bad again. No telling how my waterfowl gun will be after a steady diet of 3 & 3&1/2 inch steel loads. I will soak and go directly to the drill and steel wool brush if it is anywhere as bad as my over & under.

I kept switching to more and more open chokes and didn't realize that the plastic was tightening my chokes until MD posted about this. Makes sense as .005" of crud can be like one point more of choke.

About the only thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is MEK which is about the first thing I’d try. You can get it at places like Lowe’s or Home Depot as Goof Off for removing adhesives and such. I always used it for removing layout die, but it dissolves almost anything, IME.

That is one of the other ingredients in the Brownel's plastic remover. I am going to try MEK & Naptha with some Eds Red for a dedicated shotgun cleaner.

I will keep this separate from the plain acetone version to minimize contact. Probably will want for the steel shooting shotgun as I am guessing the 1,500+ fps loads will aggravate the plastic deposits. My hand loads I lube the wads with motor mica white graphite and this seems to reduce plastic build up. But won't help when I mix in factory loads.

I use break free CPL or hoppes or what ever solvent you like and the most important thing, a 10 gauge bore brush. If things are not moving fast enough for you, use a drill and spin the rod in the barrel. My 2 cents!

Clean the chokes and threads if the gun has them. Keep the working parts cleaned and properly oiled or greased. Past the chamber and down to the threads or choke, shooting essentially cleans it with each shot. Take it down to bare metal and shoot a box of shells thru it, and as far as the barrel goes, you are back to where you started with a thin plastic coating. Know shooters who shot 10K plus rounds per year. Chokes, threads and chambers get cleaned fairly regularly, but the main barrel when it does get cleaned, will get a quick pass with a bronze brush or snake and some type of solvent. Done.

That has to be a first. I’ve hung around serious shotgunners most of my life. People who shoot more than most could ever imagine. Guys, who when reloading shotgun shells was more popular than today, wore out reloading machines. None of them ever lubed their wads. You win, what I don’t know, but you win.
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This entire thread reminds me of two things:

First, that many of today's shooting loonies will go to extreme lengths to find reasons to spend time dinking with firearms.

Second, they often spend just as much time gacking about their dinking around on the Internet.

Have you read the screwdriver thread in Gunsmithing?

True this. But I did learn several things from the gacking.


Now if I only could get paid for gacking I would be rich.

Probably covers 99% of all of the procedures that are considered holy.

When I grow up I want to be a professional gacker. Are there any correspondence courses for this?

This is typical as I have shot so many dove and pigeons going out for ten or fifteen is not that appealing and the other seasons aren't open yet.

If it were not for the gacking we would not have forums like this or the Hook and Bullet press.

Acetone is produced in the human body during the breakdown of fat (ketosis) and diabetics can produce more than normal - sometimes you can smell it on their breath.

Only here can you turn advice on barrel cleaning into something out of Dr Ozz.

Dr Phil on the other hand happens most every day.

None of the solvents mentioned dissolve plastic. It is the carbon that gets dissolved and that acts as a binder for the plastic. Some solvents like MEK, Orange Oil, and maybe Naptha make the plastic either softer or harder and either makes it easier to brush out. The tornado spring type brush works well for general clean up. I will still use the steel wool on stubborn stuff. The Brownells stuff has some other organic solvents that may actually dissolve the plastic.


Accurate reloader and some others have a separate forum just for the Dr. Phils and Ozz's.

I use a 3/8 wood dowel, slotted on the end, chucked in a drill.
Big dam chunk of 0000 steel wool, some Hoppes, for a little lube.
Won't take too long.

Found out my turkey gun shoots better dirty, after doing this.

Went to an x-card shoot and didn't do crap!
Took a box of shells to get her back.

Not sure if it's the barrel, choke itself, or the wadcatchers in the choke, but she like
to be dirty.

If the barrel isn't getting rusty from moisture, it has no need to actually be cleaned at all.

My kind of girl Dillonbuck. Be Well, Rusty

I don't understand the problem.

I use two patches with Hoppe's #9 followed by two with G96 for each barrel. I don't know (and don't care) if that gets every atom of foreign stuff out but it does get it down to a miniscule amount. And it doesn't build up.

Lubing wads? That's a joke. I either shoot factory ammo or use Claybuster Winchester clones.

This was to prep the barrel for Dyna Tek bore coat, otherwise I do as you do. But I was seeing my patterns get tighter and tighter due to plastic build up that even the Carb cleaner wasn't getting. This shotgun had had well over 40,000 rounds through it.

Lubing wads: This came from Loyal Brezny and Ballistic Products Research when steel was in it's early years and so bad I almost gave up waterfowl hunting altogether. He pushed the envelope to over 1,600 fps and certain loads that were effective out to 60 yards or more. This when the factory steel would take multiple shots at 40 yards. His work pushed the envelope and the big factories took note and incorporated some of his techniques and eventually improved their steel loads. This is maybe on the specialized and lunatic fringe of shotgun reloading.

None of this is applies to people that just pop off a few rounds a year and don't push the limits.

Interesting. Full disclosure: I only shoot lead shot and only 1200 or 1250 fps. Usually 1.0 ounce loads and never more than 1-1/8 ounce. Other conditions might vary. I shoot a few thousand rounds each year.

I chuck up a wooden cleaning rod with a bronze bristle brush in a drill, use plenty of RemOil, and grind the stuff out. I do this twice a year on my target guns. Gets it all out, and I don’t need a magic potion. I don’t like the idea of steel wool on steel barrels, but to each his own. Bronze wool should be fine though.

If you use 4/0 steel wool, be sure to lube it well and follow with a polish as it can scratch the bore easily. I've polished many shotgun barrels and the best option has been cotton patches wrapped around a proper size brass brush, soaked in oil, then covered in JB. Chuck a rod in a drill and move slowly back and forth(change the patches every 20 passes). A good polish can really improve patterns.

I am a high volume shotgun shooter, nothing takes plastic out of the barrel better than brakleen. Shoot some down the bore, hit it with a brush, let it sit, then knock it out with a patch.

Will give this a try along with a tornado brush. The carb cleaner from NAPA was just barely making the plastic softer. Hopefully after the Duna Bore Coat the build up will never get out of hand like I let happen.

Careful spraying that CRC Brakekleen.. Per MSDS 80-90% acetone, 1-3% toluene, the rest CO2 propellant. Well ventilated area and no open flames. Like garage with the door open. A difference between chlorinated (percholrethyline) and non-chlorinated "eco-friendly" (volatile hydrocarbons) brake cleaners.

I'm old. Used to be all were chlorinated and not a fire hazard, didn't know the flammables predominate now.

All spray carb cleaners I've looked at contained a mixture of hydrocarbons with a BIG proportion being acetone. Cheaper the brand the more acetone.