Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada I'm soaking my barrels

Perpetrator?? Freudian slip?

Yes far easier and faster.

Dunno about that. Hoppe's was improved a few years ago (as Steve and I have discussed recently on the Campfire) and now dissolves copper much faster. And since it's always been oil-based, there's no problem with soaking....

Perpetrator, as in active agent. Or spell check, your call.

To me Hoppe's smells like fun.

Dinner in about 10 minutes. I had 30 minutes to clean three barrels, earlier this afternoon. Here are the results of the 2 1/2 day soak for two of them

6 patches for each. No brushes. Done!

223 Wylde



7.62x39mm

I called the shop at one of today’s favorite barrel manufacturers. The shop foreman answered. We had a discussion about cleaning and he used pretty much the same method Steve is talking about. He shot lots of matches. He soaked with Hoppe’s #9 and left it in until the next match. His only difference was that he placed the rifle muzzle down and used an eye dropper to squirt the liquid around the chamber and then let it run down. He did this several times to be certain to hit all the surfaces. Wait a few days or until the next match and then run some patches. No brush ever! No strong copper removing solvents ever!

Steve, I noticed those are Encore barrels. I have no problem cleaning my Encore barrels. However , I have problems with junk getting into the frame and varnishing up the springs and stuff. Have you had any problems like this? If not, do you try to get in there and clean in there by the trigger and springs? I just took my Encore frame to the gunsmith , he charged 48 dollars to take it apart and clean it all up. I thought something in there was broke or rusted. Perhaps the problem may be from my muzzleloader . Even the black powder substitute seems dirtier than smokeless. I told the guns smith I use Hoopes #9 and said it is good but must be clear of any or you get varnish. So I guess my question is , do you have problems with the springs gunning up and if not, do you do anything in there to clean them?

Hi. These are Contender barrels, but I use spray and compressed air to clean the hard to reach places.. For other rifles, I remove the action from the stock.

Hi. Sorry that I didn't respond yesterday. Soaking is a great way of dealing with a number of rifles, unless you need to shoot them again within a few days. As Dan and a few others have mentioned, shotgunners have been doing this for a while. I believe I mentioned competition shooters at my old club left their rifle barrels to soak for a week and then returned for a group clean. It was as much a social event as a maintenance one.
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I didn't have time to post this yesterday, but I use these bottles to do my bolt and autoloader rifle barrels. This is the Cdn amazon link, but I am sure that amazon sells these world wide, as would Walmart and a bunch of other stores.

8 oz bottles - 2 pack

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These are 8 oz bottles that can be used for a number of different things around the shop. What I like about them is that the cap and nozzle screw onto my Hoppes bottles. The bent nozzle makes it easy to add solvent into the barrels without spilling. You simply watch the breech end to ensure your Hoppes doth not runneth over.