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Schuemann Barrels Suggests Never Cleaning your Bore

Gunslinger

Gunslinger

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marshaul wrote:
http://schuemann.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=3zZ4oir3t50%3d&tabid=67&mid=445

Even the brass/bronze brushes, which have bristles which are as hard as mild steel, or the lead removers, which use a hard brass mesh to scape the lead from the bore, may well be able to scatch the bore surface of a stainless steel barrel. Any scratching of the bore surface will naturally lead to increased bore surface wear, leading, and coppering. My recommendation would be to never use any kind of a bore brush to clean a 416 stainless steel pistol barrel, especially if it has been exposed to strings of rapid fire.
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My Personal Practice has become to never clean the bore of my barrels. I do use a brass rod to scrape the deposits out of the chamber. But, I've learned to leave the bore alone and it very slowly becomes shinier and cleaner all by itself. Years ago I occasionally scrubbed the bore with a brass bore brush. But, doing so always seemed to cause the bore to revert to a dirtier look with more shooting, so I eventually stopped ever putting anything down the bore except bullets...
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So what do you all think? What are your practices?
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He's nuts. Bores get leaded up or have copper deposits on them after a while. The lead tends to fill in the rifling and the bullet can keyhole. I wonder if he doesn't change the oil in his car, either. And brass bristles can scratch stainless steel??!! If he's so (wrongly) concerned, use a nylon brush. Or does nylon scratch 63 Rockwell steel, too...
 
SouthernBoy

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marshaul wrote:
Gordie wrote:
I like the brushes with nylon bristles. I don't think that they've come up with hardened nylon yet.
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I've used these before, and while I'll keep some around in the event my bore gets exceptionally fouled, I haven't really been impressed with their performance in the past.

I'm keen to see how clean my bore stays with no brushing at all. Never tried it before...
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At the suggestion of a neighbor a few years ago, I tried a little experiment. I bought and used some (hard?) nylon bore brushes for two handgun calibers and used them for about a year. Then I went back to using some new brass brushes.

The amount of crud that the brass brushes removed was surprising. I still frequently begin my cleaning jobs with the nylon, but after a few passes, I finish up with the brass.
 
Springfield45

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nakedshoplifter wrote:
AWDstylez wrote:
LAWL Good point. Not to mention nearly all bullets are copper or brass jacketed. ZOMG METAL ON METAL IT'S GONNA SCRATCH IT!!!11!!!
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Sorry, this doesn't sound right to me. A brass jacketed bullet would destroy your barrel in about 10 rounds. The "cop killer" bullets are made of brass and have a teflon jacket/coating for this very reason. Can anyone show me a link to bullets that have a brass jacket?
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Sure can :) Brass Jacketed bullets are quite common IMO.

The popular Golden Sabre's are Brass Jacketed .....

~~Springfield
ETA
 
IanB

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Springfield45 wrote:
The popular Golden Sabre's are Brass Jacketed ....
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Interesting, good point. I wonder if they use a softer brass alloy?
 
H

HardChrome

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The barrel on my Hi-Power is over 47 years old. It's got more scratches and grooving than anything I own. Since I don't bench rest when I go to the range I'll never know if it's throwing my accuracy off by 1/4". This might be valid for an Olympic shooter but for a defensive carry pistol, I'm sure it makes no difference whatsoever.
 
D

Doug Huffman

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I haven't used a brass brush in a very long time, not since I discovered a non-woven nylon patch from Hoppe's.

When my bag of the Hoppe's nylon patches was gone I looked for more and discovered that Hoppe's didn't package them anymore. I did a bit of research and found the material being used as filter media in industrial applications. I requested a sample for evaluation and got a 60" x 30 yard roll! I cut what I hope is a lifetime supply of patches and gave the roll to a papermaker.
 
T

Tomahawk

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If a nylon brush is less effective than a brass brush, how much less effective do you think no brush will be?

This story doesn't sound right to me; not brushing your bore will lead to copper or lead buildup in the grooves.

Does anyone know what brushing does to a chromed barrel over time?
 
R

redlegagent

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I can't state for over time as my SS rifles I've only had for about a year. I've had a stainless revolver for 20 years and that has held up well. I will say this, my SA M1A has a national match SS barrel and the cleaning kit springfield gives you is bronze military brushes and steel rods. ;)
 
Alexcabbie

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With the possible exception of the AK47 and its variants, neglecting the cleaning of firearms is a bad idea. My P38 is what I consider the AK47 of the handgun world, but she still gets lots of TLC including a nice rubdown with RemOil patches even if she hasn't beenfired in a month. Neglect of cleaning should be postponed until unavoidable, such as in a civil conflict which has not haqppened since 1861 and has not happened since ..... so far.

Fouling of whatever type will sooner or later - even in an AK (or Walther p38) turn an accurate rifled arm into a smoothbore. So clean the damn guns while you can, damn it. Elmer Kieth must be rolling in his grave....
 
marshaul

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Well, I did some reading, and it seems Mr. Schuemann is referring to a moly-coated-only shooting regime when he talks about never scrubbing your bore. Perhaps he could have been more clear about that.
 
Gunslinger

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Alexcabbie wrote:
Moly=schmoly. Fact is a clean bore is better thsn a diirty bore. Clean the freaking guns.
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Chrome moly, or chrome vanadium--it makes no difference. Therifling is what gets clogged up. If you don't clean it, it affects the bullet flight. Pack enough crud into the rifling and you have a smooth bore. As simple as that.
 
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