I recently acquired some old brass and copper bore brushes at an auction. They were loaded with string, lint, etc. I picked out a lot of it with a needle nose pliers but they were still pretty full. That's when I got a "brainy" idea. Drain cleaner dissolves cotton and hair and stuff like that without hurting metal pipes. Why wouldn't it work for this? Since there was no aluminum on these brushes I decided to give it a try. I started with a bent and twisted brush as a test run. After 5-10 minutes submerged in the drain cleaner I removed it and dropped it in a large container of water. Good as new! Bright and shiny with no lint. Has anyone ever tried this before? Obviously it would not be recommended on the bottle and I would not use it with any aluminum, blued or plastic parts. It is strong acid and is very corrosive. I am not recommending this, just letting you know my results.

I will give it a try.

One additional disclaimer. The drain cleaner WILL dissolve/strip bluing. I had a small rod the was destroyed by the previous owner that I dipped into a mixture of 2 gallons of water and a few ounces of drain cleaner and the bluing was dissolved. The brushes will need to be thoroughly rinsed and lubricated before getting them near a gun.

The one I am going to try it on is an old chamber brush for a '03 springfield. But thanks for the heads up. It won't go near a blued weapon.

Actually drain cleaner is a base, not an acid. It's probably sodium hydroxide...common name , LYE........be careful with that stuff.

It depends on what brand or type of drain cleaner. It can be acidic or totally the opposite and be very alkaline (lye, caustic)
Either one will still weaken brass or bronze.

For a brush that costs less than $2 is it worth it?

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Still Running Against the Wind