I have been doing a LOT of 38 and 9mm shooting over the last ten months
and deceided to take my "Shooting" rifles out and give them a patch down the barrel.

I am glad that I did, since the 22-250 & 30-06 were ok but the 270 barrel showed a dirty patch.
They all got a copper bore brush, followed by a Nylon brush and finally mopped and dried , until the patches came out clean, again.

Funny how they get dirty without any use.
Some barrels "Bleed" more than others, I guess, or maybe I left a tuch of copper in the barrel.

All is good again until warm weather and dry walk ways come in 80 days or so
and they get a work out, again.

Tight groups to all.

I believe the barrel is subject to oxidation of the steel over time, not red rust and corrosion, but light oxidation. Copper is also a potential culprit.
I do not own a rifle or revolver stored with a dry bore. After cleaning, I always pass an oiled rag down the bore to protect it in storage. When getting them ready to take shooting, just run a couple patches down the bore and go. In my mind, totally drying the bore, especially in humid environments is asking for rust.

__________________
Gary
SWCA 2515

Just for a laugh for all of you;

After cleaning my 1903 bolt action, I went and picked up a Win. model 94
that I thought needed a patch run down it, just for giggles.

Well that 30 cal. patch ran down that barrel like it was a .22 guage unit.

Then it dawned on this old guy, that I had picked up the.............

.375 Winchester, lever action. Duh.

I just shook my head and realised that yes, I was getting old and forgetful.
That patch would have worked in my 30-30 Golden Spike, though.

My Bad about stating a "Dry" barrel.
To me, that means not dripping wet with oil or additives.
You got "Everything" from the men, when I was in the Navy, and they were returning their weapons, back to the Armory.

My dry, is a cleaning patch with 2 drops of oil on it ran down the barrel on a jag, not Hoppies #9.

I will leave #9 in the barrel to try and remove copper, as well as four other cleaners, that I have on hand. However I do not let these stay in my barrel more than an hour, before removing and starting over with dry patches.
Patches with blue or gray on them, means a dirty barrel, that needs more work on it.
I hate the color Blue...............
It means that I have lots of patches, to be sent down that barrel.

I will stop here, before I get all wound up on cleaning guns.

Have a great day.

I clean my old, purchased used rifles now with Bore Tech Inc Eliminator bore cleaner. Used as directed it cleans very quickly and is non toxic so good to go inside the house. I have stopped using bronze brushes in favor of plastic. All my rifles are old experienced twentieth century stuff. Winchester m 70's Remington m700's and FN/ VZ24 Mausers. I cleaned these down to the metal and polished with J-B Non-Imbedding Bore Cleaning Compound. Then I coated with Dyna-Tek Bore Coat a ceramic powder suspended in a lacquer preparation. These phots are from a Lyman Bore Cam affordable bore scope. Some of the markings I refer to as "Dragon Tattoos". My 30-06's show much less heat erosion then my 270's, but all barrels wear from flaming propellant. I don't know if the pits are from chemical erosion or neglect of fowling left for long periods of time. The bore coat seems to have reduced copper build up from normal recreational shooting sessions of 10-20 rounds a sitting.

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	M 98 VZ24 022.JPG (23.4 KB, 40 views)
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	VZ Hoppies Bench Rest 003.JPG (23.0 KB, 35 views)
	Bore cam 1 005.JPG (29.0 KB, 34 views)

__________________
"Don't Give Up the Ship"

Too much time and untreated OCD

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	BoreCam 10.2 03-A3 015.JPG (26.3 KB, 21 views)

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

Yes, seldom will cleaning to bare metal show any accuracy advantage; it often shows an accuarcy degradation until the barrel is fouled somewhat, three to a dozen rounds or so to get it shooting again. A little copper and a little carbon in the bore usually do no harm whatsover as far as accuracy goes.

I concur. Which is why when I shot High Power X Corse I insisted on starting with the 200yd standing stage, 20 shots standing in 20 mins. A lot of the lazy non committed tourists wanted to start 5-600 yds prone and quickly go home or where ever. The most difficult for some standing stage was time to settle down, get it out of the way, then concentrate on stable positions of sitting rapid and then prone rapid then slow fire. I'm too old and stiff now to stretch into the form any longer.

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__________________
"Don't Give Up the Ship"

The mantra I was taught for long term storage took awhile. You clean thoroughly. Then, clean again after a 3 day rest twice. Some stuff will leach out of the pores in the steel in between.

I won a rifle in a raffle some time (at least a decade) back, very limited edition commemorative. I pretty much gave it a once over cleaning and put it away to appreciate. Last night I decided to get it out and check it. Noticed copper fouling in the bore from the proof firing and some brass transfer on the bolt face.

Sweet's got the brass off the bolt face with one wipe, but it took JB to get the copper fouling out. I'll be doing the follow up cleanings too. Looking closely at the barrel OD it may be hammer forged rifling.

For better than a half century my preferred lube has been Dri-Slide. Goes on wet, the carrier fluid evaporates and leaves a moly disulfide dry lube coating.

Alot of cleaning regimes date back to the era of corrosive primers. Then it was absolutely imperative to clean and then clean again before storage and maybe oil up the bore. Just take care cleaning your bore and all will be fine. Remember all the re-import M-1 carbines that could not shoot tight groups even with sharp bores? Foreigners with steel rods cleaning from the muzzle. Luckily the barrels could be recrowned or rebated to get back to an unworn transition and often fix the issue. I either store guns with thin film lube or none at all in the bores. Indoors in a climate control house, no rust issues after many years. The only time I ever got rust was a silicate moisture absorbent canister in a safe too close to a blued gun and as it drew moisture it also drew it to that gun or something. Minor dust rust that wiped off.

Barrel "bleed" I never thought about it but years ago a man I met on the local Outdoor Range said do a complete cleaning when you get home. Then run a clean patch thru the barrel the next day and do the same following day. He said that is how he did it when he was with the German Africa Corps in WWII.

Instead of referring to it as a "bleed" he called it a "sweat". He was quite a good shooter with iron sights even as a Senior.

I clean all my guns right after I shoot them. I also find this keeps them from leading up or getting excess fouling in them, so it's not a big job to clean the next time. I have met a few that almost never clean their guns! To me that is just crazy and a recipe for malfunctions, trouble and FTF. About 6 months ago I went to the Range with my neighbor's son (on leave). He had a Glock 19 that was frequently malfunctioning - YES A Glock! He put the pistol back in its rug and I let him shoot my Colt Gold Cup for the rest of the day. When we got home, I looked the Glock over and it was disgustingly filthy! When I asked him the last time he had cleaned it, he said he never did! I quickly came back with...... I sincerely HOPE you treat your US Army duty weapons with greater respect and care! He is a Helicopter Pilot and was just issued a Sig. I was shocked to say the least!

For the other side of the coin....... I will also say that in the majority of cases, if you pass a solvent coated patch down a cleaned barrel that was done just a few days ago - you will still get a slight amount more of lead, copper or debris on the patch. It will never be 100% perfectly white. It's just the nature if the beast!