Tornado brushes

[Narragansett]

Seeing as how we already have one thread about cleaning bores and lead fouling I wanted to ask about tornado brushes vs. typical bronze brushes.

Also, does anybody have any experience with the stainless steel sponges that Brownell's sells?

I meant to say sponges not stainless brushes

 

[JayFramer]

Good stuff. I find one chucked in a drill makes a great bore's scrubber even after heavy shooting.

 

[H Richard]

For leaded bores, they make a good starting brush, and as the lead comes out switch to a bronze bristle brush. They are also good in shotgun barrels, cleaning the plastic wad build up.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I own some tornado brushes. Can't see that they are any better than anything else. I have and have used stainless steel brushes. They work, but I admit I am fearful that they might scratch or score a carbon steel barrel. I mostly use the old school bronze or brass wire brushes. I guess I am just old and set in my ways.

 

[prairieviper]

A piece of Choreboy pure copper scrubber wrapped around a phosphor bronze brush is what I use to remove lead deposits from the bore.

 

[Erich]

For leaded bores, they make a good starting brush, and as the lead comes out switch to a bronze bristle brush. They are also good in shotgun barrels, cleaning the plastic wad build up.

I am not sure when Hoppe's brought Tornado brushes onto the market, but the first time I saw them was when I managed a gun store between college and law school in the late Eighties. They seemed pretty newfangled to me then, and they didn't sell especially well in the handgun calibers (the young guys didn't want to spend that much money and the old collectors were worried about what the stainless would do to the bores - looped or not).

Of course, we could use any cleaning stuff we wanted on the guns that came into the store. We found that the looped stainless brushes were inferior to bronze wool around a jag when it came to removing lead from handgun rifling. Cleaning blobbed-on plastic out of shotguns seemed the sole righteous use for these, and that's still how I use my sole Tornado brush.



(Amusingly, I did just that two days ago. )


Good luck with it!

 

[OKFC05]

I use the tornado brushes for cleaning chambers, at which they excel.
Never tried them on the rifling, since the brass brushes do just fine ( I long ago learned to use correct sized bullets that do not lead the barrel).

 

[kthom]

I am not a fan of Tornado spiral brushes or stainless steel brushes!

 

[swagmeister]

Several gunsmiths have told me that stainless brushes, tornado or otherwise, scratches the inside of the bore and the chambers in the cylinder and that bronze brushes are recommended and do a good job. I've used bronze brushes for years with no problem. So why do they sell tornado stainless brushes? I don't know.

 

[jack the toad]

So why do they sell tornado stainless brushes? I don't know.

As to why I have them (12 & 20 ga.), as Erich stated, they seem to excel at cleaning plastic wad fouling.

 

[wproct]

In my past trapshooting days I used them for removing plastic wad residue from the shotgun bore and they worked reasonably well.

 

[Erich]

As to why I have them (12 & 20 ga.), as Erich stated, they seem to excel at cleaning plastic wad fouling.

Yes, sir: I can truthfully report that they have done no damage whatsoever to the rifling on my smoothbores in 30+ years.

 

[jcelect]

Stainless Steel

100% stainless is a soft metal,softer than carbon steel! When SS is used to produce firearms it has carbon added to strengthen it which makes it harder, magnetic, and it will rust! I would guess brushes are made from 100% SS, which is a metal that will be cheaper to manufacture! Anything will erode or wear metal if it is rubbed enough against the metal!

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

They scare me. I don't really know the truth, but it would be much harder for me learn for sure than to just keep using bronze brushes, so I just keep using bronze brushes, or screens (Lewis Lead Remover) in extreme cases.

 

[M29since14]

Not familiar with the stainless sponges. Tornadoes can be had in either brass or stainless. I have used the brass ones when I had them or could find them, but I have also used stainless. I don’t use tornadoes on anything that’s rifled - mainly just shotgun barrels and choke tubes. Generally, I don’t care much for them and don’t plan to buy any more.

As jcelect points out, anything rubbed long enough against steel will eventually cause wear.

 

[Narragansett]

In my past trapshooting days I used them for removing plastic wad residue from the shotgun bore and they worked reasonably well.

I flew out to Waterloo, and had my trap shotguns restocked by Paul Hilmer in Hudson Iowa. He is the best there is!!

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I use both.

 

[Super Dave]

The only thing I use them for are the chambers in the 617. They make quick work (1 pass) of cleaning the crud from that dirty 22 round. I didn't know they come in brass. If I find one I'll test that out.

 

[Erich]

The only thing I use them for are the chambers in the 617. They make quick work (1 pass) of cleaning the crud from that dirty 22 round. I didn't know they come in brass. If I find one I'll test that out.

You know, I have never thought about using them in .22 chambers, but that's a great idea. I'll keep an eye out - don't recall ever having seen one in .22.

 

[bearman49709]

Several gunsmiths have told me that stainless brushes, tornado or otherwise, scratches the inside of the bore and the chambers in the cylinder and that bronze brushes are recommended and do a good job. I've used bronze brushes for years with no problem. So why do they sell tornado stainless brushes? I don't know.

I've never used tornado brushes so I can't say one way or the other.
As to why they sell them that's easy to make money just like anything else and if they have sold them for 30 plus years they must be making money.