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WHAT TO CLEAN A DARK BORE ?

SWIDES
I am looking for something to really clean a dark bore on a garand barrel ? thanks ,Mike
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10 comments

Date Votes
  • A J Christ
    Just because it's dark does not mean it is dirty or in need to be brought to "bright". Give it a good scrubbing, use Hoppe's #9 or whatever you usually use, when the patches come out clean, the bore is clean of powder fouling. Use a copper remover (use a stainless brush for this) to remove any copper fouling, if any. Shoot it, if it shoots good, I wouldn't worry too much as to how it looks. I have a Mousin made by New England Westinghouse in 1916 that has a dark bore but shoots very well. A dark bore is usually the result of ammo with corrosive primers being used and the bore not being properly cleaned afterwards.
    Some folks are of the opinion that a dark bore will copper foul quicker than a bright one. If that is the case, when the accuracy starts to fall off, turn to with the copper fouling remover. Be patient, takes a while to get it out but the results are worth the efforts. Fire away and enjoy.
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  • Iconoclast
    I used Blue Wonder on two pieces which had bores close to sewer pipes in appearance. They cleaned up mighty sweet.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)
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  • bpost
    Foaming bore cleaner seemed to get the copper out real well on my rifles and there was no scrubbing involved. If you do scrub make sure you protect the muzzle crown from cleaning rod damage.
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  • He Dog
    With all due respect to A.J. I would not use a stainless brush on a gun barrel. Brass at the hardest, and I usually use nylon. Blue Wonder will do an outstanding job, and Wipe Out is well thought of as well.
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  • remingtongeo
    I'm with A J on this one. I have a 03-A4 that I bought many years ago that had a dark bore when it came out of the cosmolien. I used that rifle for about 5 years at 1000yd matches. It's still one of my most accurate rifles and I just love shooting it. The bore got a little brighter and it's shiney but it is still dark. It kind of looks like a blued stainless hand gun kind of sheen. I may try the Blue Wonder stuff on it but I haven't put a stainless steel brush through a bore in 10 years. Cleaning supplies have improved greatly.

    NRA life member, instructor and coach.
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  • only winchesters
    Hello Swides: I will second the "Blue Wonder", after reading about it here for months, I finally found some locally and bought it. I used it on a Md 12 Duck barrel and a set of Md 24 barrels All I can say is WOW! I thought for sure the Md 12 barrel was going to be history, but that stuff works!! After it was cleaned I was able to hone the only two bad spots out in about 15 min. The Md 24 barrels look like they just came from the factory, no honing required. I'm sure it will work well in your rifle barrel too, using a brass or copper brush. Regards Dave
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  • Kdub
    I'll second the going easy with the stainless brush on the bore.

    Run the bronze bristle brushes with the Hoppe's #9 or Benchrest solvent to knock out the carbon. M-Pro 7 also works well for this. Any of the ammonia based solvents will cut the copper fouling, but be careful not to let them sit in the bore for any length of time past 10 - 15 minutes. The Blue Wonder and the Wipe Out are both excellent for the bores - just follow the instructions.

    If the bore is stubborn, wrap a cleaning patch around a bristle brush, apply some J-B bore paste and with the Hoppe's solvent as a lubricant, scrub the bore for a while with this. Should remove any remaining fouling.

    Dark bores that are clean are dark because of pitting and past corrosion. Sometimes they will continue performing well after a good cleaning, and sometimes they are so far gone the only remedy is to rebarrel or rebore to a larger caliber.

    Have a couple of M-N's that have these maladys - good enough to plink with cheap military ammo, but not good enough to get real serious about.

    Keep off the Ridgeline
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  • gunguy30_06
    My favorite part about blue wonder is the fact that it won't eat your brass brush.
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  • SP45
    A first inexpensive attempt that has worked very well for me and others is PB Blaster. You can buy it in a hardware store. Apply liberally and use bore brush of choice. If you don't like the results you have only spent a couple of dollars.
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  • bearfighter
    had a 38-55 with a dark bore.

    used a product called robla/solo

    plugged the bore filled it with robla let it sit for 3 hours, 3 patches later bore was clean and shiney.
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