Hello,
During a visit to Scheels all sports, I came across a saleman who told me that to properly clean my .300 tikka with a stainless barrel, I did not want to use a bristled jig. He explained to me that the bristles would actually scratch the inside of the gun and therefore throw off the spin of the bullet and cause a decrease in accuracy. I'm kind of a young gun so to speak, (I'm 20) and do not know a whole lot about guns but I would like to know if this is true, why do they even sell jigs then?

Leonidas,
Not sure I'd listen to that salesman again. Now, I'll qualify that by saying that there ARE some stainless steel brushes out there. I would NOT use these. I have no idea if such steel brushes have harder steel than a stainless barrel, but I'm not going to take the chance.

Most brushes are brass/copper-based, and WILL NOT scratch your barrel, whether stainless or regular 4140 (?) steel. They are effective in removing powder residue, and aid in removing copper residue from the bullets. I use these brushes all the time and have not noticed any decrease in accuracy, over many years and many hundreds of rounds, if not thousands, in most of my guns.

Nope - keep the stainless brushes out of the bore if you value it.

The bronze bristle brushes are the standard brushes to use. Sure wish I had a nickel for every one I've worn out through the years.

Tried the nylon bristle, but they just don't clean as well as the bronze ones.

If you don't want to even use brushes, the foaming cleaners and bore solvents will work with lots of elbow grease and patches.

I got some waterfront property in Arizona I'll make you a great deal on also. All kidding aside Shawn pretty well summed it up. As long as your brush material is much softer than the barrel material your going to be fine. Never use a stainless steel bore brush.

Another alternative is the Outer's Foul out II which electrically plates any copper left in the bore onto a stainless steel rod suspended in a solution in the bore. This cleans down to the metal pores and has solutions for both lead and copper fouling. Oh it works great.

Those brass bore brushes are not called jigs though, jigs are solid copper heads that go on a rod that hold a patch fairly tight to the bore. I don't use them either, but wrap a patch around a well used bore brush instead. This allows the flexy bore brush to hold the patch tight inside the bore.

One of the biggest bore killers is the cleaning rod. It picks up grit and rubs on the inside of the bore near the ends of the bore when you run it in and out. Use a bore guide and clean from the breach and that will solve most of the problems you will have cleaning and their not very expensive compared to a new barrel.

Just don't change directions of the brass brush in the barrel and you will be OK.

I have never used stainless steel brushes. I prefer the brass, copper or bronze brushes. A little brushing goes a long way. I use Remington Bore Cleaner and wrap a saturated patch around a brush and go through the bore. Works great. All the best...
Gil

A bore brush must be harder than what you intend to remove and softer than what you intend to remove it from. Bronze is "safe" in most situations.

"Stainless" steel is NOT always harder than chrome moly.

I have drilled holes in some "stainless" alloys with conventional hole saws with no tool failure run at low rpm to reduce heat. They cut fine! Good tool life.

Maker of the brush would understand that to stay in buisiness, correct?


I don't use a brush often on my own firearms. A solvent soaked patch works well.

If I need a brush, I have trouble elsewhere.

Cheezywan

The only use I have for a stainless steel brush is on severely fouled bores like a few I've encountered on old military surplus rifles. I don't think the steel in them is really hard enough to damage a bore, but I don't take a chance. Bronze brushes, on the other hand,cannot harm a steel bore. A dirty brush may do harm, but that's from grit that may be embedded in it, not the brush itself. And, reversing a bronze brush in the bore won't hurt the bore, but it's an almost instant way to ruin a brush, or get it stuck in the bore, but good!

http://www.shilen.com/faq.html#question11

The above link is the best advice I've read about cleaning rifle barrels from one of the best names in the business. Note that brass or bronze brushes are specified.

i use a copper brush with a cotton patch over it. why use something that you think might screw up ur barel or crown (even worse). stick with a copper brush and u will be alright. the store patches are usually junk and disintegrate in ur barrel. cut up an old cooton t-shirt and wrap it around ur brush. this works great.