Cleaning my guns with a cordless drill??

[MoAmmoPlease]

I know it is a short cut but am I doing my weapons any harm by cleaning the barrels with a cordless drill on very low speed with bronze brushes? It just .makes it so easy to do a good job but I am worried I might be scratching the bore or sumpin.
What about hot soapy water? I always cleaned my ML barrels in hot soapy water and I think that was an accepted practice. If the water is hot enough the barrel dries in minutes. I think either option is better than not cleanings at all. Thanks...

 

[Carnea]

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[TBalls]

Perhaps try some nylon brushes instead?

 

[marvelshooter]

It doesn't sound like like something that would be good for your barrel.

 

[jasons]

Brass is a lot softer than barrel steel. I've used a brass brush chucked up in a drill to deal with stubborn carbon fouling in my competition rifles before and they still shoot x's after.

That said, if you keep up with your cleaning it really shouldn't be necessary to involve power tools.

 

[dragonballzz]

Just dont spin the brush too much faster than you can manually.

 

[vellnueve]

I clean the chambers with the drill at high speed. Same with choke tubes. The bronze brushes will NOT scratch or damage a good barrel.

 

[dnepro-mike]

brass is what some bullet jackets are made of when it's not copper.
bullets are also oversized for bore and actually presses/slugged through the barrel. there are much more ware imparted on the barrel bore by that action in one-two shots than you will achieve with entire session of your drill-cleaning. i 'd say don't worry about it.
high heat erosion of the barrel will kill it long before brass brushes will

 

[whacko]

I've done the same with a brass chamber brush to clean out the chamber of my M4 or M16 in the Army. It works very well.....

 

[beerjeep]

Mind your muzzle crown

 

[Madisonian]

I know it is a short cut but am I doing my weapons any harm by cleaning the barrels with a cordless drill on very low speed with bronze brushes? It just .makes it so easy to do a good job but I am worried I might be scratching the bore or sumpin.
What about hot soapy water? I always cleaned my ML barrels in hot soapy water and I think that was an accepted practice. If the water is hot enough the barrel dries in minutes. I think either option is better than not cleanings at all. Thanks...

It doesn't make any sense to me. When manually cleaning a rifled barrel with a brush you are brushing the barrel longitudinally, and the bristles of a sharp (new) brush scrub the corners of the base of the grooves. If you revolve the brush more quickly than it would be simply guided by the rifling I imagine you'd wear out the brush quickly, and not clean the bottom of the grooves very well.

It also seems completely unnecessary. Were you having poor results cleaning manually?

 

[Golddiggie]

I would recommend trying out a bore snake before using a drill to clean the barrel. You don't need nearly as many passes with a snake to do a great cleaning job. I have one for my AR15, Rem 870 and 45 ACP pistol (wide-body 1911). Makes it MUCH easier to clean. I spend more time cleaning the little bits than the barrels now.

 

[Gammon]

CMMG recommends cleaning the chamber of their dedicated 22LR barrels with an electric drill and bore brush.

 

[MoAmmoPlease]

I appreciate the responses although there is no consensus. I'm using the drill primarily because over the years I have become tired of running patches thru barrels until they come out clean. (Lazy). I really don't think I am hurting anything with the bronze/brass brushes and get a strange tingling all over when I use the drill and a swap to buff the barrel. diggie I do use the bore snakes and have a few but I just use them at the range or in hunting camp. They work but not as well as traditional rods and patches. They do have the advantage of working from breach to barrel in any weapon and that sure helps the crown.
I thought drills and hot water were my own idea but I guess not. Hopefully it's better to clean incorrectly than not clean at all. TY

 

[KMS]

Quit being lazy?...no?

 

[Golddiggie]

I thought drills and hot water were my own idea but I guess not. Hopefully it's better to clean incorrectly than not clean at all. TY

You're using water to clean our your gun/barrel??

You really should be using something more designed for the job. That could be why you get less than great results with the snake. I use either No. 9, a gun cleaning solution, or even brake cleaner, on my firearms (got some more brake cleaner recently). Never had an issue getting them cleaned fast. With the snake, it takes far less work to clean the barrel after a good day of shooting. Far less than running patches through.

There's also a foaming gun cleaning product that you let sit for a few minutes before running a snake (or patches) through the barrel. That can take off really caked on crud.

I wouldn't use 'soapy water' to clean ANY firearm I own (or ever own). Even if it's 100% stainless steel (and/or hard chrome plated). Chances of removing ALL the water from that is not that great.

 

[jasons]

You're using water to clean our your gun/barrel??

You really should be using something more designed for the job. That could be why you get less than great results with the snake. I use either No. 9, a gun cleaning solution, or even brake cleaner, on my firearms (got some more brake cleaner recently). Never had an issue getting them cleaned fast. With the snake, it takes far less work to clean the barrel after a good day of shooting. Far less than running patches through.

There's also a foaming gun cleaning product that you let sit for a few minutes before running a snake (or patches) through the barrel. That can take off really caked on crud.

I wouldn't use 'soapy water' to clean ANY firearm I own (or ever own). Even if it's 100% stainless steel (and/or hard chrome plated). Chances of removing ALL the water from that is not that great.

I use hot water to rinse out the upper and rinse off the BCG parts of my service rifle all the time. Spray them down with cleaner, let soak for a few minutes, quick scrub with a brush, rinse with scalding hot water out of the tap, hit it with compressed air to dry, then re-apply clean lube. Quick and easy.

Guys that shoot corrosive centerfire or black powder commonly use soapy water to clean their bores after firing. As long as you dry it completely (compressed air really helps) and properly re-apply lube after it'll be fine. (Now if it was some sort of $50,000 antique trap gun hand carved from Madagascar unicorn horn that's a different story.)

Quit being lazy?...no?

It's not being lazy, it's being efficient.

 

[Billsail]

You're missing a lot, using a rotary drill. You can not clean the space between the lands and grooves. The best you can do with that method, is clean the face of the lands, and maybe a little portion of the grooves. You may be putting lateral scratches in the bore, as well. If you have to do it, use nylon.

 

[TonyDedo]

I'm sorry, what kind of ammo are you shooting that you Think you need a drill to clean your barrels???

I put 10k+ dirty reloads through my gun each year, and it never needs more than a swipe or two with a bore snake.

I think you're creating a solution where no problem exists, and you might damn well thrash your barrel in the process

 

[GunGrey]

Brass is a lot softer than barrel steel. I've used a brass brush chucked up in a drill to deal with stubborn carbon fouling in my competition rifles before and they still shoot x's after.

That said, if you keep up with your cleaning it really shouldn't be necessary to involve power tools.

yup done it numerous times


hell I even had to clean a mosin chamber that had been badly maintained threw some jb bore paste on a brass brush i wrapped some 0000 steel wool around and spun that sucker

should have seen the black shit that came out

 

[MoAmmoPlease]

I'll tell you diggie my friend my guns are not afraid of water. Is it rust your thinking of? I hunt with the long guns and they get wet and I just clean them. I remember when TC recommended hot soapy water to clean their barrels. If the water is very hot the metal also heats up and quickly dries.
As far as the "drill" goes there might be some validity to the grooves not getting cleaned properly. A tight patch and swap sure come out clean. At the very least a nylon brush might be a good idea.
I really value all of your input and am still surprised so many of you use power tools and water. Ideally I would be less lazy. WTH....

Pretty new here and it's a great place for questions either stupid or not. THANKS.

 

[Gammon]

This is getting complicated. I can see using a rotary motion to clean the chamber which is basically a cylinder and amenable to such cleaning. In the barrel I believe that a bore brush that follows the lands and grooves will be more effective. Soap and water? I just use a little carb or brake cleaner which dissolves the crud in the action and a bore cleaner to remove metal fouling. I would only use soap and water where absolutely necessary, corrosve primer and black powder residue.

 

[jasons]

This is getting complicated. I can see using a rotary motion to clean the chamber which is basically a cylinder and amenable to such cleaning. In the barrel I believe that a bore brush that follows the lands and grooves will be more effective. Soap and water? I just use a little carb or brake cleaner which dissolves the crud in the action and a bore cleaner to remove metal fouling. I would only use soap and water where absolutely necessary, corrosve primer and black powder residue.

I just use the drill on the chamber and only when there is severe carbon fouling. It does work nicely and is fairly common practice among the highpower shooters that I know. I use a borescope to inspect my chamber and bore so I know when it's needed and when it isn't.

Hot water does a great job of rinsing out the "soup" that I often end up with after a thorough cleaning. It's a lot easier and faster than using 50 dry q-tips to wipe out all of that crud, that's for sure. Lots of guys use brake or carb cleaner and that works too, but a quick scrub with a mild cleaner followed by hot water and compressed air works just as well in my experience and without harsh chemicals.

I spend 20-30 minutes every 1,000 rounds or so on the BCG and upper. I clean the bore and chamber way more often, every 200-300 rounds or so. (This is for rifles I compete with, "play" rifles get cleaned much more infrequently and much less thoroughly.)

 

[atilla]

i've had to do this with a gun that had a chamber that was more carbon than chamber. gun was fine afterwards.

 

[bill o]

You're missing a lot, using a rotary drill. You can not clean the space between the lands and grooves. The best you can do with that method, is clean the face of the lands, and maybe a little portion of the grooves. You may be putting lateral scratches in the bore, as well. If you have to do it, use nylon.

I'm seeing a marketing opportunity for a borebrush-to-Sawzall adapter.