I use Sweets 7.62 bore solvent and then clean/oil everything with Break Free. Break Free is amazing. Maybe I'll try a boresnake one of these days.
Best advice so far, in my opinion, and the closest to what I used to do.
Just my opinions, and nothing more from here out. But, they are opinions based on having used pretty much every type of gun cleaning product ever made. From the electronic cleaners like the Outers units, to more than a dozen types of solvent, to Bore snakes, and lots of other stuff, too. A disclaimer that needs said though, the majority of my experience has been with bolt action rifles, and for the last fifteen years or so, most of that has been with extremely high quality, very accurate custom made rifles. I have not messed with factory rifles much for quite awhile.
First, just my opinion, so don't everybody get all pissed off about it, but I personally won't use a bore snake on ANY barrel I care much about. Won't hurt a shot gun barrel with one I guess, and they do come in handy in some situations. But for every day rifle barrel cleaning - NO THANKS! Unless you have absolutely perfect form and technique with one, it WILL damage your barrel and cause a loss of accuracy over time. That's my opinion, based on close examination of many, many rifle barrels using a Hawkeye bore scope.
What's most important in cleaning a rifle barrel, is the rod and rod guide you use. Spend the money on quality equipment here. A high quality one piece rod that closely fits the bore and has good quality bearings in the handle, plus a high quality rod/bore guide. Good cleaning rods will cost you more than bore snakes, but they are a far better investment for preserving the accuracy of your barrels. The actual cleaning products you choose are far less important than a good rod and and a good rod guide. You don't use a rod guide you say? Then I guarantee you that you are damaging either the throat or the crown or both on your rifle barrel with every single stroke of your cleaning rod.
As far as cleaning products/chemicals go... There are a bazillion and one kinds on the market today and at least half a dozen of them that work pretty well. I do not recommend the Hoppes though. The OLD Hoppes #9 was "the stuff". Worked really well on carbon (powder) fouling and would get copper eventually if left to soak long enough and enough brush strokes were applied. And personally, I LOVED the way the stuff smelled. BUT... The ingredient that made it work so well, is also said to cause cancer, and the "real stuff" has not been in production for more close to twenty years now. The new stuff just does not work NEARLY as well as any of at least a half dozen other brands. My opinion, anyway...
Best all around cleaning solvent I have used in recent years is Montana X-treme. Takes carbon fouling out quicker than any other traditional solvent I have used (and honestly - I really have used them all - most provided to me free by the distributors for evaluation). Works reasonably well on copper too, given enough time to soak.
For straight up copper fouling removal, without taking a day or two to let the solvent soak, plain old Sweets 7.62 still works pretty darn well. The Barnes copper solvent works about the same. There are others that are even more effective, but I do not recommend them, as they need to be used with caution to avoid damaging the barrel.
If you want to use traditional solvents and are in a hurry, a good way to go is to use Montana X-treme first, to get the top layers of powder fouling out. Then patch out the MX completely, and then give a course of Sweets or Barnes to get out the copper. Be careful not to ever let two different kinds of solvent mix in the barrel though. Some of them absolutely DO NOT play well together and you'll end up with an etched barrel if you aren't careful.
For really neglected, heavily fouled barrels, nothing beats the abrasive type products like JB Bore Paste or RemClean. I use these often, on problem guns that I end up having to deal with, but do not recommend them for regular use. If you have a real big ugly cleaning job on your hands though, they are a good way to go.
For oiling inside of the barrel, my personal current favorite is Butch's Gun Oil. Anything that doesn't have PTFE's in it should work just fine though.
For rust prevention on the outside, I've been using a product from Shooter's Choice called "Rust Prevent" for many years. It has worked well. There are other products that do just as well, but I like the smell of this one and it is easy to work with.
Now, all that said... For the last several years, I have been cleaning all my rifles with a different kind of product altogether. It's one of the foaming bore cleaners you see now days. I like the original one, called "Wipe Out". It's hard to find though, as they just weren't very good business men. I initially got a case of it from the original distributor to hand out to my friends for field evaluation. When that case was all used up I paid for the next case and still have a couple of cans left. I was told that Outers bought out the Wipe Out guys. But I have also been told that the product Outers is selling is not the same formula and not quite as good. Have not tried the Outers yet myself though, so not too sure.
But, anyway... This Wipe Out stuff is absolutely fantastic! Just spray the bore full of foam, let it sit over night, patch it out, DONE! Makes cleaning rifles almost TOO easy. And it really works. Gets out ALL the carbon, and ALL the copper, at the same time. I am absolutely FANATICAL about getting my rifle barrels 100% clean, and will go so far as to use an expensive bore scope to make sure there is no fouling left in them. And this stuff gets them there, with almost no effort. Best stuff I have ever used to clean a rifle by several orders of magnitude. I highly recommend it!
And, cooincidentally enough... I have three rifles sitting here right now, that have been soaking with Wipe Out since Sunday evening. Guess I'll patch them out and finish them up now
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- DAA
