I've been shooting a lot this year, and have decided to revisit certain methods, and to try some new ones- just for fun, and I try to avoid being a dogmatic person whenever I can.
Picture below shows three patches from a .45 Pedersoli which was cleaned using the normal water/dish soap pumping method. The pictures are a bit misleading because the wrinkles in them cause greyish shadows.
Patch on left was the last dry patch out- It is snow white, and anyone would pronounce that the rifle is squeaky clean.
Middle patch was run down 5 minutes later- it was soaked in Ballistol (3 parts water, 1 part Balli.) and run up and down the bore a few times. it may look like it picked up some color, but it really is due to the opalescent color Ballistol dries to and the above mentioned shadows.
That patch was followed by a bore brushed soaked in the 3-1 Ballistol mix, which provides some lube for the brush also. Down the bore, pumped around 5 times in the breach area and then removed.
Third patch was moistened with Ballistol and run down the bore just once on each side. That pic is a pretty fair representation. You can clearly see the grooves, and the flats are relatively clean only showing the tinge of the dried Ballistol.
I'm not saying that amount of color would cause a (at least short term) problem, but it sure isn't the "perfectly clean bore" everyone seems to claim all of the time either.
I should point out an undersized brush (.40 in this case) was used to avoid any possibility of it getting stuck.
Picture below shows three patches from a .45 Pedersoli which was cleaned using the normal water/dish soap pumping method. The pictures are a bit misleading because the wrinkles in them cause greyish shadows.
Patch on left was the last dry patch out- It is snow white, and anyone would pronounce that the rifle is squeaky clean.
Middle patch was run down 5 minutes later- it was soaked in Ballistol (3 parts water, 1 part Balli.) and run up and down the bore a few times. it may look like it picked up some color, but it really is due to the opalescent color Ballistol dries to and the above mentioned shadows.
That patch was followed by a bore brushed soaked in the 3-1 Ballistol mix, which provides some lube for the brush also. Down the bore, pumped around 5 times in the breach area and then removed.
Third patch was moistened with Ballistol and run down the bore just once on each side. That pic is a pretty fair representation. You can clearly see the grooves, and the flats are relatively clean only showing the tinge of the dried Ballistol.
I'm not saying that amount of color would cause a (at least short term) problem, but it sure isn't the "perfectly clean bore" everyone seems to claim all of the time either.
I should point out an undersized brush (.40 in this case) was used to avoid any possibility of it getting stuck.