J-B Cleaner/Kroil

[SNovaTac]

I'm not sure this is the right place for this thread, but hopefully someone will be able to give me some input. When I shoot rifled slugs out of my Benelli Supernova they leave what I am assuming are streaks of lead from the slugs down the length of the barrel. This has made cleaning the barrel something of a daunting task. I have tried using Hoppes No. 9 solvent, Hoppes Elite solvent, T17 foaming bore cleaner, Rem Oil, and WD-40 all based on fellow gun enthusiasts recommendations. After at least an hour or two of scrubbing with a bronze bore brush I think I get the barrel fairly clean, but it requires a lot of effort and I'm not sure but I think I can still see faint streaks in certain areas of the barrel. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but the barrel is chrome lined.

After doing a little online research, I decided to order some J-B bore cleaning compound, J-B bore bright, and Kroil. Does anyone have any experience using these cleaning products and could anyone offer some advice on how to go about using them most effectively? Should I use the Kroil first to try to let it seep in behind the lead streaks and loosen them up, then clean as usual with Hoppes, follow with the J-B bore cleaning compound and finish with the J-B bore bright? Thanks to all for their help!

 

[E.Shell]

There is a good chance you're seeing plastic wad streaks...

JB and Kroil are not used together, but can be alternated and do not react with each other.

JB: JB Bore Paste comes as a thick paste, and is best applied on a brush wrapped with a patch. Use a worn brush, wrap it with a patch, then roll the patch in a little JB. Run it the full length of the barrel, but don't pop out the end. Go back and forth in the bore a few full strokes, keeping the brush/patch in the bore. You'll first feel the JB grabbing at the fouling, then it will break down and feel smooth - time to refresh the patch load and run it again. Repeat as necessary or until ready to try more effective means.

Kroil: Wet a patch with Kroil and use it to apply a thin coat to the bore. Allow to stand in a warm place several hours, which encourages it to insinuate itself between the bore surface and the fouling. Patch dry and check it. Repeat, dry brushing between treatments, as necessary or until ready to try more effective means.

Wipe-Out: Do not confuse other foaming bore cleaners with real Wipe-Out. Fill bore with Wipe-Out foam. Tilt muzzle down to allow drainage/seepage to run out of the muzzle onto a few paper towels on a paper plate. Allow to stand overnight, then push fouling out with a dry patch or three. Inspect the bore, should be much better. A clean dry brush will likely remove any remaining lead, which is degraded by the Wipe-Out and typically flakes out of the bore. Probably done, but may require a second treatment.

 

[Old Skool]

Ed Shell covered it very well. Only a little to add.

If your slugs are protected by a plastic wad, it would be very likely
that you are seeing plastic smeared onto your bore and not lead.
Looking at the muzzle should tell you what kind of fowling you are
dealing with. The JB will work, but it is of a very fine grit. The effect
is more of a polishing action, hence it will take alot of strokes to
rid your bore of fowling. As you may know, JB is primarly used by
bench rest shooters to clean/polish their 6 pps barrel throats. You
may find that the JB is more effective on lead than plastic

I shoot very little shotgun, but cleaning with penetrating oil (Kroil)
does help to "detach" the plastic from the bore, as Mr Shell stated.

These topics (cleaning) and more, will be addressed in classes at
Free State Arms next month, when we open. Please let us know what
firearm topics would be of interest.

Old Skool

 

[SNovaTac]

Ed/Old Skool,

Thank you both very much for your replies. Both were very informative. Alternating between the JB Bore Cleaner/Bore Bright and the Kroil seemed to do a fantastic job of getting my shotgun barrels clean. They look brand new. I will have to give the Wipe-Out a shot next time. I'll also have to look into the classes that Free State Arms offers. Is there a way to check those out online? Thanks again for the info.

 

[Old Skool]

There are no on-line classes listed at this point. We have a clip board available
that lists many classes that would be of interest to our shooting customers. sign
up for what interest you when you come to the range. When there are between
6 to 10 names requesting a certain class, we can notify everyone concerning the
date. As i am there 12 hours each Sunday, the sessions will be given on Sunday
morning or afternoon. The reloading classes will be basic and advanced in nature.
As a prerequisite, getting and reading a reloading manual before any classroom
session would be a smart thing to do. That way, the steps and terminology will
not be foreign to somone with no background in reloading. The advanced class
will cover topics that can be seen on Art Shells site. The precission aspects of
reloading will address long range and benchrest level hand loading, equiptment
choices and use, component choices, and load tuning - to name a few.

Old Skool

 

[hvymax]

Kroil is amazing on heavily lead fouled barrels. The lead comes out in barrel length strips. I only use polishes to lap new barrels or recover a severely neglected barrel. I suppose bench resters go through barrel fast enough not to worry about wearing out the barrel cleaning it.

 

[pitjeep]

didnt think you should use polish on chrome lined barrels.