SweetM4 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 i recently put about 200 rounds of cheap walmart shells (federal 7 1/2 shot multi-purpose load) and another 200 rounds of federal "low recoil rifled slugs" through my M4 in a single afternoon of training exercises. afterwards, i found that the barrel had a lot of what appeared to be plastic wad residue inside the barrel mostly in the vicinity of the forcing cone. there was no easy way to remove this gunk (hoppes No. 9, butch's bore solvent, gun scrubber) all did little to remove this gunk. i even chucked up a cleaning rod with a bronze bore brush soaked in solvent. no luck. i finally had to cut some strips of a scotch brite scouring pad and then wrap that with a layer of a copper scouring pad all soaked in solvent and then with a cordless drill it took about 10 passes up and down the barrel to finally get all the sh*t out. i enjoy cleaning my guns, but this was not enjoyable. i'm convinced that it has to be the particular shells i was shooting that caused the problem. assuming i'm right and, it's not normal to have to spend hours scouring your barrel with scouring pads attached to a cordless drill, what brand of shells would you recommend to avoid leaving excessive gunk in the barrel? can you recommend some inexpensive target loads, some 00 and number 1 buck shot and some good rifled slugs that you've used and can confirm don't gunk up the barrel with impossible to remove sh*t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobtanium Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Shoot whatever. Spend $4 and buy a tornado brush. Thank me after 60 seconds and a mirror polish looking bore. Ps, its the slugs. That's lead on the fc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetM4 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Shoot whatever. Spend $4 and buy a tornado brush. Thank me after 60 seconds and a mirror polish looking bore. Ps, its the slugs. That's lead on the fc. thanks for the quick reply. i thought it was plastic wad gunk and maybe some lead from the slugs. so the tornado brush really gets that crap off? i'll definitely try it will i still have to use the cordless drill or just a a few passes with the cleaning rod? any particular bore solvent or is hoppe's no. 9 good enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobtanium Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 thanks for the quick reply. i thought it was plastic wad gunk and maybe some lead from the slugs. so the tornado brush really gets that crap off? i'll definitely try it will i still have to use the cordless drill or just a a few passes with the cleaning rod? any particular bore solvent or is hoppe's no. 9 good enough? wet the brush with clp, hoppes, whatever, and go to town rodding it back and forth like Ron Jeremy and it will clean it out fast. Pile of lead shaving will issue from the muzzle. No drill needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetM4 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Great! Thank you for this information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofton Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I was having issues with my 870 and came across the following link, now I also clean my M4 with the same dowel rods: To resolve this issue you want to make two polish rods. One for the chamber and one for the bore. See the below picture to see what they will look like. Go to a building supply place and buy two 7/16th hard wood dowels and a pack of 00 or 000 steel wool. Take a full pad of steel wool and stretch over one of the wooden dowels and tape the bottom of it off. This is you chamber rod. Put the rod in your drill and polish the chamber of the barrel. Hold the barrel and keep spinning the rod till you feel the barrel getting slightly warm. Take the second dowel and either stretch 3/4 of a pad of steel wool over it or stretch a full pad out longer. This is your bore rod. Put this in your drill and simply run it through the barrel a couple times. Both procedures are done "DRY". You do not need solvents for these barrels. These are smooth bore barrels and bore cleaner is not needed. If the weapon is going to be put up for any length of time you can spray some oil, or put a few drops in the bore then put a wad of AI&P Tactical Cleaning patches (paper towels) and push that through the barrel with your "AI&P Tactical Cleaning Rod" ( the wooden dowel). This will leave some oil in the pores of the barrel for storage. http://www.aiptactical.com/Page_2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bello Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 i just use a bore snake 4 or 5 passes shes clean as a whistle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetM4 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Put about 200 slugs through in an afternoon of training and then you'll see the problem. You'll see a lot of gunk (I initially thought it was plastic wad gunk, but it's actually lead). Not at all easy to remove...traditional bronze bore brush did almost nothing even when using a cordless drill. I tried a bore snake, but no luck. The senior guys here recognize the problem and say a tornado brush will solve the problem. I'm going to buy one and give it a whirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetM4 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 I was having issues with my 870 and came across the following link, now I also clean my M4 with the same dowel rods: To resolve this issue you want to make two polish rods. One for the chamber and one for the bore. See the below picture to see what they will look like. Go to a building supply place and buy two 7/16th hard wood dowels and a pack of 00 or 000 steel wool. Take a full pad of steel wool and stretch over one of the wooden dowels and tape the bottom of it off. This is you chamber rod. Put the rod in your drill and polish the chamber of the barrel. Hold the barrel and keep spinning the rod till you feel the barrel getting slightly warm. Take the second dowel and either stretch 3/4 of a pad of steel wool over it or stretch a full pad out longer. This is your bore rod. Put this in your drill and simply run it through the barrel a couple times. Both procedures are done "DRY". You do not need solvents for these barrels. These are smooth bore barrels and bore cleaner is not needed. If the weapon is going to be put up for any length of time you can spray some oil, or put a few drops in the bore then put a wad of AI&P Tactical Cleaning patches (paper towels) and push that through the barrel with your "AI&P Tactical Cleaning Rod" ( the wooden dowel). This will leave some oil in the pores of the barrel for storage. http://www.aiptactical.com/Page_2.html Yes, thank you. I saw this also and it inspired me to try a variation that was easier for me. I bought a scotch brite scouring pad and a copper scouring pad. I cut a strip of the scouring pad and slipped it through the slot of a patch holder. Then I wrapped some of the material from the copper scouring pad around that and chucked the cleaning rod in a cordless drill. Five or 10 passes through the barrel and it was clean as a whistle. I think that I basically made a poor man's "tornado brush" so I'm going to buy a real tornado brush and try that next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobtanium Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Don't go trying to polish the Chrome lining on your m4. It's totally different from an unlined 870p. Just because your car has a motor and your weedeater has a motor does not mean they run on the same swill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.