Tornado brush, how bad did I screw up?

[flyboy1910]

I bought one of these things to clean out a rusty Nagant bore, and accidentally ran it through my FAL about 8-10 times during cleaning before I woke up and realized what I was doing. Don't clean guns while watching TV! (Grabbed it out of my .30 cal. cleaning box without looking.) Did i just screw my bore up? Please say no!

[Abominog]

There's a lot of pitted and crappy looking FAL barrels that still shoot minute-of-bad-guy (deference to the author of that concept). You're more likley to damage it by cleaning an unprotected muzzle end. Stick it up to a light and look in the barrel- see anything really bad? Probably not.

[flyboy1910]

It's a hammer forged Styer barrel, It looks like it has machining marks in the rifling, but it was like that when I bought it i think.

[W.E.G.]

You're DQ'd.

You must now send all your guns to me.

[flyboy1910]

Machining lines running down the length of the grooves.. sorry Sounds like I'm OK, I have heard bad things about these brushes (after I bought it of coarse, thats my luck).

[Noah Zark]

Originally posted by flyboy1910
I bought one of these things to clean out a rusty Nagant bore, and accidentally ran it through my FAL about 8-10 times during cleaning before I woke up and realized what I was doing.

Why do you think you screwed up your FAL's bore with the Tornado brush?

Noah

[flyboy1910]

Many people online are saying they are bad ju ju, and will scratchs bores, etc.

[DYNOMIKE]

Tornado Brush Should be OK..
Now IF you used a HURRICANE Brush you Might be in Trouble..

I'm W/Noah Zark..
It's a BRUSH, what COULD It do??
It's NOT made of Stainless Right? IF not I see NO prob.. Clean away, Shoot, and Repeat..

[firefuzz]

Originally posted by DYNOMIKE

It's NOT made of Stainless Right? IF not I see NO prob.. Clean away, Shoot, and Repeat..

The only ones I've ever seen ARE made of stainless steel. Where can I find some hurricane brushes?


Rob

[gunnut1]

I don't understand why people get their panties in a wad over using a brush. A brush will not harm the bore. I have used most of the different types of brushes including stainless over the years and I have never seen a scratch in a bore due to using a brush. If brushes were that harmful to the barrel then the cleaning kit makers would not include them in their kits and every cleaning kit. And all manufacturers included brushes in their kits. And usually the first instruction is " Choose a brush of the appropriate size."

And guess what, my favorite brush is the Tornado brush. Love 'em!

The barrel is heat treated, it is hard. The brush is soft by comparison. How can a brass brush possible scratch a barrel. and a Tornado brush with it's looped end can not scratch a barrel either because it is softer than the barrel.

[W.E.G.]

I suppose it is possible to wear-down the rifling at the muzzle from excessive passes of any brush. If there is crud on the brush, or the brush picks up crud in the bore, the passing of the brush at the muzzle might eventually abrade the rifling.

Much greater damage can be done by grinding a steel cleaning rod against the muzzle.

I generally try to take it easy on brush use near the muzzle. Most of the chunky fouling is in the three inches ahead of the chamber. I like to use a worn-out brush to scrub back-and-forth just in that three inch area. Then I use a tighter brush to make two or three passes through the length of the barrel.

You need a solvent (not a brush) to loosen copper fouling along the length of the bore.

I don't use solvent with the brush.

I only brush the bore with a dry brush, and a dry bore.

Then I flush the bore with a solvent.

Then just two or three patches.

Anything more than that, and you are trying to hard.

Careful cleaning won't hurt a good bore.
Constant cleaning won't cure a bad bore.

[gunnut1]

I only brush the bore with a dry brush, and a dry bore.

Gary, you should always use some kind of liquid on your brush. It helps to lube the bore and loosen the crud. I put my favorite stuff on the brush, run it through the bore several times, set the barrel aside for a while and clean other parts. The last thing I clean is the barrel. Several patches and call it good enough.

[MACV]

I doubt that it hurt anything. I used one in my Mosin when I fired corrosive ammo and forgot to clean it for a week. It cleaned out all the rust and returned the bore to a frosty shine. Rifle shoots fine.

[Noah Zark]

I've used Tornado brushes for over 30 years. They are made of stainless steel but that in and of itself is not an issue. The hardness of the brush bristles vs. that of the barrel is the central issue. Stainless or not, a firearm barrel is harder than a stainless Tornado brush.

Tornados are all I use in a S&W 28 and 25 through which I shoot exclusively swaged lead bullets, and I've owned the guns since 1970 and 1978 respectively. I've worn out several Tornado brushes in each of the guns. Both revolvers still shoot much better than I can anymore.

Flyboy1910: You ever think about the steel-jacketed surplus ammo you're shooting through that Mosin's bore?

Fugeddabowdit.

Seriously, you should be concerned about damage to the muzzle crown from the cleaning rod when cleaning, and a cleaning rod guide is always a good investment.

Noah

[gunnut1]

Seriously, you should be concerned about damage to the muzzle crown from the cleaning rod when cleaning, and a cleaning rod guide is always a good investment.

True, true. But why are people cleaning from the muzzle? You should never clean from the muzzle if you can avoid it. With some gun designs, you have to clean from the muzzle. But not a FAL.

I also doubt that you could ruin a muzzle the way we shoot. The military shoots thousands of rounds a year and the guns get cleaned a bazillion times a year. Muzzle erosion is almost a given.

We shoot several times a year and maybe clean our guns 6 or 7 times a year.
It would take a life time of running a rod down the muzzle to actually ruin it. I know there are people that clean a lot more.

I agree with W.E.G. though. I think we tend to over clean. Talked to a bud here while back. Asked him what he was doing. He told me that he had been cleaning the bore of his AR15 for the past 3 hours. "Say what!" I told him that he was WAY over cleaning the gun. He said that I should try and convince his old armory Sargent of that. I returned with "Hey that was 40 years ago bud, this ain't the military!" So I guess old habits die hard.

[Radio]

Originally posted by gunnut1
He said that I should try and convince his old armory Sargent of that. I returned with "Hey that was 40 years ago bud, this ain't the military!" So I guess old habits die hard.

I believe we focus the same unnecessary attention on the gas piston.

--Radio

[gunnut1]

Originally posted by Radio

I believe we focus the same unnecessary attention on the gas piston.

--Radio

I used to. Now it I can just get the majority of the carbon off of it, that is close enough!

I thinks we tend to over clean. If I can get the majority of the dirt and crude out of the barrel, and the "last" patch comes out with a little black on it. OK I'm done.

Now bench rest shooters, they are cleaning fanatics.

[W.E.G.]

Originally posted by gunnut1


Gary, you should always use some kind of liquid on your brush.

I used to.

Then I found I got the same result with the dry brush, and without dissolving the bronze bristles with ammonia solvent, and stinking up the wife's laundry room - which is where I do most of my gun cleaning because I'm allowed to pee in the sink in there.

[jbrooks]

Your wife lets you pee in her laundry sink??

Now, That's a keeper!

Frankly, the odor of Hoppe's is one of those luxuries in life, so I have used it on my brushes for 40 years now. Sure, it eats the brushes, but they're pretty cheap.

JWB

[Court in Fl]

The only time I had trouble with a brush was when I used a .22 cal Stainless Steel brush in my Remington 700 heavy barrel.

The bristles where so short , stiff and sharp , I could feel it cutting once I started it in the bore.

I had no choice but to run it all the way through as I could not back it up.
I put a magnet on the brush after it went through the bore and a bunch of metal dust jumped to the magnet, I thought I had just ruined my barrel.
But it still shoots 1/2 inch at 100 yards.

I have used other stainless brushes in the past and they worked ok, but this was a CHEEP Gun show brush.

Now I save the stainless brushes for chrome bores.

Court in FL.

[W.E.G.]

Originally posted by jbrooks
Your wife lets you pee in her laundry sink??

Its the only way I can get her to not leave soggy clothes in the sink.

[jbrooks]

Originally posted by W.E.G.


Its the only way I can get her to not leave soggy clothes in the sink.