From: bartb@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Bart Bobbitt)
Subject: Re: effect of phosphor-bronze brushes on barrels
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site

Stefan (smpod@mars.lerc.nasa.gov) wrote:

: Ever since the Merryl (sp?) Martin articles in Precision Shooting, some well
: known highpower shooters no longer use a bare brush without wrapping a patch
: around it.

I read that article and know that some folks now (and some forever) are
putting a patch on the bore brush to clean their barrels.  To each their
own.......

Some years ago, I did a comparison test between two NRA match rifles built
on the same make/model action; both with Hart barrels with the same bore,
groove, twist and length dimensions.  One was cleaned by traditional bore
brush methods; the other never had a bronze brush in its barrel, just patches
on a jag.  The same bore cleaner was used for both.  Each barrel produced
groups at 600 yards of about 3 inches when new.  Both rifles were shot in
the same manner across the course and regularly cleaned alike except one
had no bronze bore brush used.  Both barrels lasted within 5% of the same
number of rounds for accuracy.  Both barrels shot the same size groups at
test sessions every 600 or so  rounds of barrel life.  My conclusion after
this session was that bronze bore brushes don't hurt accuracy nor degrade
any element of barrel performance.  Although the statistical confidence
level in this test may be lower than some folks might consider worthwhile,
it was high enough for me to not stop putting bronze bore brushes in my
barrels.

I'm waiting for the day to come when someone breaks some competitive
shooting discpline record by a wide margin with a barrel having left-hand
twist rifling.  Then watch the custom barrel makers whose riflers are
set up for right-hand twists explain to customers that they really don't
need a lefty-twisted barrel to shoot the best score.  It's the same as
when Tom Trienen won the 1000-yd. glass-eye match at the Nationals in 1970
and broke the old record by a comfortable margin; everybody had to have a
7mm Rem. Mag.  Trouble was, consistantly accurate bullets weren't available
in that caliber for almost another 15 years.

BB

From: bartb@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Bart Bobbitt)
Subject: Re: effect of phosphor-bronze brushes on barrels
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site

James Warren (jdw@unislc.slc.unisys.com) wrote:

: Whether this damage [bronze bore brushes] affects accuracy enough to worry
: about is questionable.  There is no doubt in my mind that if you use a
: bronze brush on a lapped barrel, you will get more copper fouling than if
: you did not.

Some facts about folks using or recommending bore brushes in barrels:

  * Top quality barrel makers have no problems with folks using bronze
    bore brushes in their products.

  * Winning and record setting highpower and benchrest competitors use
    bronze bore brushes to keep their barrels shooting that well.

  * All of the current USA Palma Team members use bronze bore brushes
    in the .308 Win. chambered rifles.  So do the members of other
    country's teams.

  * Never use a metal bore brush of any kind in an air gun.  I think this
    is the only real exception regarding their use in shootin' irons.

BB