Does my freebore look weird?

[Wrench]

Chamber cast with cerrosafe.

 

[Ice-kub]

Thanks for the replies, think I'll try a good cleaning and go from there.

 

[TaperPin]

Thanks for the replies, think I'll try a good cleaning and go from there.

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this - I bet it clears up and starts working right. Sounds like it’s going to be a great shooter.

 

[The Guide]

Thanks for the replies, think I'll try a good cleaning and go from there.

Does it have a threaded muzzle? If so, there is a device you can thread on the muzzle and then fill the bore with cleaning solvent to dissolve all the copper and carbon. Dump the fluid out and brush the bore with a nylon bore brush and then patch clean. That is what we did to get my wife's rifle back shooting. The fluid was blue with black sludge when we dumped it into a water bottle after a 24 hour soak!

Jay

 

[Flyjunky]

Does it have a threaded muzzle? If so, there is a device you can thread on the muzzle and then fill the bore with cleaning solvent to dissolve all the copper and carbon. Dump the fluid out and brush the bore with a nylon bore brush and then patch clean. That is what we did to get my wife's rifle back shooting. The fluid was blue with black sludge when we dumped it into a water bottle after a 24 hour soak!

Jay

just curious, what solvent you used?

 

[The Guide]

just curious, what solvent you used?

Bore Tech Eliminator

Jay

 

[Ice-kub]

Does it have a threaded muzzle? If so, there is a device you can thread on the muzzle and then fill the bore with cleaning solvent to dissolve all the copper and carbon. Dump the fluid out and brush the bore with a nylon bore brush and then patch clean. That is what we did to get my wife's rifle back shooting. The fluid was blue with black sludge when we dumped it into a water bottle after a 24 hour soak!

Jay

What is this device called? It is a solvent trap?

 

[The Guide]

What is this device called? It is a solvent trap?

Muzzle Jimmy

The easiest way to clean your AR15/AR10 barrel and gas system

patriotvalleyarms.com

Jay

 

[Wapiti1]

To answer a few questions, properly sharpening a reamer doesn't change dimensions. The cutting flutes are designed to be sharpened and there is a flat (well, almost flat) on top of the flute to accommodate that. In Wrench's photo, you can see the flat clearly on the bottom reamer. The flute is sharpened from the side of the flute, not the top.

It's possible to not fully cut away rifling if the barrel dimensions are on the high side, and reamer on the low. Most reamers sold to the aftermarket are min dimension, or very close to it.

The sharpie is being removed all around, so the bullet is contacting a solid surface, not just lands in the throat. In fact, I don't see land contact marks on any of the bullets in your photos. Also makes me think about carbon in the throat.

I would suggest soaking a patch in the solvent of your choice, and stuff it into the throat to let sit for a few hours. Easier than filling the barrel. Putting a nylon 30 cal brush on the last section of a rod and spinning at low RPM with a drill is also an easy way to scrub the throat. If the carbon is really hard, it may need to be a bronze brush. No, this will not harm the throat, or neck area.

Jeremy

 

[Ice-kub]

To answer a few questions, properly sharpening a reamer doesn't change dimensions. The cutting flutes are designed to be sharpened and there is a flat (well, almost flat) on top of the flute to accommodate that. In Wrench's photo, you can see the flat clearly on the bottom reamer. The flute is sharpened from the side of the flute, not the top.

It's possible to not fully cut away rifling if the barrel dimensions are on the high side, and reamer on the low. Most reamers sold to the aftermarket are min dimension, or very close to it.

The sharpie is being removed all around, so the bullet is contacting a solid surface, not just lands in the throat. In fact, I don't see land contact marks on any of the bullets in your photos. Also makes me think about carbon in the throat.

I would suggest soaking a patch in the solvent of your choice, and stuff it into the throat to let sit for a few hours. Easier than filling the barrel. Putting a nylon 30 cal brush on the last section of a rod and spinning at low RPM with a drill is also an easy way to scrub the throat. If the carbon is really hard, it may need to be a bronze brush. No, this will not harm the throat, or neck area.

Jeremy

So I did the bronze brush with some solvent with a drill and it came out sparkling. I definitely noticed the bronze brush taking away the carbon with the bore scope, should have taken photos.

 

[The Guide]

So I did the bronze brush with some solvent with a drill and it came out sparkling. I definitely noticed the bronze brush taking away the carbon with the bore scope, should have taken photos.

And, do they chamber without rubbing now?

Jay

 

[Ice-kub]

They chamber and extract nicely, still rub in one spot but, it's very light scuffing.

 

[Flyjunky]

They chamber and extract nicely, still rub in one spot but, it's very light scuffing.

This is exactly why when people claim that you never clean a rifle I cringe.

 

[The Guide]

This is exactly why when people claim that you never clean a rifle I cringe.

Never clean it until you have issues.

Jay

 

[wapitibob]

Never clean it until you have issues.

Jay

a little late at that point

 

[gelton]

I think the cleaning part needs to be spoken about in more specific terms.

I do not make it a practice to clean the barrel until I start seeing issues with groups but that absolutely does not mean that I don't clean the chamber or bolt after each range session.

Or that wouldn't clean the throat if I saw weird things happening with the bore scope.

 

[TaperPin]

That’s great news!

It should be said every barrel is different. A factory barrel, especially if it’s a bit oversize, with a ton of slop in an oversize and overly long throat will take much more time to carbon up to the point it creates a problem. Custom barrels with tight chambers don’t have much extra room for carbon to hang out in, so accuracy suffers faster. The target never lies - that lets you know.