Tech Tip: Wash Bottles Speed Barrel Cleaning
One of our Forum readers complained that his 6mm jags fit very tight with patches, making it difficult to apply much solvent. The problem with a tight-fitting patch is that the solvent gets squeezed off in the first few inches. You can switch to a smaller jag, or a bore mop, but there is an even better way to get an ample amount of solvent in your bore — just spray it in with a “wash bottle”. This is an inexpensive plastic bottle with an L-shaped dispensing neck, tapered at the end. You can either just plug the breech and spray from the muzzle end (where most copper fouling is), or, alternately, put the wash bottle neck directly in the chamber and spray forward. When spraying from the chamber forward, you may need to use a rubber O-Ring to seal off the action… depending on the bore size and the particular wash bottle’s neck spout diameter.
Bottle Solvent Application Great for Smaller Bores
Using wet patches or wet brushes is an inefficient way to really saturate the tight bores of 17s, 20s, and 22s. Even with a cotton bore mop, most of the solvent will be squeezed out before it gets to the end of the bore, where most copper fouling occurs. For these smaller 17, 20, and 22-caliber bores, you can just take the “wash bottle” and stick the tapered nozzle right in the chamber. The tapered end will press fit in the throat, sealing off the chamber. With the barrel slightly nose-down, give the bottle a couple good squirts until the solvent mists out the muzzle. In just a few seconds, this will put more solvent in the bore than a half-dozen wet patches.
A solvent-filled wash bottle is also handy for wetting your brushes. It’s much easier to saturate a bore brush (without spilling solvent on your stock), by using the wash bottle. You can get wash bottles from USPlastic.com, Amazon.com, or lab supply stores.
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- Clean Barrels More Efficiently with Wash Bottles
Tags: Barrel cleaner, Bore Cleaning, Cleaning, Solvent, Wash Bottle
This are really nice, but be careful, on occasion I have had them auto-siphon, dumping their contents wherever. Now I put them over a cup that can catch solvent in the event that happens… rare, but it does happen.
Nagalene bottles will not keep some solvents very long. For storage metal or glass bottles are a must for the longterm.
Nat Lambeth
The problem with tight fitting jags has a simple solution. Use one size smaller than the bore. For a long time I have used a Sinclair .22 cal. piercing type jag to clean my 6mm barrels. Combined with their 1 3/8″ square patches, it provides a fit that carries more solvent into the bore, while still being tight enough so that the patch is not lost when short stroking. The only disadvantage is that more patches are required to dry the bore, which is really no big deal. An alternate to the bottles in the article is to use ungraduated disposable pipettes to apply solvents to patches. I have done this for years. It works very well.
EDITOR: Boyd makes a good point about using smaller jags. But any patch can still only hold a tiny amount of solvent. Using a wash bottle, with the breach plugged or an 0-ring-fitted guide rod inserted in the breach, you can spray a bunch of solvent right in from the muzzle and get much more liquid in the bore faster. That makes the whole cleaning process go more quickly. Imagine if you tried to clean a dirty cooking pot, if you could only apply the soap and water with a small, square patch.
I have been using various sizes of these containers for a couple of years. They are very handy compared to anything else I have tried. So far no problems with siphoning or solvents reacting to the containers.
We use these at work with “Make up fluid”.
MEK and Alcohol. For the video jet.
And the auto siphoning is usually in the summer. If you don’t catch it. The whole bottle is gone. We proally go through a lot of make up fluid. More than we know. Make up fluid evaporates real quick.
.22 jag is the way to go.
keep them in a controlled enviornment…if you keep them in a shed or workshop where temp varies more than a few degrees at night they will pump themselves out on your floor because of the pressure-temp changes at night.
Never had a problem with plastic breakdown, but Nat is right… it is possible. To avoid any issue just unscrew the lid of the wash bottle and pour the solvent back in the solvent glass/metal container when you’re done. Likewise that eliminates any auto-siphoning issue (which I’ve never seen happen). Use common sense.
Here’s a cure for the original problem and the storage issue. I use CA bulb syringes. CA is the abbreviation for Cyanoacrylate, which is an industrial grade super glue for building model airplanes. They are small and efficient and hold more than enough to soak 5 or 6 patches and long enough to precisely insert into a chamber. These syringes can be found at most hobby shops. They are clear plastic so that you can easily see how much and what type of solvent you are using and you just squirt the excess back into the original bottle. Over time they do become soft and start breaking down, but I’ve used my current ones for well over a year. I put Sweets 7.62 in one and Shooter’s choice in the other.
The concept is great, putting the solutions where you want it, I bought three of these a couple of years ago, but I had terrible problems with them auto-siphoning, dumping their contents wherever. Keeping a container under the spout was a pain, so, after losing a fair amount of Butch’s, the bottles got tossed. Buy the ones that Sinclair sells, better product and they don’t dump you solution.
I don’t dispute that some such thing happens, but these bottles draining themselves cannot be “siphoning”, which will not pump liquids to an end point higher than the origination. Siphons have to lose altitude. Benny above is probably correct that temperature change is at least part of the problem. Perhaps unscrewing the cap would stop the problem.
I use these everyday in my work. The more volatile the contents, the more spillage. The siphoning is a result of heat and atmospheric pressure change. When a low pressure front approaches, they begin to spill. Likewise, a source of heat causes the problem. The solution is to unscrew the top just enough to allow the pressure to equalize when not in use. Obviously, these bottles are not good for transporting. There are self venting wash bottles that eliminate the problem. These are self venting: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23359&catid=875
BTW, the ones I linked to are more resistant to solvents.
Hmm.. this is a great idea to get that right amount of the gun cleaning solvent into the bore. I’m getting one of these…
I drill a 1/64″ hole in the lid to vent and put my finger on the hole as I squeeze the bottle.
I simply only fill the bottle half full and when not using it I pull the dispensing tube up until it no longer is in the liquid. When ready to use it again I push the tube back down into the liquid.
I like the Clear ketchup bottles I can get at my local grocery store. Solvent does not eat them. and they usually have a snap on cap.