Bore Cleaning 101: Speed Up the Job with a Wash Bottle
Small patches are not very efficient at distributing bore cleaning liquids inside your bore. 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 directly into the bore with a wash bottle, an inexpensive plastic bottle with an L-shaped dispensing neck, tapered at the end.
When using the wash bottle, 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. We prefer to plug the breech ans squirt from the muzzle.
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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Tags: Barrel, Bore Cleaning, Copper Cleaner, Liquid Solvent, Solvent, Wash Bottle, Wipe-Out
Aggressive products like Butch’s will slowly melt these bottles and leach volatile solvents thru the plastic. The only safe containers are glass or Teflon lab bottles.
Editor: We haven’t had that issue with the solvents we used, but for powerful stuff, you can simply transfer the solvent back to the glass factory bottle after usage. For the Carb-Out we typically use, we’ve never had an issue with the wash bottle.
This has been posted before, the main issue is that these bottles will “auto-siphon” and you’ll end up with all your solvent on the bench, floor or wherever. Ask me how I know, not once, had to let it happen twice!