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Make-it-yourself gun cleaning patches.

68K views 43 replies 37 participants last post by  Poppy42 
#1 ·
Stumbled across this the other day, thought I'd pass this along.

Now... why didn't I ever think of this. :)
 
#27 ·
After scrubbing the bore, I wrap blue paper towel around the second bristle section of a bore snake do two clean pulls. A couple of quick sprays of remoil and it's good. That would make the blue wrap right purdy.
 
#29 ·
Been using paper towels for years with great results, but for a specific purpose.

I like the box idea, and how he cuts them...typically i just cut in fourths.

Only use papertowel for the initial pass with solvent...no reason to trash a good piece of flannel for that.

Bore cleaning:
1. Soak 1/4 sheet paper towel in Ed's Red.
2. Use to soak barrels on initial pass. (Usually I do two to three barrels at once on initial wetting). Paper towel patch is pitch black...barrel bores are wet.
3. Let sit five-ten minutes....(sort empty hulls while waiting).
4. Use tight dry paper towel patch to get initial gunk out (1/4 sheet).
5. Wet Bronze brush and pass 6-8 times per barrel.
6. Let sit five minutes. (put sorted hulls in containers in basement).
7. Use dry paper towel to get gunk out.
8. I then switch to a flannel patch/bore swap light with oil and done. Removes all traces of lint etc. and insures no pieces of paper towel left in bore.
Done....bores are a bright mirror finish. Plastic, powder and lead streaks all gone.

Externals...and action.
1. Dampen (not wet) 1/4 paper towel with Ed's red and wipe down all.
2. Dry with paper towel.
3. Wipe down all with Silicon Reel/Gun Cloth to remove all lint and lightly oil.
4. Apply hinge grease and lube where required.
Done.

3 firearms cleaned with 1 sheet of paper towel.
My flanel patches/Bore swabs and gun cloth stay clean for about 1-2 years this way.

Have cleaned $500-$5,000 firearms this way without incident.

If paper towels are used for the initial gunk removal I think its a good idea, but I like to follow with better lint free alternatives.

RockedEm
 
#30 ·
You guys that use paper towels must be using better quality paper than me. I have tried using paper towels (for my pistols, rifles, and shotguns) for cleaning patches and they always tear. I also don't have the a jag like the guy in the video. Mostly I use old shirts, pants, socks, and underwear for cleaning patches. If I want high quality patches I just by a flat bead sheet and cut it up. That is also how I make black powder patches.
 
#31 ·
Slugo,
I thought i was the only one! if papaer towels leave lint, you are using cheepie paper towels. Those are my go to cleaning patch for everything. Bountry works real well. I shove through pistol barrels with anything handy, like a pencil...
You can get much the same result as a bore snake if you take a couple and roll a big ol Hooter to shove through shotgun bores. Little ones for rifles and 22s.
 
#35 ·
After I use the Tornado Brush with Frontier 45 gun cleaning pad wound around it on the end of a sort section of cleaning rod chucked into a yard sale electric drill,,,,I sometimes take a napkin or other piece of paper and clean the gunk out with a dowel rod or proper gun cleaning rod. But usually I just use this method instead of patches:



There will always be an England, and may God bless the English! Somebody has to figure out the most complicated way to do something very carefully by hand with a gun that we Americans do with power machinery and gadgets instead.:)
 
#36 ·
I shoot only shotguns.
For inside the barrel I spray oil and use paper tissues, I make like a loose ball with it and use a rod to push it till it goes outside the barrel on the other end, for outside the barrels and action I use an old cotton T-shirt with oil, this is my daily cleaning after a shooting day at the club.
After few weeks of shooting I use a copper brush first then back to the paper tissues to oil and clean the barrels bore.
I used this system more than 40 years now and never had a problem of rust or anything
 
#41 ·
Lol his is much more refiined..When I was a kid say 16 I could never get to a store that had larger patches than for my .22 LR. So when i got my first shotgun a single shot 16 GA I had nothing to really clean the barrel with..so I thought what can i get down there that would fit tight enough to make a difference..first try was a simple wadded up kleenex or one folded in such a way to be tight but not get jammed...they often were too thin and a PITA so paper towels were a bit sturdier and been using them ever since that was about 1984 or there abouts :)
 
#42 ·
I thought it was a very thoughtful post. The man seems to really care about his shotgun and it's cleanliness. I'm going to try it with my blue shop paper towels that are very inexpensive at places like Harbor Freight, and stronger than kitchen paper towels.

One thing I have done for years cleaning all my guns is to combine the patch part and the bronze brush part. I wrap my wet solvent patches around the bronze brush and scrub until the patches comes out pretty clean. Then a final patch with a light spray of Breakfree CLP on it. This keeps all my barrels shiny bright and is very quick and easy to do. My Kriieghoff and H&K USP love it.

Here is good video of shotgun cleaning that may be of interest.



You can use a pure 100% copper scrubbing pad (get at grocery store) tear off a piece and wrap it around the bronze brush to pull any really heavy fouling out of your pistols or long guns. The copper scrubby material sort of works like steel wool, it is much tougher than any lead or plastic and most copper fouling but multiple times softer than a steel barrel so no worry about scratching.
 
#43 ·
It's a cool idea,but I buy a bag of ready made patch's and hook them to my cleaning rod end,just too
lazy to bother ,besides the small cotton patches can be dipped into a bottle of Hoppe's #9 nitro
solvent where his patches won't fit into the bottle and also a Tico tool is always ready at hand, to do it's job,but it does have applications?
 
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