June, 1922 
249 
While there is very little visible fouling 
from the use of smokeless powder, that 
which remains in the bore of the gun is 
of an acid nature and will commence to 
eat away the steel if left undisturbed for 
several hours. To clean rifles of this 
class, the shooter should run a dry clean- 
ing-patch through the slot of a cleaning- 
rod, saturate the cloth with a nitro- 
solvent solution, and swab the bore thor- 
oughly. This will clean the barrel ; then 
it is wiped and ready for oiling. There 
are a number of good nitro-cleaning 
preparations on the market that are made 
especially for this purpose, and it is not 
necessary for the shooter to experiment 
with home-made compounds. These prep- 
arations are generally some oil-contain- 
ing alkaline ingredients that will neutral- 
ize the acid residues of the smokeless 
powder and the primers, and at the same 
time dissolve any loose fouling in the 
barrel. 
Rifles using smokeless powder and 
metal-jacketed bullets are the most diffi- 
cult of the three classes to clean. These 
modern high-power rifles present the 
difficulty of dealing with a primer, 
smokeless powder and a metal fouling 
residue. The primer and powder resi- 
dues may be removed by the same pro- 
cedure as was taken in cleaning rifles of 
the second class. Then the problem is 
to detect and remove the thin coatings 
of metal from the jacketed bullets that 
cling tenaciously to the bore of the gun. 
While metal fouling in itself is not a 
dangerous condition, it allows a good 
field for the development of serious evils. 
Besides keeping the oil from reaching 
the surface of the bore, it covers up 
powder and primer fouling so that they 
cannot be removed with nitro-cleaning 
preparations. Metal fouling has the 
serious drawback of being practically in- 
visible to the naked eye and the shooter 
may be led to believe that his gun is per- 
fectly clean, when in reality the barrel 
may be badly coated on the inside with 
particles from the hard metal- 
cased bullets. Unless these 
thin films of metal are re- 
moved from the bore of the 
rifle before it is put away for 
the season, the accuracy of 
the arm may be seriously im- 
paired within a few months’ 
time. 
TN cleaning high-power rifles 
^ after using metal-jacketed 
bullets, the writer cleans the 
bore with a nitro-cleaning 
preparation to remove the 
powder and primer residues, 
and then uses strong ammonia 
(Fortis 28 degrees) to dis- 
solve the metal fouling. How- 
ever, before using the am- 
monia, the bore should be 
clean and dry and free from all traces 
of oil or powder solvent. A piece of 
cloth dipped in the ammonia is drawn 
through the barrel several times, after 
which the gun is allowed to stand for 
two or three minutes when it is wiped 
perfectly dry with clean patches. Care 
must be taken that no ammonia gets into 
FOREST AND STREAM 
the action of the gun, nor should it be 
left in the barrel any length of time as it 
will rust the metal. Ammonia will dis- 
solve any metal particles from the metal- 
cased bullets that are left in the barrel, 
and it reveals this form of fouling by a 
bluish discoloration on the white-clean- 
ing patches, resulting from the chemical 
action of the two substances. After the 
indications show that all the metal coat- 
ings have been removed, the barrel is 
wiped dry and is ready to be oiled. 
There are several formulas for the 
making of home-made solutions to re- 
move metal fouling from rifle barrels. 
Some of these solutions deteriorate 
rapidly and in time become worthless or 
harmful, and unless the ingredients used 
are chemically pure tlie results obtained 
will not be satisfactory and may in 
some cases do more injury than good. 
Preparations containing acids are as in- 
jurious to the barrel itself as to the foul- 
ing, and should never be used. Some 
good preparations for removing metal 
fouling are being put on the market, and 
they will do the work \-ery well if the 
directions given are followed. How- 
ever, if the shooter prefers to use strong 
ammonia, the liquid should he kept in a 
wide-mouthed bottle having a glass stop- 
per. so that it can be handled with the 
lea.st discomfort and kept in the best 
condition. 
Care must he exercised in using 
.smokeless powder ammunition in 11 
caliber rifles. While the smokcles.- 
powder cartridges leave but little visible 
fouling, the residue that is left is quite 
severe on the bore of the gun unless it is 
completely removed within a sh«-rt time 
after the last shot is fired. This danger 
is due to the large amount of fulminate 
necessary to fire smokeless powders in 
these small shells, and to the fact that the 
present development of smokeless pow- 
ders has not reached a point where they 
are as well adapted to small rim-fire 
cartridges as are the black or semi- 
smokeless powders. It is sometimes very 
difficult to neutralize and remove the ex- 
ceedingly corrosive residue left by the 
smokeless powder cartridges, and unless 
this is done the barrel will so-m be 
ruined. As black, semi-smokeless and 
lesmok powder rim-fire cartridges pos- 
sess greater power, accuracy, range and 
uniformity, there should be little excuse 
for ruining a 22 caliber rifle by using 
smokeless powder ammunition. 
Lead or lead alloy bullets that are not 
lubricated, should not be used in a rille 
if one wishes to avoid a fertile field for 
leading a rifle barrel. Reduced smoke- 
less powder loads having lead alloy bul- 
lets should not be used in a high-power 
rifle following the firing of a full charge 
load, as the hard residue left by the high 
velocity load will invariably cause lead- 
ing of the barrel. It is always a safe 
plan to clean out a rifle-barrel before 
changing from high power to reduced 
smokeless powder loads and alloy bullets, 
however, it is not necessary to clean out 
the barrel when using the lead all>)\ bul- 
lets before shooting metal-jacketed bul- 
lets. Trouble is often e.\i)erienced in 
using black powder cartridges and lead 
bullets and high velocity cartridges pro- 
miscuously during a day's shooting, as 
the metal-jacketed bullets must scrape 
off all the black powder residue which 
sometimes cakes on the bore, while a lead 
bullet would be deformed and 
slide past any such obstruc- 
tions. In shooting large l-TC 
rifles, like the 4.^ - 70, this 
trouble would be very notice- 
able b}' a severe recoil as well 
as inaccuracy. 
.-\ leaded barrel can lU'tcn- 
times be cleaned by using a 
cleaning-rod and a clnth sat- 
urated w i t h turpentine, tn- 
gether with the use -.f a br.ass 
brush that is iutcrchangc.able 
with the slotted tip on j>unted 
cleaning - rods, ^\’herc this 
method does not remove the 
leading, one end of the !>orc 
should he plugged with a rub- 
ber cork and quicksilver pour- 
ed into the barrel. As this is 
rolled backward and forward 
in the barrel, the lead will unite with the 
quicksilver and in this way be remo'cd. 
In severe cases of leading, where the 
shooter is unahle to cope with tin situa- 
tion. the gun should be sent to thi f.ic- 
lory where it can be restored t-: its 
original clean and bright state, unless the 
(Continued on page 27S) 
The target at the left was made with a rifle that had received 
the best^ of care. The one at the right was made by a rifle 
with a pitted barrel. Six shots at each target. Distance 36 feet 
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