Cleaning your guns is not without its problems. First, there’s the argument of whether cleaning regularly is even necessary, and once you get past that, it becomes a debate of what products to use to clean it. Gun owners tend to disagree on which cleaners and lubes are best, but there is some confusion about what types of brushes to use on barrels. In this video, Primal Rights talks about what a bronze brush is and whether they’re safe for your gun’s barrel.
What is a bronze brush?
A bronze brush is typically a standard bore brush either on a rod or cord designed to be run down the barrel of a gun. Not all bore brushes are bronze; the most common other type is made from nylon. Bronze is a good material because it’s a softer metal than the various steels, meaning it’s a lot safer for the bore of your gun. Remember, your barrel is made from steel.
These brushes are used to remove fouling and residue from inside the barrel of your gun. However, the toothbrush-style versions of these are also used to clean smaller components found on the receivers of handguns.
Is a bronze bore brush safe for barrels?
To test the theory that bronze is safe—or isn’t—Primal Rights first shows you a video of the inside of a barrel using a borescope. It’s pristine in the video with no gouges or damage to the lands and grooves.
Then, they use different sizes of bronze bore brushes to clean the gun barrel. Finally, they run the brush by hand and mount it to a drill and run it down the barrel.
After running bronze brushes repeatedly down their rifle’s barrel, Primal Rights runs the borescope back down the gun’s barrel for a closer look. Again, there is absolutely no damage, but the interior of the barrel is now gleaming.
Check out the video below to learn more about bronze brushes and how safe they are for cleaning your guns:
Commenters had a few thoughts on this process as well. Wally Rossow threw in his own experience, saying, “I was a machinist in my younger years and there’s no way anybody can convince me that a brass or bronze bore brush will harm a gun barrel. The forces generated when a bullet is shot through a barrel are much greater than any human can generate while cleaning a barrel. I think your video proved that as well.”
Jacob Bowling agreed, commenting “Yeah, as someone who works with metals all day (machinist) I knew this was always a bunch of BS superstition. A soft metal will not cut a harder metal, and most barrels are made of 4140 steel.”
What’s your experience with cleaning your guns? Have you ever damaged a barrel by using the wrong product? If so, what did you use? Let us know in the comments section below.
