Centerfire Maintenance
(For information on cleaning .50 caliber barrels
Click Here.)
We recommend that your new Lilja rifle barrel be properly broken-in
to obtain the best accuracy. A proper break-in will help ensure
that your barrel will clean easily in the future and that you will
achieve maximum accuracy potential. Please follow these important
instructions.
We are concerned with two types of fouling: copper fouling, which
is caused by bullet jacket material being left in the barrel, and
powder fouling. During the first few rounds a lot of copper fouling
will be left in the barrel. It is important to remove this fouling
completely, after each shot, to help prevent a build-up later on.
Powder fouling is ongoing, but easy to remove. Do not use moly-coated
bullets during the break-in procedure.
Break-in Procedure
For an effective break-in the barrel should be cleaned after every
shot for the first 10-12 rounds or until copper fouling stops. Our
procedure is to push a cotton patch that is wet with solvent through
the barrel. This will remove much of the powder fouling and wet
the inside of the barrel with solvent. Next, wet a bronze brush
with solvent and stroke the barrel 5-10 times. Follow this by another
wet patch and then one dry patch. Now soak the barrel with a strong
copper removing solvent until all of the blue mess is removed from
the barrel. The copper fouling will be heavy for a few rounds and
then taper off quickly in just one or two shots. Once it has stopped
or diminished significantly it is time to start shooting 5 shot
groups, cleaning after each one. After 25-30 rounds clean at a normal
interval of 10-25 rounds. Your barrel is now broken-in.
Normal cleaning
For a normal cleaning (after a string of 10-25 shots) after break-in,
the above procedure should be used, but stop short of soaking the
barrel with the strong copper remover. A good rule of thumb is to
stroke the barrel with a brush, one cycle for every shot fired.
Periodic cleaning
It is probably a good idea to use a strong copper removing solvent
every 200 rounds, or so, to check the barrel for copper fouling.
We do not recommend the routine use of abrasive cleaners for normal
cleaning. However they can be used every 500-1000 rounds to remove
the carbon build-up (caused by powder fouling) in the throat area
of the barrel. To use, wrap a cotton patch around a worn out brush
or a cleaning jag and liberally apply the abrasive cleaner to the
patch. Short stroke the abrasive for 6" or so in the throat
area and one or two full length passes through the barrel. Do not
clean the barrel like this for more than 1-2 minutes.
Suggested equipment and solvents
It is important to use an action rod guide when cleaning. The guide
aligns the rod with the bore and helps prevent uneven wear in the
throat area. Be careful not to raise the handle end of the rod while
stroking. This will put a "belly" in the rod that will
wear the barrel. We suggest that plastic coated rods, like the Dewey
and Parker-Hale, be used.
Our preferred cleaning solvent is Butch's Bore Shine made by BBS
Industries (406-652-2495). This solvent is excellent at attacking
both powder and copper fouling. We recommend it for both break-in
and regular cleaning.
For occasional use only, abrasives like J-B paste, Flitz, or RemClean
can be used.
Do not use a stainless steel brush in your barrel under any circumstances.
Do not apply a strong copper remover, like Sweets, on a bronze
brush. It will ruin the brush and give the false indication that
the barrel has copper in it.
For shooters wishing to use moly-coated bullets we do not recommend
shooting more than 25 rounds or so without using the normal cleaning
procedure outlined above.
Long barrels require a long cleaning rod. Click
Here for more information about a 60" Dewey rod.
To also read Dan's article titled Barrel Fouling - Click
Here
Butch Fisher of Butch's Bore Shine and Dan Lilja at the
2003 NBRSA Nationals in Phoenix.
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