Ok, my 91/30 is starting to piss me off.

[Anthropophagus]

I've been through 3 cleaning sessions and it's not getting any cleaner.

Brush the hell out of it with my brass brush, run tons of patches through it (100-200). After the brush, the patches come out pitch black. Regardless of the brush, they still come out dirty with no change in color at all. What the hell is going on?

I just oiled it up and left it sitting. I don't have the patience for this anymore.

Is this just a really, really dirty Mosin? The patches are only black in color.

[Karl/PA]

Couple of things. What solvent are you cleaning with? Sounds like you're not getting it all out. Have you tried Ballistol? Can you be dealing with copper fouling? An acidic solvent against copper can produce black patches. Not enough information.

[JLR666]

I work on and clean guns every day here at the shop. And in all the time of doing so I've seen or heard of guys doing this " I clean it and clean it, and still dirty " the best thing to do is make sure it has nothing blocking the barrel and take it out and shoot it. then go back and clean it . I scrubbed a yugo sks for about an hour( thought we got srewed and it was shot out) and it still looked like shit, took it out put 3 shots down range and then ran a couple of patches till they came out spotless. nothing cleans grooves better than something running them and your brush brass or synt. doesn't run them quite as nice as a bullet.

[Anthropophagus]

Originally Posted by Karl/PA

Couple of things. What solvent are you cleaning with? Sounds like you're not getting it all out. Have you tried Ballistol? Can you be dealing with copper fouling? An acidic solvent against copper can produce black patches. Not enough information.

Using Hoppes No. 9.

The patches come out black but I noticed some of them turned an aqua color around the edges of the "dirt" when left to sit. I associate that with copper. For the most part, however, they are dark black. The bore is visibly smooth. It just seems like there is grime caked on.

I'm new to this, so I hope I've been informative.

[phillyshooter]

I ran across this problem with my 91/30 also. I stripped the whole thing to pieces then soaked the barrel in HOT soapy water for about 30 - 45 minutes, dried it throughly and then cleaned it like I normally do with Weapon Shield, brush and patches.

[Anthropophagus]

Originally Posted by phillyshooter

I ran across this problem with my 91/30 also. I stripped the whole thing to pieces then soaked the barrel in HOT soapy water for about 30 - 45 minutes, dried it throughly and then cleaned it like I normally do with Weapon Shield, brush and patches.

Just to clear this up before I soak it...

How many patches (approximately) did you use after soaking it? Because I had Googled this issue at first and saw someone complaining about 50 patches. I far surpassed that without any end in sight. Also, it's cool to leave it soak in water? I keep noticing a light coating of brown appearing on different parts, which I am taking for a type of flash rust.

[fingers80002]

If you haven't shot it, do like JRL say's, shoot it.
Works wonders.

[Anthropophagus]

I had actually shot 40 rounds through it, but there some time between the range and the cleaning.

[Karl/PA]

Originally Posted by Anthropophagus

I had actually shot 40 rounds through it, but there some time between the range and the cleaning.

Were they milsurp rounds? If so, they are corrosive and rifles should be cleaned immediately after each use.

[phillyshooter]

I probably ran 100 or so patches through it before the soapy water treatment. 30 minutes or so won't rust it as long as you dry it throughly after soaking.

Milsurp rounds should be cleaned immediately after shooting, if not, it could cause fouling that could be near impossible to clean out.