Been using this stuff for a while and really like it. The only negative thing I can say about it is the packaging. I wish they had different style tops on the bottles. The stuff seems to go everywhere but where you want it.
David - I agree the top is also my only criticism of Thorroclean. I use a PMA Bore Guide and the flip top is not conducive to pouring the solution into the bore guide slot. I have gone to putting the solution on the patch (like John) before inserting the rod into the bore guide.
Thanks John, this video was very timely. I have been cleaning a 223 and 6.5 CR with both these products for quite a while now. Both rifles were very heavily carboned up. So far I am at about 15 cleanings on each rifle, running 10 patches wrapped around a nylon oversize brush with ThorroClean on it. I typically do 15 or 20 strokes with each patch, so around 150 strokes per session. The patches are still coming out black! I think I am nearly done on the 223, but the 6.5 CR is still showing a lot of carbon in the grooves. Not knowing any better, I did not try addressing getting the carbon out for nearly 1500 rounds in each rifle! D-oh!!
I have been using ThorroClean since I watched someone use it in a You Tube video. At first I used it as instructed. I realized that I was using more ThorroFlush than ThorroClean to finished the cleaning process. My primary cleaning solution for years has been Shooters Choice MC-7 bore cleaner. Montana Extreme bore solvent when necessary. I start with 3 or 4 patches of Shooters Choice. If the last patch is somewhat clean I unscrew the sharpened Parker Hale jag with the jag sticking out the front of the bore. (My first use of the brush is always pulled through the bore) I replace the jag with one of the IOSSO brushes and load the brush with the ThorroClean and draw it through the barrel and then back out the front of the barrel 1 full stroke. After 20 full strokes I reload the brush at the muzzle. (It doesn’t load up the bore guide) If the barrel has fired a lot of rounds I will repeat the process 1 or more times as necessary. 20 to 40 strokes usually cleans the barrel completely. I clean out the ThorroClean with the Shooters Choice. It works well for me. As you, I check my results with my Bore scope. I have started storing my ThorroClean bottle on its side so the solids don’t end up in the bottom of the container. It becomes easier to mix it. I shoot bench rest center fire and rimfire in competition. Thank for the good video. JD
I am just starting my third bottle of the thorroclean products Great stuff. I also like boretech eliminator and carbon cleaner. Another product whicb is basically the same as thorroclean and which has been on the market over 15 to 20 years is witch's brew from holland guns. It has a white paste mixed with a solvent also. I've used 4 to 5 bottles over the years. A few tricks for using this Thorroclean: Put a steel nut, short bolt or ball bearing in the bottle of the cleaner to mix up the white grit as it will emulsify the product much faster. I also like the isso brush or the stiff brushes from brownells. Use a caliber specific nylon brush and short stroke the first 3 to 6 inches of the bore like 5 to 6 times for every full pass you make. I also use a boretech pointed jag or a tcs rubber o ring jag with a round or square patch. Use a size which creates a tight fit, but loose enough you can also short stroke it. I put a bit of the flush on the patch first and then add the white cleaner. You can also wrap the nylon brush with a patch but i prefer a jag. I use 2 cleaning rods also. 1 with the jag and 1 with the brush. And after each session of stroking the bore, wipe off the rod wifh a shop towel. I typically clean the chamber/throat carbon ring with a 1 or 2 sizes larger than caliber brush and spin it and short stroke it using a chamber rod which is much shorter than a cleaning rod. Remove the bore guide to do this process. When using boretech and other none abrasive cleaners generally a bronze brush is better than a nylon one but i use both and short stroke the first few inches of the barrel with the nylon brush and always finish cleaning wjth a nylon brush as a bronze brush will show a false positive for copper and the patches will keep comimg out bluish green. I clean the brush after using through clean with alcohol or an aerosol gun cleaner ot brake cleaner like you do. I also use a patch catch from mtm instead of the old powder jug. Either works but they are critical to avoiding a mess. After cleaning and after flushing the bore with thorro flush on a patch, i sometimes use a patch with boretech eliminator as it's very safe in a bore, but i think the flush is safe for the barrel also. For storing the rifle i will push a patch down the barrel with bore conditioner oil from hollands or something similar. I then clean/dry the chamber with a bore mop or a 375 or 416 nylon brush with a 12 guage patch on it. Clean the solvent in the muzzle brake or barrel end with shop towel and or q-tips. Finish the barrel with 2 dry patches on a jag or wrapped on a clean nylon brush to remove any solvent from the chamber and to remove any bore conditioner oil. Having an oil and solvent free bore is critical. Leaving a 1 or 2 size larger than caliber brush, on a chamber rod, with a 12 guage size patch over it, soaked in a carbon remover like boretech or kg carbon remover for 15 min will also remove a carbon ring. Too many people don't clean their chamber and throat well and its critical to dry the chamber as stated above after cleaning the bore. A baked in carbon ring us very difficult to remove if a shooter has neglected cleaning correctly. For people shooting suppressed, always remove the suppressor before cleaning and make sure to dry/swab all holes and grooves when using a braked rifle so the solvent doesn't run back into the barrel. A bore scope is critical for inspection of the barrel during and after cleaning. I use a lyman but the new teslon scopes look better. Which model do you like the best and do you recommend the straight shaft or the one that coils up? Your vids are some of the very best on youtube. Thanks for your advice, equipment testing and honest assessments.
Very interesting information on cleaning procedure. I will be adapting a few ideas you have presented... I too, have been a big fan of Boretech products and have recently gotten onto their C4 Carbon Remover Solvent and found good results and have used JB Bore Paste and Boretech CHAMELEON GEL. Will most likely give this product a try as I am eternally searching for better cleaning products and of their ease of use. Definitely dry out any Boretec Eliminator or Cu+2 if using them in a Non Stainless barrel and put down a patch with some sort of oil such as their Shield RP as the Eliminator & Cu+2 will cause rusting in a regular barrel if left for any time... 😦 Also wash your nylon brushes {dish soap and hot water} as the stuff will rust the wire that holds the bristles.. To comment on your question of the bore scope, I use the one with the flexible cable as I just carry it with me at all times, compact in it's own clam shell box with the assorted size tips. I often get asked at the range to "Have a Look" at other shooters rifles... Carbon is a big factor in many that I have seen.
I've used it before and liked it more than anything else...liked everything but the price. You get so little for what it costs. However, 20% off makes it a little more palatable. Thanks, John.
Thanks for the video… I have been running Thoro clean for a couple years now and have gravitated to using a copper brush for stubborn carbon in the throat area. I also have experimented with an oversized Iosso brush with the Thoro clean and a small amount of JB bore paste for stubborn Carbon. Flush with rubbing alcohol after Thoro flush. Velocities have been consistent on 4-5 barrels now. 3-5 fouling shots and go shoot.
Another interesting video John, I have to ask, where do you get the stock protector? Is is something you have made or a manufactured product? I use a bit of plastic sheet like an old shopping bag but your item looks a lot more versatile. This after finding that some bore cleaners are tough on finishes...! An idea might be to run a comparison test with several products that are on the market and see how they compare. Perhaps JB Bore Paste, BoreTec Chameleon Gel & IOSSO Bore Cleaner..? I do like the Bore Smith patches myself and first spotted Eric Cortina using them and chased them down after a bit of searching as I did not have the name of them at that time.
I'm still trying to decide my final method but I've been bouncing back and forth between using a nylon and brass brush, but I'm wrapping a wetted patch around the brush. I've noticed this really speeds things up and cleans up the mess a lot faster than just putting the Thorroclean on a bare brush. I shoot a 6.5 prc and it's 100% of the time suppressed, so it gets even dirtier than what yours's looked like at like 50-75rds. This is by far the fastest most effective cleaner I've ever used. I think I might make it my main cleaner now and just stop using Boretech products, which are really good... but like you said time consuming.
Finally... someone dares to show using Non-Chlorinated brake cleaner. Good stuff. I use it in the shop as well as on my guns. Works better than alcohol or acetone. Need to be careful of the over spray tho. This video came at a perfect time as I am currently experimenting with different cleaners. So far Bore Tech and KG are the best for me. Thanks to you, I think I'm gonna try this product, so the code Clean 20 will come in handy. Great video and Congrats on you'r success. Thank You John. 👍
Thank you and yeah, I like the NC Brake cleaner. I was a little heavy handed in the video and couldn't find the tube for it when I was making the video. Normally I'd have a tube on it to direct it better.
John, thanks for taking the time to produce an excellent video. I was speaking to a Bullet Central tech this week about Bix' n Andy triggers and a possible cleaning solvent issue. He recommended I watch this video. Since I am considering a change in my cleaning regimen, I definitely want to try this product. I am hoping it will be the answer to my problem.
Thanks for the video and insite. I have a borescope but I didn’t always know what I was looking for. I had unexplained barrel speed up and found a significant carbon ring I wasn’t seeing. It’s gone now! Many thanks.
I have used ThorroClean off and on for over a year and it works great on my 6PPC. I say off & on, because as a novice Bench Rest shooter I am trying different products. However, in my experience after throughly cleaning with other products a followup patch of ThorroClean concisely cleans out additional carbon. I ordered, with your 20% coupon (thanks), several more cleaning kits and a 354ml of the ThorroFlush, as I use the Flush much faster than the ThorroClean Bore Cleaner.
I think the best cleaning product to come out is the digital bore scope. No matter what products you use, if you can't see it you can't clean it. My first bore scope taught me that. I'll try it
cleaning barrels : no issue iosso JB paste bore cleaner kroil.... But the main issue I have with a 7mm-08 I bought second hand is.... the dreadful carbon ring 😅. Have you tried it on carbon ring ?? I tried everything iosso bore cleaner blue brush corded drill iosso bronze brusk corded drill. There's still a bit of carbon left that makes the bolt hard to lock.
Mary Ann from Iosso said you use their penetrating oil & bore cleaner. I am using these products with success, but after the barrel looked clean, I continued to clean and get black patches. I now know that the patches will always look black due to removing oxidation. She said that continuing to clean after the carbon was removed would not polish the barrel to the extent that it would cause damage. Can you give me your opinion on this. Can that product cause barrel damage? Thanks so much!!
I do use ThorroClean/ThorroFlush which is an IOSSO product and I'm not a metallurgist but I don't worry about polishing to the point of any damage the way I clean. However I can't guarantee no damage can occur because everyone cleans and uses different methods and products and some of the things people do in the wrong way could potentially damage a barrel.
iosso bore paste or sharp shoot r all works wonders. I've been trying to clean my 223 varmin for years, but even after patches after patches of hoppes 9 still came out dark. so normally I clean for a while then gave up. Normally people watch cleaning videoes and just to learn how to do it, but IF you don't have a bore scope, then don't worry. Because If you don't see it, the dirt won't bother you! I saw a video by speedy or one of the F class guy using Iosso and sharp shoot R, they work wonders. Now I just use hoppe 9 to wet the barrel, then soak with iosso or wipe out. wait for next day, then it's done. so much easier. At the end of the day, those cleaners all work better than the normal off-the-shelf stuff. more or less they prob are very similar anyways. so buy whichever cheap for you, then enjoy. if one product works, and get your barrel clean, then there is not much point keep chasing the newer stuff. spend more time and effort on reloading, finding deals, testing new load.
If you are using a paste especially with a brush, you may wear the rifling edges smith and take a .005-.0015” out if your barrel. You will effectively loose accuracy.
It's been a long time but I remember not loving it personally. Just too messy and I don't like waiting around. I do however know plenty of people who love it and that's cool too.
Been a good product for me too... Carbon ring in at the end of the chamber? Just put in a chamber brush soaked with the stuff and leave it for 15 minutes x 2 then if still a bit left I just leave the brush in the chamber overnight... Not a problem. I will be trying out the oversize bore brush idea though. I also find wrapping a patch around the brush gives a lot of extra scrub power.
In my experience you're right. You actually want to avoid the mirror like finish which will copper foul more quickly. IOSSO does this to barrels quite quickly which is why I prefer JB Blue paste(Not the red which works like IOSSO). I'm trying to achieve a perfectly clean bore that still has a greyish appearance as opposed to looking like a polished mag wheel.
I was today years old that I learned this is an abraisive, just did my first cleaning with it. Is there any potential for damagin/ruining your barrel with it? I have a blued barrel and did about 30 strokes with a brush and used a ton of vfg plugs to flush it out. Im super timid in using anything stronger than boretech. Quickly went to the range and shot 2 5shot groups with 9g scenars (never tested the load before) and both were 0.5moa at 100 meters so I guess nothing is damaged, but still nervous using it
Hi John, great video, I’m curious as to what cleaning rod you use, am I right in thinking you don’t use a conventional jag, innovative products are a bit slow to come down under! Regards Rob
It's not nearly as aggressive from what I've seen. Iosso paste is pretty good but most other bore pastes I've used are too aggressive to be used every time. Iosso/ThorroClearn is the only thing that actually advertises as safe to use every time and so far that's working for me. I've cleaned half a dozen times since I made the video and it's working great and my velocities and loads are holding up better than ever.
I've got some of ThorroClean but I haven't tried it yet. I've got the perfect test case. I just spent about two hours on a .20PPC and I tried everything but the ThorroClean. I'm not happy with the results. I'll see how the ThorroClean does.
First off I love your videos. Always fun and informative. I have used ThorroClean for a while and love it. I use other cleaning routines but for the most part I go to ThorroClean. One tip I really picked up on was the oversized brush, especially for the carbon ring. My question is off topic. I would like to know what bench lights you have in this video. I have pretty good eye sight at a distance but up close as I have gotten older I need a bright light. Please let me know the brand and model. Thanks.
John, great video and barrel cleaning is provably a topic that is most often missed out with a presumption that everyone knows what they are doing. A couple of things I picked up on that I'd like to ask you about: Clean (dry) patches. Your first one was not what you expected but do you think that it was residual from the bore guide? The bore guide ' shouldn't ' allow any product to seep into the breech when pushing or pulling a rod attachment where the guide meets the barrel, how often do you check for seepage creating a fluid build up after barrel cleaning. Would you consider covering the breech in another video? Thanks again, very informative!
Best stuff there is, been using it for years. Throw away the flush and all other cleaning products. Just need Thorroclean cleaner and isopropyl alcohol. That's it.
I've been using Ioso for a while, maybe 6 months and it works great, so great that I find I need a few fowlers for sure. I usually give it 2 to 5 shots and then it's good.
What I fo is pull my ar 15 bolt and try new carbon cleaners. Ar bolt where rings sit. You will usually get pretty hard carbon build up there , if cleaner works you will see it right away.
would love to see a long time study on this process, it is an abrasive cleaner and wonder about barrel life with regular use. Barrels don't last all that long as it is, don't want to shorten the life span any more than i have too.
I used Iosso cream bore cleaner for the first time and it cleaned my barrel down to the metal. What are the dangers in using Iosso cream bore cleaner with iosso brush on every cleaning?
100%. I’m actually on a barrel with about 1200 rounds on it now and it’s still shooting 200-15x at 600yds with no problem and I’ve only used ThorroClean on it.
I usually take a bore mop soaked with cleaner stuff it in the chamber/ throat let that chill out for like 5 mins or so then run it up and down the barrel then let it soak for a few then scrub er up
I've been using the thrro clean stuff for a year or more.. in my opinion its the best stuff out there to clean a barrel.. and I've tried about all of them.. i also use the iosso brushes as well.. but after putting a couple wet patches of the flush through it i then take the iosso brush and dip it in the thrro clean bottle till the entire brush is submerged.. then go to town on the barrel.. doesnt take long and im back to bare metal.. i also use a caliber specific brush.. it removes the carbon ring also..
I appreciate that. I watched his video and thought about it but that challenge is probably better left to someone like Cortina who's a better all around shooter than I am.
I have been using thorro for about a year and half i think with the iosso brushes and man it really is the best stuff i have used sometimes ill use paste in the carbon ring area if its being really stubborn but ya love this stuff
Thanks John, I ordered some with your code on March 3rd. My Teslong bore scope confirms my barrels were not as clean as I thought. I also ordered a couple Iosso brushes (order # SBC-78680)and received the wrong ones and no response from bullet central after two emails. Their customer service may not be up to par. Thanks for your content. Robert
John, love your content. But in the case of this video, you don’t know what a carbon ring is. It’s not in the neck area that you easily cleaned. Just forward of that there is a thick “ring” of carbon……
Works for me just like it did for you. Hate the caps, but the Brownell's bottle flip lids fit fine. A word, you got to shake it REALLY well, it settles in the bottom really thick. I store it on its side so it mixes quicker.
Any fear about damaging the barrel, crown, etc? I know it’s an ever popular debate but I was curious on your thoughts if you moved to this as a frequent cleaning use.
Yeah I'm not really that worried about it compared to using actual other bore pastes that are far more abrasive competed to the ThorroClean. And no, I don't worry about the crown either as long as I'm not actually damaging it by hitting it with anything.
Love your videos. The only problem with your videos is that I become poorer after each one. Is this now your go-to cleaner? Do you think there is that much more improvement accuracy wise over other cleaners?
It's about consistency more than accuracy. My goal with cleaning has always been to get the barrels back to a consistent place with the least effort possible so that each time I shoot I know it's starting point. In that criteria, I'm seeing good consistency with it and knowing that it only takes 'X' amount of strokes to get there makes it easy.
This confirms what hornady labs talked about in their barrel cleaning podcast. All cleaners need agitation, the more the better. They were using boretech
This stuff works no doubt. The problem is the caps or lids on the bottles this stuff comes in suck. Put this stuff in a better bottle and it really is better then most other cleaners available.
I leave it on but will clean it out occasionally. Of course I make sure to clean it off if I see any liquid get in there but I points my gun in a downward angle when I clean so it's not usually an issue.
I was using BoreTech. It worked as well but took more soaking, time and effort to achieve the same result. I know some people like using that because they feel they can tailor what they remove from the barrel. For instance, if someone ONLY wanted to remove copper but leave the carbon or something like that.
Is this gun the 6.5PRC and then you are running a 7mm brush? I shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor and run a 7mm Iosso brush and it is really tight and I tend to only use it for the first 5 or 6 inches. It does a good job busting up the carbon ring and getting the heavier deposits out. I then finish out the rest of the barrel with a 6.5 Iosso brush. I'm amazed you are getting a 338 Lapua brush through.
When you apply the Thoro flush to your brush at 19:37 what comes out of the bottle looks like a thick paste that sticks to the brush in globs. I bought the kit on your recommendation but what i received is watery! it runs like scrambled eggs prior to cooking!
Did you shake it real thoroughly? One thing I’ve done since the video is out a small nut in the bottle to help mix it. If you’re still having problems I would reach out to BC and get it replaced.
I appreciate your no-nonsense, get to the point (most of the time😂), limited bias videos, John. Since I live in the same community as Bullet Central I am well aware of their high end products. In fact I build my first ever custom rifle through them last year. That is how I learned of and tried ThorroClean. I like the product and it seems to work as good as any of the 4 other cleaning systems I am trying. However, I do not get the results you did , including Iosso. But then again I never exceeded 40 brush strokes or considered an over size brush. The carbon ring is not so much the challenge, but the copper in the last 10 inches of the barrel of the rifle of interest here (not the custom I referred to). I’m not seeing the sheen you revealed either, so wondering if you can make any recommendations…..in addition to the video suggestions to double my brush strokes. Noteworthy, or not, the tight dry patch gets so tight at the copper laden area, the jag pushes through the patch, so I have to withdraw the cleaning rod and use a dowel to punch it back. Would you use a bore polish? How about let it set and soak longer? This is a varmint rifle, not a bench rest rifle. Thanks,
I appreciate the kind comments. As to the end result, it's hard to say. I don't think there's any merit that I've seen in letting ThorroClean soak although you may try letting the flush sit just a little bit before using the clean. Some people like using a bronze brush with the stuff but I have been using the IOSSO brushes and no issues so far. I don't think there's an issue with bronze, they just don't last nearly as long as a the IOSSO brushes and I get about the same result in my experience. I don't use any kind of dedicated bore polish anymore, just the ThorroClean system. Not sure if you caught it but I was reapplying the clean several times during my cleaning.
@@FClassJohn I did (to some extent) notice you reapplied more than once, but sounds as though I should try 3 or 4 repeats, i presume AFTER the flush. Thx.
As someone who shoots multiple disciplines and cleans to bare metal every time a gun is shot I'm not seeing anything particularly impressive here. Patch out wipeout and accelerator followed by JB blue bore paste(not the red which functions like IOSSO) works faster than this for me. In my experience a mirror like finish is not optimum as it tends to actually pick up more copper. This is why I don't use IOSSO as it acts too much like a polish. JB blue bore paste is also a fast cleaning mild abrasive but will not generally lead to a mirror like finish. It's hard to explain but what you're looking for is a perfectly clean, bare metal that still appears grey instead of looking like a polished mag wheel.
@@gilream When you polish beyond a certain finish It actually increases the friction between the copper jacket and the bore which will sheer the softer metal and deposit it on the harder. This is a pretty well known phenomena. My guess would be it happens because you increase the surface area contact by removing all the microscopic imperfections. You can learn more about this by typing "Why does polishing increase friction" into google search engine. "Should I polish my rifle bore" will bring up a lot of anecdotal evidence.
I am not able to clean the tough lead fouling in my air rifle barrel even after putting a couple of hundred strokes through it with a brass brush & carb cleaner. Will Thorroclean be able to do the job please?
Give Boretec Rim Fire Blend a try. It takes out lead and other fouling and I have seen amazing patches come out with silver streaks for the first few goes. The silver streaks are the lead from the bore. I have been using it with cast bullets in a 30-06 as well... Does the job. Call Boretec and see if they feel that their product is suitable for use in an air rifle.
