Nylon vs. brass brush

The "brass" brush is actually a bronze-phosphor compound, and I have never heard of any instances where the brush has actually affected the bore, although with several hundread thousand runs of the brush thru the bore I imagine some sore of erosion can occur....but the barrel is of such hardened steel that the bristles of the brush will bend out of shape long before they can affect the barrel or the bore.

Of greater concern is the cleaning rod: drawing it in/out of the barrel can score the barrel if the rod touches and scrapes on it. You could use a bore guide to prevent this from ever happening.

The nylon brush is only for brushing debris out of the action, not for scrubbing the bore....it is not strong enough to scrape loose any cladding or contaminants in the bore.

Oh, and when you are running your cleaning patches thru the bore, I would highly recommend getting a full-diameter brass jag and not the slotted plastic patch holder type. The slotted tip kind is good for applying solvents or oil, but is useless in "wiping" down the bore.

Hope that helps.

 

What is a brass jag, and what does it look like? lol

 

See image below. On left is the classic plastic slotted tip. On right is a full-diameter jag tip.

One can easily see how the slotted tip would fail miserably in cleaning the full diameter of the bore, whilst the jag tip (sometimes available in plastic as well), would stretch the cleaning patch across its full circumference, properly wiping down the full inner circumference of the bore.

 

Great info! I had been wondering same regarding brass vs nylon. Thanks for sharing 'Snipe.

 

You are quite welcome, guys.

But make no mistake, I am not by any stretch of the imagination an "expert", I've just been at it a long time and have found some stuff works and some stuff doesn't.

I love the forum, too, because I have also learned things from others. But then, that's the whole idea, isn't it?

Cheers!

 

Sounds like you need to maybe change ammo for one and get you another brush. Brass falling everywhere is telling me that the brishles are breaking off the brush.

 

Yeah, I don't use the slotted tip either. I use the brass jag, 'cepn mines plastic LOL! Does a much better job than it looks like it would.

Also, as referenced above, I use the brass brush to clean the bore with and I wrap a single patch around the brush, then dip it in the solvent. Holds solvent much better and longer!

 

Whoever told you that doesn't know what they're talking about. The Glock barrel was designed to shoot copper jacketed bullets at high speed and pressure. Phosphor bronze, the material used in most bore brushes, is of similar hardness if not a little bit softer. Both metals don't even compare to the hardness of steel, let alone Tenifer case hardened steel that the barrel is made of. Some bullets like Remington Gold Sabers have a brass jacket and there's no problem shooting them through a Glock barrel.

I use phosphor bronze bore brushes, they don't hurt the barrel at all, and unlike a nylon brush they actually get the bore clean.

I personally use a 6 inch Dewey brass bore rod with Dewey "No Harm" brass/phosphor bronze bore brushes. The bore brush is made with a brass fitting, a brass center wire, and phosphor bronze bristles. That combination will never scratch a steel barrel. Some bore rods are steel, and most phosphor bronze bore brushes have a steel center wire and steel fitting, I prefer not to use either because steel will scratch steel.

 

@Okie35:

May I ask what brand of ammo you were/are using? and what bullet weight? Just curious.

 

This is a great Thread!! I went through same trial and erra with the nylon or brass! Those nylon brushes are a joke! If u ever buy a used GLOCK thats how u tell if the person that owned it before knew about GLOCKS. The Nylon brush still new on a used GLOCK!LOL!!

 

Any expertise on a bore snake?


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There awesome, At the end of the day at the range just wash let dry and good to go. Also I only purchase the rifle length models as you don't need two of the same caliber taking up more room in your range bag.

Before I forget just don't use ammonia based solvents on them.

 

I'm sure many of us have those nylon brushes that are still new in the glock cases.

I don't use those POS brushes ever. If I need nylon, I use higher quality nylon brushes.

They're free giveaways. So, they're not going to be a high quality brush.

D

 

I guess I am the only one that uses them, I use them to get the loose stuff out if I am not going to do a detail clean. I run the nylon brush through a few times then run a few wet "oiled" patches. I use a bronze brush when I break down the pistol and do a better cleaning. I probably shoot 200-500rds through before breakdown cleaning.

 

To each there own.. I couldnt stand carrying a dirty weapon but thats just me. I clean after every range trip and do a detail clean (complete strip) every 500-600 rounds or light cleaning with a couple patches if no range and just dirt from carrying. But thats just me....

 

I'm a bit new to handguns but I would think that's the ammo, not the brush. I'd switch ammo. By ammo I mean I'd suspect that they didn't do a good job ensuring the brass doesn't separate: i.e. either cheap brass or cheap manufacturing. Brass should normally be fine with the Glock pistols, and I've never had the problem you're describing. As for brush, I would use nylon every time only because it's just fine for the M-16, M-9, and chaff/flare firing breeches. That's just me.