New, custom 6.5-284 barrel, $1,200 worth of work and six months of waiting for it ruined by one big dumb mistake. I was cleaning several rifles and put Butch's bore shine in it to soak for a little while as I cleaned the others I had already soaked. Well, somehow I managed to forget the 6.5-284 and it sat for three months. I just got it out with plans on shooting it this weekend and it's one big rusted steel tube, from end to end. Not a very happy camper right now.
Expensive, Dumb mistake!!!!!
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Since I have never used it, what is Butch's? Is it ammonia based?
No, it's actually highly recommended by most barrel makers and benchrest shooters. It states it will not harm the metal. I think it's suppose to have a ph of approx 10 so I'm sure they didn't mean if you left it in for three months. What really sucks, this barrel has only had 53 rounds through it. This was the first time I had cleaned it since breakin.
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1,510 Posts
you must have too many guns to forget it for 3 months.... dang. You just leave a big tub of bore cleaner sitting around for months on end? just wondering...
I do have a "few" but too many, that's like having a car with too much horse power. Like I said, a dumb mistake. I was cleaning four, letting the Butch's soak in each while I cleaned the other. I sat it against a file cabinet in my hobby/project/junk room, where I had two other old 700's I had bought for the actions and a couple of other rifles. I figure something came up, where I had to stop cleaning and just didn't think about that one.
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1,510 Posts
I'm sorry, i shouldnt have kicked you while your down. I hope your able to salvage the barrel, maybe get it rebored to a larger cal as suggested.
I'll just send it back and have another new barrel installed, I want the 6.5-284. At least this time it will just be the barrel and not all the other work to blue print it. I had the recoil lugg pined so I don't have to re-bed the action so it's only about a $500 screw up. Just having to wait forever to get it back again. I couldn't do it when it was about shot out or to one of the others that I'v had a while, no! I had to do it when it was still brand new.
I cleaned it good and made a couple of passes through with 1,200 grit lapping compound hopeing maybe it was just a very mild surface rust but no such luck, it pitted the crap out of it.
Yes, it would probably still out shoot most any cheap, over the counter rifle but that's not what I want. I can buy several of those for what it cost me to build one. I have this little thing about accuracy and when shooting 600 - 1,000 yds, ok don't exactly hit the target every time.
I started to have an extra barrel fitted for it when I had the rifle built but figured I would probably not shoot it enough that the barrel wouldn't last me a couple of years. I will definitely have me a spare barrel fitted for it this time. NOT that I plan on making this dumb mistake again, but the idea of how dang long it will be before I get it back sucks the most. The 6.5-284 eats barrels rather quickly when you start pushing hot loads down them.
Yes, it would probably still out shoot most any cheap, over the counter rifle but that's not what I want. I can buy several of those for what it cost me to build one. I have this little thing about accuracy and when shooting 600 - 1,000 yds, ok don't exactly hit the target every time.
I started to have an extra barrel fitted for it when I had the rifle built but figured I would probably not shoot it enough that the barrel wouldn't last me a couple of years. I will definitely have me a spare barrel fitted for it this time. NOT that I plan on making this dumb mistake again, but the idea of how dang long it will be before I get it back sucks the most. The 6.5-284 eats barrels rather quickly when you start pushing hot loads down them.
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4,740 Posts
Sorry to hear what happened. Hopefully your riflemaker has a quicker turnaround time for refitting barrels only. I don't multi-task well so I try to keep my projects simple and controllable.
I don't blame the Butch's, I still use it and will continue to do so. With any bore solvent, you are suppose to dry the barrel and run an oil patch though it. What I did was strip all protectant out, left the solvent in, then left it near AC floor vent for a few months. The more I think about it, it may have been the KG-12 I left in it. Either way, it was my dumb*** that screwed up, I have absolutely no hard feelings for which ever product it was.
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620 Posts
Sorry to hear that. I also use Butches but only on occasion. My #1 cleaner right now is Wipe-Out. I love that stuff. I would sure give myself a swift kick in the arss if I did that.
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