I hope this isn’t what it looks like..

[ShotgunSam870]

When cleaning the barrel of an 870 (my least favorite to clean), do any of you have these lines that are pretty much impossible to remove? I hate looking at this stuff. I hope it’s not pitting of any sort, because I clean my gun when I get home after every range day. I use a brush, CLP and gun cleaner and sometimes a bore snake, but still cannot get rid of it. I pray that it’s Not pitting, because I’ve barely owned this gun for 3 months. I shoots fine and patterns fine. As well it’s kept in a climate controlled environment.

[John A.]

I imagine that it is just normal shotgun barrel fouling. That's what it looks like to me. The streaks look like plastic fouling residue from heat and friction from the wad.

If you want to get the barrel squeaky clean (there really is little point), what you can do is get a cleaning rod with a brass bristle brush dipped in carlsons fouling cleaner (which is some sort of citrus cleaner) and chuck it up in a drill and run it up and down the bore until it sparkles.

Other cleaners may work as well or better, but the carlsons cleaner smells good and is supposed to be non-toxic. I imagine that the citrus has a lot of natural acidity that helps remove the plastic

[ShotgunSam870]

I imagine that it is just normal shotgun barrel fouling. That's what it looks like to me. The streaks look like plastic fouling residue from heat and friction from the wad.

If you want to get the barrel squeaky clean (there really is little point), what you can do is get a cleaning rod with a brass bristle brush dipped in carlsons fouling cleaner (which is some sort of citrus cleaner) and chuck it up in a drill and run it up and down the bore until it sparkles.

Other cleaners may work as well or better, but the carlsons cleaner smells good and is supposed to be non-toxic. I imagine that the citrus has a lot of natural acidity that helps remove the plastic

Good to know! After examining it further, I highly doubt it is any pitting and is rather what you stated, John. Aside from that area of fouling, the barrel is in great shape. I just assumed these were streaks left behind from slug rounds, with an IC (newbie moment?). A question I still have is, having that plastic fouling in the bore really detrimental to the lifespan of the bore? Logic tells me plastic is nothing against steel, along with my OCD habit of cleaning my gun after every range day.

[John A.]

If you allow it to build up too much, it will "catch" more and more as you shoot it. That's why you'd brush it out occasionally.

But within reason, isn't going to hurt anything.

I bought an old Montgomery Wards (pre-68) 16 gauge pump Noble shotgun several years ago. I got it for the ripe price of $100 out the door.

The gun had one of Nobles adjustable chokes on the end of it. I think they called it the Vari-Choke. You could tighten the cap and would make the gun more of a full choke, or loosen the cap and would loosen the constriction to more of a modified choke.

Anyway, from the look of the choke, and the severe fouling inside the receiver, it had never been cleaned since the day it was built.

It took more than 30 minutes just to get the powder fouling out of the receiver and the trigger pack alone. I had to use the ultrasonic cleaner to get all the gunk out of the bolt and firing pin channel.

When it came to the barrel and the choke, It took a lot of ingenuity to get it back to where it should be. Once I got the choke cap off, I had to use a wire wheel brush to remove all the plastic out of the slots because they were caked full of plastic. It really was that bad.

At the end of the day though, that old gun had been used a lot, but still had a lot of life left in it.

While I wouldn't ever let a gun get to the point that was in, it was still working just fine. Though the choke constriction was very questionable. It was probably more of an Xtra full turkey choke at the point where it was The choke cap had all but seized solid until I broke it loose and took care of business.

[ShotgunSam870]

If you allow it to build up too much, it will "catch" more and more as you shoot it. That's why you'd brush it out occasionally.

But within reason, isn't going to hurt anything.

I bought an old Montgomery Wards (pre-68) 16 gauge pump Noble shotgun several years ago. I got it for the ripe price of $100 out the door.

The gun had one of Nobles adjustable chokes on the end of it. I think they called it the Vari-Choke. You could tighten the cap and would make the gun more of a full choke, or loosen the cap and would loosen the constriction to more of a modified choke.

Anyway, from the look of the choke, and the severe fouling inside the receiver, it had never been cleaned since the day it was built.

It took more than 30 minutes just to get the powder fouling out of the receiver and the trigger pack alone. I had to use the ultrasonic cleaner to get all the gunk out of the bolt and firing pin channel.

When it came to the barrel and the choke, It took a lot of ingenuity to get it back to where it should be. Once I got the choke cap off, I had to use a wire wheel brush to remove all the plastic out of the slots because they were caked full of plastic. It really was that bad.

At the end of the day though, that old gun had been used a lot, but still had a lot of life left in it.

While I wouldn't ever let a gun get to the point that was in, it was still working just fine. Though the choke constriction was very questionable. It was probably more of an Xtra full turkey choke at the point where it was The choke cap had all but seized solid until I broke it loose and took care of business.

Ah ok, I went looking around and saw that Shooters Choice Shotgun bore and choke cleaner is what a lot use to remove plastic fouling in the bore. Probably gonna order it and see what it does. That’s nuts! Some people just don’t give thought to cleaning their weapons.