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Flitzing the Bore?

13K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  DocHolliday1884 
#1 ·
Just one of those questions that keep me awake in the middle of the night sometimes. :rolleyes:

I know about fire lapping and JB bore paste, and I like to highly polish the outside of stainless handguns & rifles to really bring out the shine with either Mothers or Flitz polish, but what would happen if you were to coat a few patches with that stuff, wrap then around a jag, and run them back & fourth through the bore about a zillion times?

Would it actually polish and help smooth the bore and chamber out, or would it just leave some sort of aluminum oxide coating that would actually either just get blown out the first time you sent a bullet through there...or possibly even damage the bore like leaving a heavy coat of oil or grease can sometimes?

Just one of those thoughts.
 
#2 ·
Flitz is a polish. All polishes remove metal. If you are not removing metal very uniformly, you are harming your bore.

That being said, Flitz is also a very gentle polish, and is not going to do enough to be worth your time.

Short answer: no good will be done, more chance of harming your bore.
 
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#3 ·
Flitz will not harm the bore. You do need to make absolutely certain that there is NO Flitz residue in your bore before shooting however. I have found that Flitz will remove stubborn copper and lead fouling from the bore.

Basically, Flitz is a polishing compound.

The US Olympic shooting team does use Flitz to clean the bores of their firearms.
 
#6 ·
The US Olympic shooting team does use Flitz to clean the bores of their firearms.
Assuming Flitz's testimonials are honest and that advisor meant he uses it on competition rifles, this surprises me.

Flitz still isn't something I will do to my bores but interesting nonetheless. Makes me wonder what chemicals are in Flitz, as opposed to grit, that could contribute to this vague answer.
 
#4 ·
I don't see a need for it. Most likely the barrel is button rifled where the metal is coined and super smooth. The factory does a lap on barrels that are cut rifled so they are smooth as well. Just a good cleaning is all that is required with some oil for rust protection if needed. I read a article in one of those ballistic books that the average barrel life is 2 seconds or a little under. That is calculating wear from powder erosion and bullet wear from each shot. Of course no one can shoot that fast, but it shows that each shot takes a little more from the barrel and there is no need to accelerate the process.
 
#5 ·
Just a good cleaning is all that is required.
Don't see the need for anything further as nothing will be gained.
 
#7 ·
Polishing the bore doesn't do anything significant. If you have copper fouling run a patch soaked in Shooters Choice down the bore and set the rifle muzzle down on a coffee can lid (plastic) for a couple of days. Green residue will accumulate on the lid. Scrub the bore with a bronze brush and follow with wet patches then a dry patch.
 
#8 ·
There are a number of abrasive products that will make metal shiny. When it comes to the bore, I recommend looking at yours with a bore scope. I think you will be surprised at what you see. Unless you have barrel leading or some type of fouling on the surface of the metal, a few passes with Hoppe's will clean the bore.

As they always say in precision rifle books, more barrels have been worn out by aggressive cleaning than by shooting. Even if the bore is shiny with no traces of residue, it won't be that way after firing one shot. Or, if you never shoot it, it will stay shiny for a long time.

Eor
 
#9 ·
I use Flitz from time to time to remove carbon fouling and smooth the bore. It works great for this and does no harm. As for button rifled barrels being smooth, not always. I have a factory Savage 223 barrel that was the worst barrel ive ever seen (verifieed by borescope). 2 shots would foul it horribly bad and it never grouped well. After hundreds of strokes with flitz it smoothed it just enough to help this a little. I use it only when I feel the bore needs a bit of polishing after cleaning with TM Solution bore cleaner to remove that hard pressed in carbon. I also use it on my revolver cylinder burn rings and cant see or measure any damage or loss of metal from my Super Redhawk 454. I also contacted Flitz about damage to the gun and the reply is below. What he says about removing unseen rust is true, I have seen this myself. Flitz has never damaged any blueing on my guns so I'm sure its safe on bores. Sorry to resurrect an old post but thought newer data on the subject would refresh the topic.

"Hi Ken,
To answer your question the Flitz polish will not harm your bore or cylinder. The Flitz is a 6000 grit polish and for over 43 years is been sold in the gun industry. The only thing you have to keep in mind that if it is a blued surface you have to make sure that it’s hot factory blued and not cold bluing. If your not sure always try a spot we’re nobody will notice. If the towel gets brown your safe and it’s removing rust that the naked eye doesn’t see. If it is black stop immediately. Now if it is Stainless or nickel the black on the towel is normal. If you have questions let me know thanks so much.

Olaf"
 
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