Does size matter???

[Big Caliber]

Is there any problem or advantage with using a 45acp bronze brush to clean a 44cal bbl and/or cylinder??? Or a 40 to clean a 357 or a 9mm???

 

[Scorch]

Well, yes and no.

* The tips of the wire are what does the loosening of crud in the corners, like little needles going into tight spots and scratching it loose.

* When you use an oversized brush, the tips bend backward as the brush goes through the bore, and you have the edge of the wire trying to scrape the fouling, and it generally does not work as well.

So, yes, it makes a difference since your gun will not get "as clean as" if you used the proper sized brush. But, your rifle will get cleaner than if you do not clean it at all because you don't have the right sized brush.

 

[gyvel]

Being cheap, I have always used correct size brushes for whatever calibre weapon I am cleaning, then, when they got worn down, I used them for the next smaller calibre. (I.e. a .40 brush became a 9mm brush when it wore down, a .30 became a 7mm, etc.)

 

[FrankenMauser]

Use the correct size for proper cleaning.

But, having experience in the following area...

(...) using a 45acp bronze brush to clean a 44cal bbl and/or cylinder?(...)

...I feel obligated to comment.

Most companies don't actually make .44 caliber bore brushes. What they actually make are ".44 caliber" bore brushes.
Don't understand the difference? Don't feel bad, most people have no idea.

Most gun cleaning companies don't make .44 caliber bore brushes, because they think the average idiot customer ... errr, ehemmm, gun owner ... will be just fine sticking a .45 caliber brush down the bore.

So, most ".44 caliber" bore brushes are exactly the same as the company's .45 caliber brushes. A few companies even say right on the packaging that it's a ".44/.45 caliber" brush, but most don't.

In over 15 years of trying to find TRUE .44 caliber bore brushes, I have only recently found (of all things) Brownell's .44 caliber nylon, pistol bore brushes to be of proper size. All other ".44 caliber" bore brushes are actually re-labeled or co-labeled (.44/.45) .45 caliber brushes, including the bronze, pistol Brownell's bore brushes.
Who actually makes them, I have no idea. But they're the only true .44 caliber brush I've ever found.

 

[Sevens]

Haha, but that begs the question -- which .44 bore? Because they are named as such but we know they are .43's! Or .429"'s as it were.

 

[g.willikers]

I quite often use the wrong size brush, whether or not I actually meant to.
Old eyes.

 

[T. O'Heir]

A .45 calibre brush will clean either .44 or .357 chambers nicely. Makes no difference one way or the other though.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Haha, but that begs the question -- which .44 bore? Because they are named as such but we know they are .43's! Or .429"'s as it were.

I favor 0.430" for .44 caliber groove diameter. It's a nicer number than four-twenty-nine.


One other note on the ".44 caliber" bore brushes:
Tipton is an oddity. Their .44 caliber brush really is .44 caliber ... but the "wrong" .44 caliber. They measure about 0.445-0.447", which, according to Tipton's brush sizing, makes them suitable for a 0.440-0.442" groove diameter.
I don't know about you guys, but it has been quite a long while since I ran across a .44-100 Ballard.

 

[Scorch]

Oh, c'mon now, you know darn well that those .445 brushes are for all the 11x60Rmm rifles out there.

 

[4V50 Gary]

You'll ruin a good brush.