Rifle Chambers, Shotguns, and the Flex-Hone® for Firearms

Most hunters and shooters who maintain their own firearms don’t have the tools of a professional gunsmith. Although some gun owners use reamers, others apply steel wool or sandpaper to metal surfaces. Without the proper surface finishing tools, however, problems such as pitting, rust, residue, corrosion, and barrel fouling may persist. Even newer rifles and shotguns have small pits and occlusions that can cause jams and failures to eject (FTEs).

Handheld Drills and Flexible Hones

Fortunately, hunters and shooters can use a flexible hone with a common power tool to obtain a superior surface finish for their long guns. Built with a stiff metal stem and flexible nylon abrasive filaments, the Flex-Hone® for Firearms mounts in a handheld electric drill and delivers a uniform burr-free finish. Made by Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM), the flexible honing tool is versatile and easy-to-use.

Recently, The Outdoorsmen Magazine published an article (January 2013) entitled “DIY Rifle Chamber Maintenance for Hunters”. As a DIY gunsmith who once used a finish reamer on his rifle explained, the Flex-Hone® for Firearms is “simply the best thing going for a uniform burr-free finish”. Other shooters agree. Firearms applications for BRM gun hones include rifle chambers, shotgun barrels, and shotgun forcing cones.

How to Maintain Rifle Chambers

Before discovering the Flex-Hone® for Rifles, the owner of an old 30-06 rifle used 800-grit sandpaper to surface finish what he called “a strange raised area in the bottom of the chamber”. After continued FTEs, however, the rifleman tried BRM’s gun hone for rifles. “The Flex-Hone® removed the residue and corrosion – and extraction is fine now,” Todd Waggerman explained. 

The owner of a Model 99 Savage Arms rifle also reported a success story to The Outdoorsmen Magazine. “Before using the Flex-Hone® on my .308 chamber,” noted John Eggleston, “expended rounds would not extract unless I used a rod to knock them out. After using the BRM Flex-Hone® for Rifles, however, the shooter reported “no more stuck casings” from his properly polished and resurfaced rifle chamber. 

How to Maintain Shotguns

Hunters and shooters also report that the Flex-Hone® for Shotguns provides a superior surface finish for barrels, forcing cones, and chambers. By removing oxidation and corrosion, the BRM shotgun barrel hone allows fired casings to extract more easily. BRM forcing cone hones also result in less barrel fouling, while shotgun chamber hones remove corrosion and residue in smoothbores.

The buildup of fouling near shotgun forcing cones is of special concern to hunters and shooters. Although regular shotgun cleaning will remove some residue, residual fouling creates added resistance and can promote corrosion. By using the Flex-Hone® for Firearms with Flex-Hone® Oil, both shotgun owners and rifle owners can improve firearms performance.