Brush Research 00048 Shotgun Barrel Flex-Hone, Silicon Carbide, 12 Gauge, 180 Grit (Pack of 1)

I did some work on shotgun chambers. It worked great.

I made a mistake and made some shotshell reloads with Pyrodex FFg RS, which is nasty heavy with salts, let gun set for a few weeks, and was heart broken. Disgusting rust spots throughout the entire bore. No bronze brush would touch it. I bought this flex hone, heavy application soak of Ballistol, 30 seconds with an electric drill, pushed a few dry patches throigh, and it looked like the gun was never fired from factory. Absolutely unbelievable. Outstanding results.

Quality control is lacking in a lot of gun makers these days that sell to us at low prices. They skip a few steps and one of them is polishing and finishing barrels and chambers. Flex hone does the job and you don't need to be a Smith to do it. All you need is a power drill or even a Dremel will work. Extraction or loading hiccups can be solved with a good polishing with these brushes. I've used them on several calibers and noted big improvements every time. They last a long time too. If you wash them with soap and water after each use extends their lifetime.

I shoot a lot of 12ga rounds on trap/skeet. 200+ rounds per shoot is typical.After say 500-600 rounds, restoring the barrel finish back to factory appearance is simply not achievable with current EPA solvents. The modern, far less effective EPA solvents are puny for the removal of organics (plastics).Wad expansion friction coats and tempers the barrel with a thin, super hard lacquer. Older solvents once cleanly removed the lacquer in a cleaning. It takes days if you're lucky enough to access a solvent better than Hoppes #9.Lead residue removal is a wholly different process and typically accomplished with the brass bush. When the lead has been repetitiously filled into typical 200 grit finishes, it's a labor. The heavily used barrel gets tougher to clean.That’s the time for the 400-800 grit Al-oxide hone. A 400-grit is barely discernably different from the 800 finish. An 800 grit delivers the mirror finish you likely expect. The hone wears out more quickly the finer the grit.Where the wad expands just beyond the chamber, the hone slows as it chews through the distinct smell of the hot plastic lacquer. It takes a couple passes to wear through the plastic coating.Honing is messy. I use a heavy oil to lubricate the hone. An 800 grit will remove minute amounts of rougher finish burr. Expect magnetic filings. Honing is a machining operation vice a cleaning. The drill speed at the low 800-1000/rpm is adequate for most of the barrel. I crank it up to melt through the lacquer. A smooth slow action finishes the job.Cleaning tip: 12” hones are too short unless you have a 24” barrel. Pick a hone length that runs the barrel length.Brush Research provides an excellent product.

It’s ok

Took 3 orders to get the right brush so check before using! By the time I recieved the correct brush the price had gone up so I was charged more....product works well but Amazon is a pain to deal with and only accepts positive reviews.

I have been trying to get my Mossberg 590A1 12 ga bore looking like new. No matter how much I cleaned and scrubbed it, I always had a little (seemingly imbedded) discoloration. I became convinced that the plastic wadding left this discoloration behind. Drove me crazy.This polishing hone worked great! I only polished the barrel for 2 minutes at low speed and then I washed it as recommended. It got almost all of the discoloration. Another 60 seconds and the barrel looked better than new. You really cannot see if you have polished it until you wash all of the material out so you end up using a fair amount of honing oil. I should have purchased the quart of oil and not the half pint. hopefully the smoother barrel with be less likely to foul with a smoother bore.There was nothing that I didn't like about this hone, I hope it holds up. Only plan to hone every 6 months when I tear down the entire shotgun so presumably this will last years.

I bought this Flex-Hone to try and refurbish my childhood first gun a .410 shotgun purchased from Sears Roebuck & Co. in 1970. The shotgun was last shot in 1974 and over the years rust pits had developed inside the barrel while the exterior looked new. I thought it was ruined but decided to try and salvage it with a Flex-Hone. I bought three grits of hones, 180, 400, and 800. I also purchased a half pint of honing oil. I secured the barrel in a padded table vice and started with the 800 grit hone lubricated. I first used a 12 volt battery Black & Decker drill. The hone needs to spin at between 800-1000 rpm. The battery drill did not have the power to run the hone and stalled almost immediately, even at lowest torque setting. The hone has a very tight fit to the barrel.I switched to a 3/8” electric drill and it worked perfectly. The honing took between five and ten minutes and I did not have to use the coarser hones. The 800 grit returned the internal barrel surface to like new condition. I am completely satisfied with this product. It was simple and easy to use and I give it five stars.