Cleaning bodies for cleaning the barrels of firearms

Abstract

Cleaning body (10) for cleaning barrels of firearms, wherein the cleaning body (10) is formed in a circular cylindrical shape and comprises wool felt, characterized in that the cleaning body (10) contains fiber sections (13) made of a polyamide, which are at least partially exposed on the circumferential surface of the cleaning body (10).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a cleaning body for cleaning, in particular, the barrels of firearms having rifling and lands.

[0002] It is known that the barrels of firearms become fouled through use, particularly through firing. Residue from the burnt propellant regularly adheres to the inner surfaces of the barrel after firing. Any residue from the projectile passing through the barrel can also remain there. Such fouling and residue in the barrel can impair the firearm's function. This can lead to a reduction in accuracy. Furthermore, the residue can harden and alter the bore geometry.Furthermore, corrosion can occur, especially if residues from firing remain in the barrel, not just from the firing process itself, but also if moisture and / or similar contaminants penetrate the barrel from the outside. This can happen, for example, when using the firearm outdoors in rainy weather, high humidity, or in extreme terrain. Such external contamination of the firearm's barrel occurs regardless of whether a shot has actually been fired during the operation.

[0003] To prevent negative consequences for the firearm and its safe and accurate use, and especially to preserve its lifespan, it is typically cleaned after use and before proper storage. In addition to cleaning the exterior of the firearm, this cleaning process primarily involves cleaning the inside of the barrel. Cleaning discs are regularly used for this purpose. These discs are attached to push or pull devices, such as rods, cables, or chains, and are pulled or pushed through the barrel. As they do so, they slide along the inner barrel wall, scraping and collecting dirt and foreign particles, or removing them from the barrel. This cleaning effect can be enhanced by cleaning agents, such as gun oil, applied to the cleaning discs or introduced into the barrel beforehand.

[0004] Typical cleaning pads used here consist of densely compressed felt and are cylindrical in shape, with an outer diameter adapted to the specific caliber of the firearm barrel being cleaned. These felt pads have the advantage of being absorbent, readily wicking away moisture, oil, and other liquids, while also trapping contaminants. Furthermore, they are malleable, allowing them to conform to the rifling of rifled barrels and clean them reliably. Finally, the softer the felt material is compared to the barrel material, enabling gentle cleaning. In addition, these felt cleaning pads are relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

[0005] Such felt cleaning elements are disclosed, for example, in DE 27 06 886 A1. In DE 200 01 771 U1, as well as in US 4,547,924 A, a cleaning rod is described which can be fitted with felt elements of the type described above at a cleaning section, and then moved through the barrel of a firearm to be cleaned, thereby guiding the felt element through the barrel in close contact with the inner surfaces of the barrel as described, thus achieving the cleaning effect. US 2011 / 0209380 A1 and US 2012 / 0186128 A1 each show and disclose cleaning devices equipped with a pull cord to which different cleaning elements can be attached for pulling through the barrel of a firearm for the purpose of cleaning that barrel.

[0006] While simple felt cleaning pads are often sufficient for cleaning the inside of a firearm barrel, in cases of more stubborn fouling, a felt pad alone may not be enough to remove all the dirt adhering to the barrel. To tackle such persistent fouling, cleaning elements made of metal wire, often in the form of bronze or brass brushes, are available. These are designed to loosen the trapped fouling when pulled through the barrel. However, these wire elements are increasingly viewed critically by gun owners, as it cannot be ruled out that the relatively hard metal of the wire elements could leave scratches on the inner wall of the barrel. These scratches could then promote the adhesion of stubborn fouling and increase the risk of corrosion.

[0007] As an alternative for cleaning heavily fouled firearm barrels, cleaning blocks made of felt and impregnated with brass wire particles are available on the market. These particles are also located on the outer cylinder surface, thus providing an additional abrasive effect when the felt block is guided through the barrel, loosening stubborn fouling from the inner surface. Such cleaning blocks are marketed, for example, by NIEBLING technische Bürsten GmbH under the name "Niebling ®Felt bore cleaners for intensive cleaning are offered. Although these cleaning elements use the tried-and-tested, and inherently gentle, felt material as their base, the added brass particles, which are fine wire segments, lead to similar problems and risks as brushes or similar wire elements made from this material. In particular, scratch marks can remain on the inner bore surface after cleaning, with the potential consequences described above. Furthermore, liquid cleaners containing ammonia are frequently used to clean gun barrels. The felt cleaning elements are moistened with such a liquid cleaner and then passed through the barrel to be cleaned.However, such ammonia-based cleaners can damage brass particles contained in the cleaning media and also lead to subsequent damage to the barrel material. High ammonia concentrations can cause bluish deposits and attack the barrel surface, which is why the use of strong ammonia-based cleaners in conjunction with brass can be problematic.

[0008] Based on this state of the art, the object of the invention is now to provide an improved cleaning body based on felt, with which barrel cleaning is possible even in the case of heavy and adhering soiling, but which is gentler on the barrel material.

[0009] To solve this problem, the invention proposes a cleaning body for cleaning the barrels of firearms, which is formed in a circular cylindrical shape and comprises wool felt and is characterized in that it contains fiber sections made of a polyamide, which are at least partially exposed on the circumferential surface of the cleaning body.

[0010] In the applicant's own facilities, various tests and the search for a replacement material for the brass particles used in the prior art revealed that cleaning elements made of felt with a wool-polyamide mixture achieve equivalent, and in some cases even superior, cleaning results for the internal cleaning of heavily fouled firearm barrels compared to known felt cleaning elements containing brass particles. The polyamide fiber sections exposed on the circumferential surface of the circularly shaped cleaning elements clean the inner surfaces of the gun barrels much more gently than comparable products containing brass particles.In particular, the polyamide fiber sections contained in the cleaning elements according to the invention do not cause damage in the form of scratches in the barrel, such as can occur when cleaning with cleaning elements containing brass particles, which can subsequently lead to increased corrosion of the barrel's inner surfaces. Furthermore, the polyamide used by the applicant for the fiber sections is inert to ammonia, so these cleaning elements can be used without problems with ammonia-based cleaners, even those with a high ammonia content.

[0011] Furthermore, the inventors have identified another advantage: While brass fibers integrated into known cleaning elements bend or fold over when passed through the barrel and remain in this bent or folded position, the polyamide fiber sections straighten out again after any deformation during passage through the barrel. While the known cleaning elements with brass particles can therefore only be passed through the barrel once with a corresponding abrasive effect, the cleaning elements according to the invention, provided with polyamide fiber sections, can be passed through the barrel multiple times, depending on the degree of fouling, and retain their abrasive effect.

[0012] The cleaning elements according to the invention are therefore particularly well suited for cleaning gun barrels and for removing coarse dirt, or for use in cases of extreme soiling, such as firmly embedded deposits in the gun barrel. They can also be used in conjunction with additional cleaning agents, such as ammonia-based cleaners.

[0013] Advantageously, as one possible embodiment provides, the cleaning element according to the invention can have a material composition of wool and polyamide with a proportion of 70 to 90 wt.% (weight percent) wool and a proportion of 10 to 30 wt.% polyamide, whereby a material composition of wool and polyamide with a proportion of 80 wt.% wool and 20 wt.% polyamide has proven to be particularly suitable. In this composition, as investigations conducted at the applicant's premises have shown, the proportion of polyamide fiber sections is sufficiently high for the reliable removal of coarse dirt and stubborn contaminants, while at the same time the proportion of absorbent wool fibers is sufficiently high to ensure good absorption of oil or other cleaning fluids, so that the cleaning element absorbs such fluids used in cleaning the barrel of the firearm and removes these fluids from the barrel.

[0014] If, as is provided for in an advantageous embodiment of the cleaning body according to the invention, the polyamide fiber sections are homogeneously distributed in the cleaning body, and in particular are randomly oriented in their orientation, this not only enables simple manufacturing but also ensures that the polyamide fiber sections are evenly distributed and exposed in different orientations on the circumferential surface of the cleaning body, and that the wool material is also evenly distributed and can develop its effect of absorbing cleaning fluid in the best possible way.

[0015] The polycaprolactam used in a particular embodiment of the invention has proven suitable as a polyamide material for the fiber sections. Polycaprolactam, also known as polyamide 6 or PA6 for short, has proven to be robust and, in the fiber form used, exhibits good abrasive properties and is therefore considered a particularly suitable material for use in the cleaning body according to the invention, although other polyamides are also fundamentally suitable for use as the material for the fiber sections.

[0016] It is advantageous for the polyamide fiber sections to be coarse polyamide fibers. Here, "coarse polyamide fibers" refers to polyamide fibers with a fineness (fiber thickness) of 120 to 150 dtex and a length in the range of 30 to 60 mm.

[0017] The cleaning elements according to the invention can advantageously have an axial length in the range of 5 to 15 mm, particularly 10 mm. This length, it has been shown, provides good contact with the inner surface of the barrel and thus a good cleaning effect, while at the same time not generating such a high frictional force that passing the cleaning element through the barrel would be excessively difficult or even impossible. It should be noted that the cleaning elements according to the invention, as is also common practice in the prior art, are adapted to the caliber of the barrels to be cleaned and are designed in such a way that, within the barrel of the appropriate caliber, they press against the inner wall of the barrel with a certain excess, thereby penetrating, in particular, the rifling of rifled barrels and closely enclosing the lands, thus achieving the best possible cleaning through this close contact.

[0018] According to the invention, a cleaning body proposed here can advantageously have a material density in the range of 0.3 to 0.4 g / cm³, in particular 0.36 g / cm³. 3 Such a material density, it has been shown, still allows for deformation of the cleaning element when it engages the rifling in a rifled barrel and is compressed by the lands. At the same time, the cleaning element is sufficiently dimensionally stable and rigid to exert pressure on the inner walls of the firearm barrel, thus achieving cleaning.

[0019] With a channel-shaped opening along its longitudinal central axis, which can be advantageously provided for the cleaning body according to the invention, it can be fixed to a pushing or pulling means, such as to a longitudinal end of a cleaning rod or to an end of a pull rope or chain, e.g. on a mandrel-like extension, which may in particular have an external thread in order to screw the cleaning body on and fix it there for movement through the barrel of the firearm.

[0020] A cleaning body according to the invention can be produced, in particular, by die-cutting it from a web of wool felt material in which polyamide fiber sections are incorporated, especially in a homogeneous distribution. Such a web material can have a wool-polyamide composition with a wool content of 70 to 90 wt.% and a polyamide content of 10 to 30 wt.%. The polyamide material of the fiber sections can be polycaprolactam. Furthermore, the polyamide fiber sections can be coarse fibers, i.e., polyamide fibers with a fineness (fiber thickness) of 120 to 150 dtex and a length in the range of 30 to 60 mm. The material web can have a density in the range of 0.3 to 0.4 g / cm³. 3 exhibit, in particular of 0.36 g / cm² 3The thickness of the material web, which corresponds to the axial length of the cleaning elements punched from it, can range from 5 to 15 mm, particularly 10 mm. Using appropriately dimensioned punching tools, the circular cylindrical cleaning elements, with diameters adapted to the caliber of the weapon barrels to be cleaned, can then be punched out of the material web in a densely packed arrangement.

[0021] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to a possible embodiment schematically illustrated in the accompanying figures.

[0022] They show: Fig. 1 a schematic view of a cleaning body as is the subject of the invention; Fig. 2 an enlarged photographic image (20x magnification) of a cleaning body according to the invention, in which the fiber sections made of a polyamide material can be seen.

[0023] The figures show views of a cleaning body for cleaning the barrels of firearms in one possible embodiment of the invention.

[0024] This shows Fig. Figure 1 shows a cleaning body 10 in a schematic three-dimensional view. The cleaning body is formed from a body 11, which is cylindrical and made of a felt material. A centrally and axially guided opening 12 penetrates the body. In this respect, the cleaning body corresponds to those already known in the prior art.

[0025] The cleaning body 10 is characterized according to the invention in that the felt material of the body 11 is interspersed with fiber sections made of a polyamide material. These fiber sections are particularly exposed on the outer surface of the cylindrical body 11, as shown in the illustration according to Fig.2 can be seen where these fiber sections are clearly enlarged in diameter compared to the other fibers (wool fibers) and are marked with the reference symbol 13.

[0026] In use, the cleaning element 10 is attached to a pulling or pushing element, e.g., a cleaning rod, at its longitudinal end and detachably secured there. The cleaning element 10 can then be moistened or soaked with a cleaning fluid and moved through the barrel by the pulling or pushing element, typically from the chamber side to the muzzle. A cleaning element 10 with a diameter adapted to the caliber of the barrel being cleaned is selected, ensuring that the outer surface of the body 11 fits snugly against the inside of the barrel, particularly in the rifling grooves of rifled barrels, without becoming too tight and thus being unable to be guided through the barrel.

[0027] The fiber sections 13 made of the polyamide material, which may in particular be polycaprolactam, also called polyamide 6 or PA6 for short, may have a length of 5 to 15 mm, preferably of about 10 mm and may be homogeneously distributed in the felt material of the body 11, in particular in a proportion of 10 to 30 wt.% (weight percent) compared to 90 to 70 wt.% wool felt.

[0028] These fiber sections 13 provide an abrasive effect that the outer surface of the body 11 exerts on the inner wall of a firearm barrel as it passes through, thereby mechanically removing adhering residues such as powder residue or the like. The polyamide material of the fibers selected according to the invention is sufficiently stiff to produce the abrasive effect, but is also so much softer than the material of the firearm barrel, the barrel steel, that no scratches or other marks are caused in the barrel, as can occur with known abrasive cleaning bodies of a similar type that use brass particles as an added abrasive material.

[0029] Furthermore, the polyamide material from which the fiber sections 13 are formed according to the invention is highly resistant to cleaning fluids used for weapon cleaning and, unlike brass, cannot be chemically attacked by such fluids. Therefore, there is no risk that any reaction products resulting from a chemical reaction of the fiber sections with a cleaning fluid could be deposited inside the barrel and cause contamination, thus actually counteracting the intended cleaning effect. Reference symbol list 10 cleaning units 11 Corpus 12 Passage opening 13 Fiber section QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 27 06 886 A1

[0005] DE 200 01 771 U1

[0005] US 4,547,924 A

[0005] US 2011 / 0209380 A1

[0005] US 2012 / 0186128 A1

[0005]

Claims

[1] Cleaning body (10) for cleaning barrels of firearms, wherein the cleaning body (10) is formed in a circular cylindrical shape and comprises wool felt, characterized by , that the cleaning body (10) contains fiber sections (13) made of a polyamide, which are at least partially exposed on the circumferential surface of the cleaning body (10). [2] Cleaning body (10) according to claim 1, characterized by that it has a material composition of wool and polyamide with a proportion of 70 to 90 wt.% wool and a proportion of 10 to 30 wt.% polyamide. [3] Cleaning body (10) according to claim 2, characterized by that it has a material composition of wool and polyamide with a proportion of 80% wool and 20% polyamide. [4] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by that the polyamide fiber sections (13) are homogeneously distributed in the cleaning body (10). [5] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the fiber sections (13) made of polyamide are fiber sections (13) made of polycaprolactam. [6] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the fiber sections (13) made of polyamide are coarse fibers, namely polyamide fibers with a fineness (fiber thickness) of 120 to 150 dtex and a length in the range of 30 to 60 mm. [7] Cleaning body (10) according to one of the preceding sections, characterized by that it has an axial length in the range of 5 to 15 mm, in particular 10 mm. [8] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by that its material has a density in the range of 0.3 to 0.4 g / cm³ 3 exhibits, in particular 0.36 g / cm³ 3 . [9] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized bythat it has a channel-shaped passage opening (11) guided along its longitudinal central axis. [10] Cleaning body (10) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by , that this is formed by punching out from a wool felt material web in which fiber sections (13) made of polyamide are incorporated in a homogeneous distribution.

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