A new tool for shotguns is now available, and it is designed to remove gunpowder, wad, casing and bullet residue to provide a superior finish for any cylinder, slide, chamber, magazine tube or smooth bore barrel of any size.
Called the Flex-Hone, the new accessory was invented and manufactured by Los Angeles-based Brush Research Manufacturing, which makes a number of similar products for various industrial applications. This specialized firearm tool is instantly recognizable by its unique appearance, which is characterized by hundreds of small, abrasive globules permanently mounted to flexible nylon filaments. Each globule has an independent suspension that is self-centering, self-aligning to the bore, and self-compensating for wear, all of which facilitate do-it-yourself finishing work.
The stem of the flex-hone tool fits into the chuck of any handheld electric drill to quickly clean out passages and bores of many types of firearms.
Coming in several grits and sizes, flexible hones are quickly finding wide application within the firearms world.
Any smooth bore can benefit from flex-honing, particularly the barrel of a shotgun. A barrel flex-hone can quickly, thoroughly and safely clean out any damage that has occurred from oxidation and corrosion. It also blends out scratches and removes nicks and pits.
When used in shotgun chambers, the polished finish allows fired cases to extract more easily, which puts less strain on extractors and ejectors. It also ensures that debris is far less likely to adhere to the chamber walls and any that does remain will be much easier to remove during normal cleaning procedure.
The forcing cone can also be polished using a specially designed, tapered profile flex-hone. Forcing cones are the first thing the shot and wadding encounter as the transition is made from chamber to barrel, with the cone literally forcing the larger diameter payload down to barrel size so that it is subjected to considerable force. This can lead to a build-up of fouling material.
Not only does the fouling create added resistance, but can induce corrosion to take hold underneath it. Even regular maintenance may not remove it all, whereas honing can minimize it.
Standard barrel hones for shotguns come in lengths of 34 inches, in 10-, 12-, 16-, 20-gauge sizes plus .410 bore.
There are also hones that will fit rifle and pistol chambers, but one should not use the hone in a rifled barrel.
The Flex-Hones for shotguns have an MSRP of about $50, but you can find them online at Brownells or Amazon for about $35.
For more information, contact Brush Research Manufacturing Co., Inc. online at: brushresearch.com, or phone: 323-527-9416.
