BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosure of the present patent application relates to firearm accessories, and particularly to a firearm barrel cleaning system that uses an ultrasonic cleaning system for cleaning the barrel of a firearm.

2. Description of the Related Art

Firearm operation involves ignition of an explosive charge within the firearm chamber, followed by the exit from the chamber of a projectile at high speed, which passes through and exits the barrel of the firearm. The explosive process inherent in firearms results in the accumulation of debris and residue within the chamber and barrel. Modern firearms have spiral or helical grooves (referred to as rifling) in the bore of barrel of the firearm to improve the range and accuracy of the shell. The accumulation of such debris and residue from expended shells can inhibit proper operation of the firearm, including misfires, damage to the firearm, possible injury to the user, and deterioration of the range and accuracy of the weapon. Thus, regular cleaning is always recommended to the owners and operators of firearms.

Conventional cleaning is typically performed as a manual process involving breaking down of the firearm, followed by rubbing a cleaning patch saturated with an appropriate solvent against the various surfaces of the firearm. After use, the patches are then discarded, which presents difficulties in disposal, since the dirty patches typically contain both lead and often toxic cleaning solvents. Further, while cleaning the barrel, the cleaning patch is typically driven down the barrel by a rod, to be rubbed against the barrel walls, which can be extremely difficult to manipulate, and in some cases, can cause the patch to become lodged or packed within the barrel.

As mentioned above, rifle and pistol barrels include “rifling”, which is, typically, five or six grooves spiraling down the barrel interior to spin-stabilize the bullet after it is fired from the cartridge and accelerates down the barrel. These groove areas are most prone to powder residue and fouling. Some types of fouling, such as copper from jacketed bullets, are difficult to remove, even with strong solvents, and some types of conventional cleaning solutions can damage the barrel itself. As discussed above, cleaning is typically performed by running a patch through the barrel with a jag on a cleaning rod. This may be replaced by, or used in combination with, the similar process of using a conventional bore brush with a cleaning fluid. When the patch runs through the barrel with little or no discoloration, the firearm is considered clean and a final lubricating patch is run through to prevent barrel corrosion. However, due to the difficulty inherent in cleaning the rifling of the barrel, cleaning with the patch and/or a bore brush may require up to an hour or more of repeated manual cleaning to fully clean the barrel. Even then, the barrel may not be fully clean, as a “clean” patch may simply indicate that the patch and/or brush, along with the selected cleaning fluid, have performed to the level of their abilities, rather than the barrel being completely clean. Thus, a firearm barrel cleaning system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY

The firearm barrel cleaning system selectively cycles a stream of ultrasonic cleaning fluid through the barrel of a firearm, such as the barrel of a rifle or a revolver, and periodically pauses fluid flow and activates an ultrasonic transducer to induce cavitation within the cleaning fluid in the barrel for ultrasonic cleaning of the interior of the barrel. An embodiment of the firearm barrel cleaning system for use with a rifle having a bolt includes a receiver assembly having opposed first and second ends, the first end being adapted for receiving the stream of cleaning fluid, and the second end being adapted for insertion into the rifle receiver after removal of the bolt to bias a nozzle against the bore defined in the barrel of the firearm to eject the stream of cleaning fluid within the barrel.

A cap structure having a hose connector is adapted for releasably sealing the muzzle end of the barrel of the firearm to seal the cleaning fluid in the barrel during the ultrasonic cleaning cycle(s). A pump selectively circulates the cleaning fluid through the receiver assembly, the barrel, and out through the hose connector of the cap structure. An ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the receiver assembly for selectively inducing cavitation in the cleaning fluid when fluid flow is paused.

These and other features of the present subject matter will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification.

