Copper fouling

[oli700]

curious on everyone’s thoughts on copper fouling .
What’s your regimen?
What do you use to clean ?

Also curious on how long people go before they notice a performance loss if they go that far .

And any other fact or opinion on the subject of copper fouling.

I use Barnes cr10 in the clear bottle . It sure seems like it takes more than it should but it gets through it .

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[eightyeight mag]

Bore tech eliminator is the best stuff I've ever used. Is not harsh on barrels and works like magic. I could not believe how much stuff it removed from barrels that I thought were pretty clean.
Just my .02

 

[Mooseman]

You want a cleaner with high ammonia content, I use either Hoppes 9 or Sweets Bore solvent.
When I shoot my Mosins I use windex at the range to not only remove copper but to wash away the corrosive salts from the primers , then clean good and oil when I get home.

 

[eightyeight mag]

Sweets can damage barrels if left in too long.

 

[KKG]

Sweets or any other high Ammonia product will work well if not left too long - 5 minutes tops.

Then IN Bore Polish. Then clean dry patches until they come out Clean.

Repeat as needed.

Enjoy!!!

 

[Kruel J]

When I get too much build up I just soak it in cider.

 

[flashpan]

Nother vote for bore tech eliminator. Swab ... wait 3-5 minutes...nylon or brass brass brush 10 or so strokes. Patches till clean/dry.

 

[oli700]

When I get too much build up I just soak it in cider.

LOL!

 

[Mooseman]

I break my barrels in so I get very Little copper fouling... and you don't leave any solvent in a barrel too long, that would be silly !

 

[Kruel J]

I break my barrels in so I get very Little copper fouling... and you don't leave any solvent in a barrel too long, that would be silly !

Sigh.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I usually wait until the bore starts to turn green before i clean it, and i use Eds Red heated up and swabbed through! My default cleaning is just a chamber brush on a heavy duty pistol rod and then yank a dry bore snake through and a little oil before going back in the safe or carry bag!

 

[WoodsPlinker]

I use this stuff called wipe-out brushless foaming bore cleaner.

 

[oli700]

Well that gives me some products to look at thanks . I feel like getting away from Barns .... maybe I let it go to far .

I grew up using #9 . Never put together it has ammonia . Never really remember copper fouling but at 10 yo or whatever I just pulled triggers .... cleaned guns just good enough to keep my dad off my azz.
Probably should have just stuck with #9 .... actually tried froglube once.

 

[Mooseman]

Well that gives me some products to look at thanks . I feel like getting away from Barns .... maybe I let it go to far .

I grew up using #9 . Never put together it has ammonia . Never really remember copper fouling but at 10 yo or whatever I just pulled triggers .... cleaned guns just good enough to keep my dad off my azz.
Probably should have just stuck with #9 .... actually tried froglube once.

Hoppes 9...It will attract pro-gun women if ya dab a little on ya !

 

[old11bravo]

1) Bore Tech Carbon Eliminator
2) Bore Tech Copper Eliminator

Don't use brass brushes or brass cleaning tips (use nylon or stainless steel) with the Bore Tech or the patches will keep coming out green til the cows come home. The Bore Tech product is like magic and makes thorough cleaning very easy to do!

 

[osprey]

I have posted this before but I will touch on it again. Ammonia in a copper fouling cleaner is Not corrosive to any barrel material commonly used. Now that I have your attention here is why. They warn against leaving these ammonia laden cleaners in barrels because to react with copper, ammonia needs water, and these cleaners are basically aqueous ammonia. If left in barrel too long (like overnight or longer) the water in the concoction can damage the barrel. An hour or two, not so much. I have used Sweets in the past but prefer Boretech at this point as it contains no water or ammonia. It works great. At this point for modern non corrosive ammo I do not clean my barrels near as often as in the past, including copper removal. I now let the rifle tell me when it needs the bore attended to. When the accuracy starts to degrade you have an indicator. This can vary widely from each individual gun. Some may go 50 rds or less, some will go hundreds of rds. I feel many people overclean and are just hastening the wearing out of the barrel. I was guilty of this in the past.





35 years experience as an industrial Ammonia refrigeration technician. We use steel pipe in these ammonia systems.

 

[oli700]

I have posted this before but I will touch on it again. Ammonia in a copper fouling cleaner is Not corrosive to any barrel material commonly used. Now that I have your attention here is why. They warn against leaving these ammonia laden cleaners in barrels because to react with copper, ammonia needs water, and these cleaners are basically aqueous ammonia. If left in barrel too long (like overnight or longer) the water in the concoction can damage the barrel. An hour or two, not so much. I have used Sweets in the past but prefer Boretech at this point as it contains no water or ammonia. It works great. At this point for modern non corrosive ammo I do not clean my barrels near as often as in the past, including copper removal. I now let the rifle tell me when it needs the bore attended to. When the accuracy starts to degrade you have an indicator. This can vary widely from each individual gun. Some may go 50 rds or less, some will go hundreds of rds. I feel many people overclean and are just hastening the wearing out of the barrel. I was guilty of this in the past.





35 years experience as an industrial Ammonia refrigeration technician. We use steel pipe in these ammonia systems.

Thank you for the time you took to explane that , sounds like again , appreciate it .

 

[osprey]

Thank you for the time you took to explane that , sounds like again , appreciate it .

No problem at all if it can help someone. I realize people pop on and off the forum and don’t pore over every last topic, so I don’t get too wound up around the axle about revisiting topics. God knows I have gleaned more here than I have ever contributed.

 

[DLS]

I have just over 4500 rounds on a Bushmaster AR that was used in service rifle matches. These are either 58 or 88 round events.

Since this barrel copper fouls pretty easily I use Sweet's after every match (and practice session). It works great. It's all I've used however as a little goes a long way and I'm still on my original bottle, so I have nothing to compare it to.

I run a few Kroil soaked patches to get out the main gunk, then a dry patch followed by a Sweet's soaked patch. Then I let it sit about 5 minutes while I work on other parts of the gun. Then a dry patch immediately followed by another Sweet's soaked patch for another 5 minutes. That usually does the job as the drying patches will not show any blue. If not one more round and the bore is de-coppered.

I then punch a couple of patches with Kroil to clear any residual Sweets then dry and lightly oil if the rifle is to sit longer than a week or so. If not I just leave the bore dry. I rarely need a brush or to scrub.

A number of years ago both the Marine's and the USAMU used Sweets routinely in their guns and never reported it doing any damage.

 

[bubbahotep]

Brand new unfired my Colt had about 1mm of solid copper fouling on the tip of the muzzle from the manufacturing test firing and I got the barrel clean but couldn't get the gas port to quit dumping blue on my patches. Sewer pipe tip of the muzzle when I removed that barrel nut will haunt me forever. Maybe they use copper crush washers and hoppes splashing on it was enough to wither it