How ooftern should you use a copper solvent in your barrel?

mojohacker

How do you decide when you should clean you rifle barrel with a copper solvent? Do you use the number of round fired or every cleaning?

Thanks,

dhc4ever

Depends a bit on the caliber and velocity you are shooting.
Smaller high velocity calibers can foul barrels fairly quickly, the larger calibers are a bit more tolerant.
The above also depends on the quality of material and finish of the barrel and how it was run in and how you shoot it.
IMO it's better to keep fouling to a minimum rather than notice a drop off in performance and then have to spend anhour or two defouling the barrel, so give it the copper remover every cleaning.

Cheers

gelandangan

+1 easier to clean minor faouling than major ones.
but, personally I don't use copper, so what do I know..

Dawgdad

Varies with the rifle caliber and even the barrel. I will do a good scrubbing on my .223 about every 500 rounds and get a lot of blue on the swab. I have another .223 that shows very little fouling and could probaly hold up for a few hundered more shots.

Some guys do it after 20 rounds too, I try to do it before it affects the accuracy and pressures but you have to pay attention to it to know when it is going south.

mojohacker

Thanks for the good advise. Any copper solvents that you would recommend.

gelandangan

I heard that Sweets 7.62 are good.

tlo7mm

I have a couple, which includes Montana X-treme The 50 B.M.G which works quite well but I actually prefer Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner. This stuff works great and it is well worth the money. I personally would buy this over anything on the market and I do. I would have to agree with galen in saying that Sweets 7.62 is good stuff according to a lot of people.

Vince

I always as a matter of course clean with Sweets 7.62 after only as few as five jacketed rounds through my 30.30 or .243 rifles. I don't always get a lot of colour on the swabs, but I know that my barrel is clean of fouling.

Mind you, I only clean after a day of shooting, so the number of rounds I shoot could be as low as five or as high as 50 depending on what I am doing at the time, but I always use the Sweets as part of my cleaning regime.

Elvis

whats copper solvent????? Very Happy

my barrels have only had it done once or twice in total...last time years ago.

SingleShotLover

It all depends on many variables:
Use of copper-fouling eliminator type powders (such as Hodgdon CFE223)
Bore condition (lapped, rough etc.)
Bullet brands - some are "softer" than others and might foul easier.
Velocity

I don't usually do a complete clean on my varmint rifles (.17 Remingtons, .223s, 22/250s) unless I see accuracy deteriorating, but I also use CFE223 in all of those cartridges and all have hand-lapped bores.

Larger bores such as my various 7mms, 30/06 and such I usually do a clean with Accu-Bore when I am done shooting - mostly because I don't shoot them as often and if I'm going to clean them for storage anyway, I might as well do a complete clean.

In my handguns it is a non-issue since I almost always shoot cast bullets.

Bushmaster

Hoppes Benchrest #9. Everytime I shoot copper jacketed or copper plated bullets. To the point that it is scrupulously clean. My 64 year old Winchester Model 94 .30 WCF has no copper in the barrel at all.

Mojohacker...This old "Jackhandle" will put 1 5/8" three shot groups at 100 yards.

Dawgdad

Wipe Out is a good foaming product.

For the critical clean I will scrub with Butches Bore Shine and Kroil in equal parts with bronze brush and tigh jagged patches before letting it soak with the Wipe Out for about 6 hours. When that shows clean I use a patch with JB paste and see what was left behind.

The barrels I treat with JB paste when they are new seem to clean easier and stay clean longer than barrels I just shot and cleaned without JB paste.

PaulS

The last time I used a copper remover was when I tried Barnes bullets in my 03A3. I only fired 3 rounds through it and it took me a half hour of scrubbing before the patches stopped coming out green. (that was the original "X" bullets) I have no desire to try Barnes products again.

slimjim · Last edited by slimjim on Fri Sep 27, 2013 5:27 am; edited 1 time in total

I would not recommend using Sweets. It is corrosive and will do harm if you leave it in too long. I only use copper solvent when I clean my rifles. I use BoreTech. It is safe with metal - you can leave it in over night. The condition of your bore is a prime determinant with how much fouling you get. My chrome-lined S&W M&P .223 goes 800 to 1500 rounds between cleanings. Even then the BoreTech cleans it in short order and there is very little copper fouling. Some of my 6.8mm barrels are a bit rougher, especially when breaking them in. I copper clean a new barrel after one shot, then 2, then 5, then 10, etc. Now I go 80+ rounds. When I clean my rifles before hunting seasons, I foul the barrels and then don't touch them until spring. My Tikka T3 .270 goes 100 rounds before cleaning. I only shoot all-copper bullets in it - nice smooth bore. I had a friend with a Rem 700 .270 that he had never copper cleaned. I had to soak it overnight twice with BoreTech to get it cleaned out. His accuracy improved from 3 to 4 MOA down to around 1 MOA. It fouls quicker than my Tikka.

Elvis

well slim I guess I clean at about the same shot/clean rate as you then....I dont pull the trigger often enough!!!!