Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Copper fouling remover

If you really need to remove any significant level of copper fouling, you'll grow old before Hoppe's #9 does the job completely compared to many of the new materials...........just sayin'.

MM

Bob,

Have heard that info about the change in #9 before, perhaps from you.

All I know is it used to get copper out years ago, when left in long enough. Or at least it appeared to, before I had a bore-scope.

Then, t number of years ago, #9 quit working, at least in a normal human lifespan. Tried #9 Benchrest and it worked a little better, maybe as well as the original #9.

After buying a bore-scope maybe 10-12 years ago started letting it decide how much copper was removed, and how fast. Found out some products that were considered hot stuff didn't remove much copper, or at best worked very slowly.

But also started experimenting with not cleaning bores, and seeing how long accuracy held up. Of course, it depends on how accuracy is defined, but found a lot of barrels could go a long time, often several hundred rounds, before accuracy dropped off.

As a result, I don't clean barrels unless they need it anymore, but when I do, prefer something that will do it either in less than an hour or overnight, depending on my schedule. As a result, haven't used any of the Hoppe's products in quite a while.

John,
Thank you for taking a look at that video. Always appreciate your take...

Regards, Matt.

I'm a chemical junkie and am always lured by the claims. After much, much work and trials, I use Boretech Eliminator when in a hurry, and wipeout if not.

I use Dyna Bore Coat in the rifles that may be shot more than a few dozen rounds.

What is the opinion on Tipton Remarkable? I have tried it recently, to find it is quite strong on copper, and am surprised to not seeing it mentioned.

It is strongly ammonia based and I do not leave it on the bore but a few minutes, using it locally on thespots theat my Hawkeye shows copper after an overnight treatment with Forrest foam, a product locally available and pretty much like WO.

thank you for your comments.

I am a Boretech convert myself. I have tried just about everything on the market. Among the liquids it is the fastest and cleanest, can be used indoors since the smell is not offensive. Of course, nothing comes close to my Foul Out III electro chemical bore cleaner.

As a gunsmith, most of the pitting I've seen that supposedly came from copper solvents, was in stainless barrels and from having the stuff left in for long periods (12+ hours). But some can be a problem. Chrome moly steel is less prone to it. I used to use Shooters Choice, but have switched to Montana extreme. But heed to warning someone gave about the fumes. A close sniff will knock you out! I scrub with a bronze brush & solvent. Let sit an hour, scrub with the brush again and then clean with patches and leave with Montana extreme light synthetic oil (no additives).
I still use old Hoppe's #9 as a powder solvent: not because it's any better, but because the smell reminds me of my youth .
I turkey hunted last month with a rep from the company that owns Hoppes now. Vista Outdoors He said as they'd made improvements, they worked hard to keep that smell..

I live near the Texas Gulf Coast and humidity here is very high. So I don’t know if it is wise to leave powder fouling in the barrel if I don’t expect to fire the gun for a few weeks. Before I put the gun up, I run Boretech Eliminator thru to get the powder fouling out and then a patch with Eezox oil on it. I too am a believer in Boretech products.

As I have time I am putting Dyna-Bore Coat in all my guns. It has made a big difference in reducing fouling. So for I have not tried Gun Coat but I purchased some to try.

For you guys that don’t clean you rifle until accuracy falls off I have a question. Do you mean you don’t clean down to the steel of the barrel or that you don’t even run a rod thru to knock out the powder fouling.

Thanks for your help.

Yeah, I keep some Hoppe's around for powder fouling too, even though I don't use many dirty-burning powders anymore. The smell is part of it, but mostly I just like to have one of the bottles on my bench!

One of the big changes in #9 was the elimination of nitrobenzene in the formula. Apparently, it was a health risk. No doubt responsible for my grandfather's early departure at 94. Dad, at only 90, is still holding on and looks forward to an extended lifespan since his gun room has been nitrobenzene free for the last twenty years. I still have about a quart of the old stuff and use it though I know it is a gamble. I have stopped using it as an aftershave; mostly just to conserve my stock. GD

For us we'd clean about every 300 or 400 rounds, NOTHING in between. That was welcome as we used to clean every 88 shots IE every match.. that got old really quickly...

To keep the gun running, we'd wipe the inside of the AR upper out and lube, and wipe off the bolt carrier group and lube and stick back in every match...

Turk1961,

I don't even run a rod through, but again I quit using dirty-burning smokeless powders a number of years ago. In fact I haven't cleaned my rifle barrels during a prairie dog shoot in many years, thanks both to cleaner-burning powders and DBC.

This is a very timely thread for me, as I spent several hours of my time last night reading on this subject.

Like others, I've used Hoppes No. 9, Sweets, KG-12, Wipe-Out, Ad Nauseam and am currently using Bore Tech products for the removal of powder, carbon and copper fouling.

I have a question about KG-12 since it etches copper; yes I know copper is softer than barrel steel, but I have read that solvents that etch copper will also etch barrel steel over time. Can anyone provide feedback on that?

I don't see softness as a principal factor. Pure gold is very soft, yet unaffected by most chemicals.

As I believe was mentioned earlier some solvents containing ammonia will, with time, allow oxidation to occur and this does eat steel. It isn't the solvent per se.

To be as nice as possible, savage99 is an idiot. He shoots 2 shot groups and brags about it. My best advice is to do exactly the opposite as what he says and you'll be golden. As for what I use too keep copper fouling to a minimum, it's (and has been for years) shooters choice. I clean my rifles after every session. It's just routine, as it has been since I was 12. My rifles are not finicky and are very accurate. Their clean cold bore shots are never more than 1" from the cluster of bullet holes in the group. When I buy a used rifle with a crusty/copper fouled barrel, I use sweets and follow the directions. Some have been downright dirty, but the sweets seems to get the copper out. That's the only time I use the stuff, so a bottle will last years... . Oh by the way, I change my oil every 5,000 miles religiously too...

Excellent point pertaining to pure gold and I understand your last paragraph. Perhaps you've answered my question and I've just missed it, but......will the KG-12 eventually etch the barrel steel?

During my marathon reading/research last night I read on 6mmbr.com that several bench rest shooters avoided it because it eventually etched their barrels.

I don't know about KG-12. My referral was to some prior discussion of how Sweet's can allow for etching of the steel. If you keep refreshing it in the bore it doesn't have time to oxidize and cause problems. The Sweet's itself eats copper, but it's the oxygen rusting the steel.

We buy Hoppes #9 by the case at work as Lycoming specifies it to removing carbon from injector nozzles! Tempest also specs it for removing fouling from fine wire plugs (iridium plugs). I put it in a beaker and run the stuff in the ultrasonic cleaner and speeds it up by about 1000%.

Thanks, Dennis, that's very interesting info!

Someone could make a small fortune if they made a scented Christmas tree that smelled like Hoppes #9.