Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Copper Fouled Barrel

Jim,

Yes, decoppering agents work, and have for over a century now. Dunno why they're just now become the fashion in more powders.

Just cleaned 6mm rifle the other day that had been fired over 150 times without cleaning, using IMR4451. It took two patches to get the minimal amount of powder fouling out, but there wasn't a trace of copper.

+1 on all counts.

DF

IMR7977 did reduce the time needed to clean a fouling mutha of a 243.........

Not by a huge amount, but I did use a few less patches than I usually have to when using H4831.

BUT.......interestingly, RL26 cleans about as easy as IMR7977.

Casey

26 also has a decoppering agent.

The effectiveness of decoppering agents depends on the bore diameter, charge-to-bore ratio, bullet bearing surface and how much the individual barrel tends to foul. Among other things.

Do guys think cleaning with Wipe Out or Patch out is sufficient to get to bare metal prior to applying Dyna Bore Coat?

Well then, that explains it!

Casey

Yes, but how much it takes will depend on the bore and fouling.

No.

Mule Deer has recommended a number of times, and it's been my experience, JB compound is still the best bet at getting ALL the copper out.



Casey

Montana X Copper Killer works very well and no need to baby sit. Wipe Out/Patch Out also works well but takes longer. If I am going to get to bare metal I take my time and use Wipe Out/Patch Out then check with Copper Killer if that comes out clean I know I am to bare metal. If even slightly blue I repeat with Wipe Out/Patch Out .

Ammonia damaged muzzle

I used Sweets 762, Butch's Bore shine, and lots of other Ammonia based solvents.
The stuff is slow and eats steel.

Then I got a system that works every time in 15 minutes [Loosely based on the Walt Berger system]:
1) powder solvent on patch
2) dry patch
3) KG12 on a patch [Non Ammonia Copper solvent that will dissolve a Copper bullet but does not etch steel]
4) dry patch
5) 20 strokes with Bronze brush with diameter greater than barrel groove diameter [keep checking. The brush can wear out in a dozen strokes], coated in [Kroil + Flitz] or [Darrell Holland Witches Brew]
6) Alcohol on patch
7) dry patch
8) Check muzzle with magnification and flashlight for Copper, repeat process if needed.


Then I discovered Copper fouling inhibiting powder:
IMR-4451 [temp compensated stick], IMR-4166 [temp compensated stick], CFE 223 [ not temp compensated ball, hard for primer to set off, but high performance]
Before the new powders, I had some Copper fouling in 15 rounds. Now I can build a rifle with a custom barrel, sight it in at long range, kill and deer, and all in less than 50 rounds with no Copper fouling.

ClarkM

I hope my barrel doesn't end up like the photo. How long had the barrel in the photo been subjected to ammonia? I don't see any rifling!

Dang those ammonia-based cleaners!

You can also just install Dyna Bore-Coat, which slows copper build-up by at least 80%, and sometimes eliminates it complete. Plus, it seals the bore against moisture, ammonia, etc., so even if you decide on of those traditional ammonia/water solvents is necessary, it won't do any damage. Even if there's no copper to dissolve in the first place....

Sweet's overnight.

If you read this 2007 thread that goes on 4 pages, you will see me talk Kombayotch into including KG-12 into his Copper solvent testing.
It wins

https://forum.snipershide.com/forum/sniper%C2%92s-hide%C2%AE-armory-supply/sniper-hide-gunsmithing/689-our-own-copper-carbon-solvent-test

This is the test he was replicating.
https://www.eabco.com/KG12Test.pdf

He later replicated temp stable powder testing. The guy is good. Last I saw his day job was designing strain gauges in Canada and was a moderator at Canadian Guns forum.

Hard to believe that people are still using antiquated (water based) Sweets when (oil based) Montana Xtreme is better. You can leave it in your barrel overnight and then some. It's all I use.

This test compares Montana Extreme to other Copper solvents.
http://www.coretacsolutions.com/products_KG_KG12_TEST.htm

Too bad they didn't include Wipe Out in that test.

There are also user reports on this very site of cleaning actual barrels where KG12 isn't "all that" either.

Wipeout or KG 12 is all I use anymore. I put a drop of KG12 on a copper penny and it ate away all the markings on one side of it.

Interesting that whoever ran that test used Barnes XLC bullets, which had a blue anti-fouling coating. They were discontinued years ago, after the TSX appeared.

I've performed tests with several of the solvents listed, but instead of somehow figuring out how many grains of copper they removed, I looked inside the barrel with my Hawkeye bore-scope to see how much copper remained--if any. And I didn't just clean a single rifle, instead trying the solvents in 2-3 rifles. My results often varied considerably from those in the test.

It gets good reviews on MidwayUSA. Just checked, since that comparison's test results for KG12 seem too good to be true. That's the trouble with online user reports though. You almost always find reported experiences 180 degrees out from each other. Most annoying that, and terminal bullet performance is the one that comes to mind as the most frequent and frustrating example.