Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Orange/copper colored rifling

Just came home from a range session with a new (to me) CZ 550. The gun shot fantastic. I gave it a very thorough cleaning when I got home, using copper solvent. Scrubbed with a brush and patched until no more blue. It’s clean! But when I look into the muzzle end of the bore I see copper colored rifling. I wish I could figure out how to post a pic here. Anyone seen this before? Any concern? The bore is bright and shiny, no rust, no pitting. The coloration appears to be in the recesses of the rifling.

I think it would be some remaining copper fouling - try a couple more patches with copper solvent.

Did that a few dozen times! The patches come out like brand new. No blue at all!

Run a patch saturated to dripping with the copper solvent, keep it out the magazine and trigger group, let it sit for awhile and then see what you get on a well fitting dry patch.

Or spray some wipe-out foam down your barrel (from the breech end) and let it sit for a few hours. I shoot a bunch of Barnes TTSX bullets so I deal with copper fouling a lot, if any copper fouling is in there it wont be when your done 👍......Hb

Many of the liquid copper bore cleaners won't remove copper as well as people are led to believe. JB bore cleaner will absolutely remove stubborn copper fouling.

Did you clean it before you shot it?

You may want to see if it doesn't really need a lot of cleaning to keep shooting well.

If it's clean and shoots well, I'd find something else to worry about. Next time you shoot it, even if it's clean down to the atomic particle level, guess what happens the first time you light it off?

If the gun shoots good then leave it alone. Lots of good guns have been ruined from too much poor cleaning. If it ain't broke , don't fix it.

If it shoots well I wouldn't worry about it. I would see if the first shot zero will be close enough with an almost dry bore. Lubed then dry patched. This is only for peace of mind that condensation or corrosion doesn't occur under the copper while hunting. I would also explore loads with a de-copper agent added. Most of the newer powders have this. I have not tried it but David Tubb's has a de-coppering agent you can add to any powder, it has some cutesy name like Tubb Dust or something similar.

A too clean/smooth barrel can actually increase copper deposits. If this is a likely factor you can either run some 220 grit valve grinding compound down the bore on a tight patch or a pass with a stainless steel brush will add some longitudinal scratches to the bore. With either only go from breech to muzzle and remove at the muzzle and replace for the next pass. Three to five passes should be enough.

Wipe Out.

would it potentially harm the bore/rifling to just leave the copper in there? i mean could the copper trap moisture under it and rust the barrel if you don't clean it to bare metal? i've wondered this for awhile personally. i've always been a little leery about leaving a fouled bore for too long for fear of rust/pitting.
Big Ed

Two excellent suggestions. I have also treated it with the foam, then hit it with the JB after the foam has loosened it up and it comes clean. Helps with carbon, too.

Just had this same problem with a Ruger 77 I recently picked up. I scrubbed and scrubbed and let it soak with wipeout. The only thing that I found that cut the copper was sweets 7.62.

Was it heavy buildup, or a copper "wash" over the steel? Would it still shoot well with some copper in it?

Gun shoots great.

I did use Gunslick brand foaming bore cleaner and let it set for 30 min. Then brushed thoroughly, then patched wet and dry alternating Outers Nitro bore solevent until no more blue. Those products were just what I had on hand. All said on the bottle they remove copper fouling. Yet still a visual inspection looks like copper in the rifling.

That stuff/process inadequate? I did order some Barnes CR10, hopefully that works better.

Try and see if it doesn't need that much cleaning all the time. I have worked with several rifles that shot well with some copper color in the bore. Every now and then I pushed through a Ballistol laden patch followed by a couple of dry ones to keep powder fouling down a bit.

This is 100% correct. While I don't know why, solvents won't such some copper fouling. JB Bore Paste works every time...and quickly.

Can one of you guys post a link to the JB bore cleaner that is good with copper? I see several different types. Which one are we talking about and what is the best process to use?

Please explain copper “wash”?