Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing copper solvent recommendation

My old bottle of Sweets 7.62 ran dry.

my local Academy doesn't carry it, but does carry a couple other products that are marketed as copper removers.

Realizing that Sweets has been around for decades, I'm curious what yall recommend as the best current market product for removing copper.

Patch Out or Wipe Out work well and aren’t nearly as harsh as Sweets.

I have switch from Sweets to Wipe Out unless it is CRAZY loaded with copper. You can still get it with Wipe Out, just takes longer.

A good cleaning with Butch's followed by Wipe Out left over night does a pretty good job. If there's still copper in there, JB on a patch wrapped around a worn brush does the trick.

Good shootin'. -Al

Guns Slick foam. Gets everything out.

I agree. I have Sweets, Butch’s, Shooters Choice and several other solvents on hand but I find the foam varieties work well. I have and use Gunslick more than all other on hand.

Both Gunslick and Wipe Out seem to be the same formula as the original foaming bore cleaner....Forrest Foaming Bore Cleaner.

Good stuff! -Al

Having tried a lot of brands on heavy fouling on M1919A4 machine gun barrels, I've found Bore Tech is the most effective of the popular brands. Sweets is great but has no carbon solvent and sometimes you hit a wall if there are layers. I have heard that the powder/carbon solvent in Bore Tech was designed by GM for emissions testing...true or not, it works.

I might need this information sometime in the future too. My bottle of Shooters choice Copper Remover is about halfway down and I think it may run out sometime in about 10-15 years so I'm starting my search now for a replacement....

I've use the Wipe Out and it does work pretty well on copper deposits- a bit better than my Shooters Choice.

Wipeout works ok but with stubborn copper it takes a few applications. KG12 is the absolute best solvent I have ever used and it is not even close.

I use shooters choice on my shotgun bores because it dissolves plastic , it has some nasty smell.

The best I've ever used on copper was the original G.M.Top Engine Cleaner. It was replaced with a more eco-friendly version which doesn't have the ammoniated salts in it...which is what gets the copper out. It should have had about 10 skulls and crossbones on the label!

After GM dc'd the 'original', it could still be purchased through Mercury Marine as Quick Silver Top Engine Cleaner. After about two years, that formula also was replaced by the GM 'green' formula. -Al

I start with Bore Tech carbon remover (removes some copper too) and finish with Bore Tech copper remover. Both work really well. Safe to leave in overnight too. Black Friday sale might still be on. I think there was 20% off.

Bore Tech Eliminator for me

I like that too. Works about as well as the copper remover

Tried that once to clean a Beretta piston that the previous owner forgot to maintain. It did nothing on the carbon. This was 7 years ago so not sure if the formulation changed.

If I have heavy carbon I use KG1 which removes carbon and bluing. Works like a top on revolvers, semi-auto's etc.

Montana X-Treme

Bore tech is great. Wipe out is great too, just takes longer.

I don't know if you guys get it over there but Sweet's also make an oil. While it's not a copper remover, it will remove some copper - if you put it in a fouled barrel, when you next push a patch out after leaving it overnight, it will be green.

https://caboolturefirearms.com.au/product/sweets-oil/

Montana Xtreme if I'm in a rush. WIPE Out for routine use.