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.

Yep. The Copper Killer works quicker if you're in a hurry, but the standard does fine overnight. Both are oil-based so don't pit barrels.

Second place in my experience--a close second--is Wipe-Out.

This is based on experiments with a Gradient Lens bore-scope--at least in my part of Montana. But also believe other solvents work at least as well, or better, in more humid parts of the country.

I might have to try that Bore Tech stuff….
Montana Xtreme does well on copper but not as well on powder/carbon, so I first use Shooters Choice or good ‘ol Hoppes.
Patch Out works on both copper and powder, and seems to dissolve the copper as quickly as Xtreme.
Plus a whiff of Patch Out won’t knock a guy down…..

I just stocked up on Xtreme and Patch Out, now I gotta’ try another solvent……sheesh.

I did an AR barrel 2 days ago that had never been properly cleaned. I hit the barrel with Hoppes solvent and then hit it with plenty of Wipe Out and left it over night. I ran some Hoppes back through it the next morning and patches until they come out dry. I have been really happy with the Wipe Out.

kwg

This like-new Savage 112 'J' single shot circa '75-'78 followed me home the other day. Beautiful shape and obviously shot very little.

I knew the barrel was pretty coppered up as the copper streaks at the muzzle were pretty obvious. But little did I know how fouled it was!

After four days, the copper is finally out. I threw everything I had in the chemical cupboard at it....Butch's, some vintage Shooters Choice Copper Remover, TM bore cleaner, Wipe Out, household ammonia, Kroil, a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone (which works really good, by the way ) and a couple more I won't mention in case my town's Hazardous Materials Response Unit should get wind of it.

In the end, it boiled down to simple elbow grease and brushing/patching...followed by aggressive use of JB... followed by more brushing and patching...followed by over night soaking with Hoppe's Black Powder Gel. Then repeat the process. As it progressed, you could see that it was layers of powder fouling over copper, then more powder and copper, etc. Once down to bare metal, I finished it up with a final round of JB on a new bronze brush working over the first 5-6" ahead of the chamber with 10-12 strokes for each full stroke down the barrel. After the final JB'ing and cleaning, the throat feels really smooth with a patch. I might take a peek with a bore scope. Or not. Don't know how many patches I used but the process killed 6 new phosphor bronze brushes. The dead brushes got recycled to JB victim duty.

Most guns from this era didn't have the barrels shot out as much as simply ineffectively cleaned. I've resurrected several others that were in the same shape.

Good shootin'. -Al

^^^ I had an older Savage 110 from a pawn shop that was layered like that. I cleaned on the dang thing on and off for a couple of months. All I can figure is someone bought it and never bothered to clean it, ever.


Not a gunsmith obviously but for me, a combination of Tetra foam, and KG-1 if necessary, takes care of powder fouling, followed by either Pro Shot Copper Remover or Wipe out for the copper.

I have some of the KG-12 or 21 or whatever their copper remover is, but haven't tried it yet. Reading the bottle, it says it doesn't turn patches green or blue, and the only way to tell you have removed the copper is with a bore scope. I don't have one and it honestly sounds like a PITA. I would hate to haul out a bore scope every time I cleaned a barrel.

Instead of blue it leaves brown residue on the patch. Once that is gone you are done. Where on the instructions does it say to use a bore scope? I use a qtip inserted in the crown and under bright light. Sounds like a real PITA eh?

Al, that is a cool rifle! Never heard of them before. What chambering is it? How does it shoot? Are they well known for accuracy?

I like Wipe-Out as well, you don't have to use a hazmat suit when you use it and I think it works just as good.

I dunno, maybe I dreamed it, but I coulda swore it said something on the back of my bottle about checking with a bore scope. I will have to dig my bottle out of the junk drawer and read the instructions again.

Don't see anything about a bore scope on my bottle.

Dream on...

I have some Barnes CR-10 that seems to do a pretty good job

I didn't want to be the first one to say anything..... -Al

Perhaps I shouldn't drink margaritas and clean guns at the same time.

My favorite. I've used Butchs, Sweets, shooters choice and all the others but BTE is the only one I use now and it removes carbon.

Now I just use my Hoppes #9 as a cologne.

After cleaning, I put a patch damp with Hoppes #9 down the barrels. It's great for storage and works on anything that might still be there.

Good shootin'. -Al

Yep, same here. If I have copper to remove I'll only use the BTE for both the copper and powder removal.

Hoppes #9 for smell, I mean only where I need powder removal.

Al, back in the day, shooting partner had the 112 J's in 243, 220 Swift, and 25/06. Barrels are rough, but shoot like a house a fire. Each barrel will of course start going south as copper starts to build up.

112 J's are a great foundation for spinning on another barrel.

Best whishes

Keith

We go through gallons and gallons of CR10 at the Barnes Bullets Ballistic Lab. Works very very well.

I usually use the bore cleaner I have on hand....Shooters Choice, Butches or Hoppes Bench Rest #9.
For years I've been using Dewey rods and Sinclair O ring bore guides with a solvent port when I clean one I pour it too it...one of the neatest things I bought from Sinclair was the stock boot that slips over the butt stock and protects the stock from solvents.
Here's my basic cleaning tools....this bore guide is a new one for a Kimber .300 wsm by Possum Hollow


Keep in mind that any kind of gun cleaner with copper solvents in it should not be used on nickel plated guns. That includes Ezzox and a lot of others.

Keith. I've had two 'J' series 22-250's, a Swift and now this one in 25-06. To me, the 'J' series are the best that Savage ever produced. The triggers are darn good....with a bit of side shimming and careful edge breaking on the sear surfaces, they can be reliable and safe to 1 lb. or a bit under.

Always good to hear from you...hope all is well. -Al