Any consensus on which is the best out there?

Boretech products are what I have settled on. Work extremely well and great results.

Butch's Bore Shine.

Hoppe's Black Copper Cleaner is damn good.

Wipe out, Patch out, Montana Xtreme copper killer and MX bore cleaner. For really tough work JB compound and elbow grease.

A couple years ago I mixed up a batch of Ed's Red for the 4-H trap guns as they were on a tight budget. There was more than enough for both of us so I started using it on my guns with a lot of skepticism. Darned if it didn't work just fine on everything save for copper fouling. Pleasantly surprised.

Butch's Bore Shine on revolvers, occasionally JB Compound and Bore Tech Eliminator, Break Free CLP on rifles.

here is a link


KG12 for heavy copper buildup

Wipeout for anything else.

Are you looking for a general bore cleaner, copper removal, lead, etc, etc,?

I've tried about everything out there and currently use Boretech for everything, BUT there are a lot of good products on the market.

Yes just trying to see if there was a couple of products that everyone agreed on. I have never shot a lot, 15- 20 rounds before deer season and clean at the end of the season with hoppes #9 so Im no expert , but my kids are getting into shooting a lot more and one is even building his own AR. So I was trying to provide some advice to them on what they need to be looking for

Again, I'd have to recommend Bore Tech for your needs; non-toxic, no odor and most importantly, they work very well.

Butches for all purpose
Bore Tech/Kroil 50/50
Wipe out, Patch out

Butch's is the ONLY one I use with a bronze brush the other patches or Nylon brush

J-B if it needs it

Jim

Thanks y'all

I have tried them all and Sweet's is where I started many years ago and where I landed today.

when I need to get copper out I use a mix of 100% janitorial strength ammonia mixed 50/50 with hoppes #9 it's my own formula of butches bore shine ect. ect. and it works. when done I swab the bore with rem. oil the dray patch then another light coat of rem. oil. I have been using this for years with no problem at all only copper free bores,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I like WipeOut and BoreTech. These will get the copper out. Butches Bore Shine seems to work well on powder fouling. I following up with this after using the others. Lastly, I run a lightly coated patch with Eezox down the bore for corrosion resistance.

Another vote for Sweet's.

Kroil, best penetrating oil on the planet. I use it first for carbon removal.
For copper, Wipe Out is way too easy.
Bore Tech Eliminator if I'm in a hurry.

Treating the barrel with Dyna Tek Bore Coat makes any decent solvent look great.

+1 on Ed's Red. I'm a devotee of over 15 years' standing.

Brasso. It's like a mix of ammonia and JB borebrite.
kwg

Brasso. It's like a mix of ammonia and JB borebrite.
kwg

That sounds great. Do you put a clothespin on your nose. ?

Wipe out, Patch out. Simply works the best and doesn't smell ammonia nasty. Run two patches thru, come back in 20 mins, couple of dry patches, couple more wet patches and sit for 20.

Repeat if needed. No need for scrubbing with brushes!

Honestly with the number of rounds you put thru each year just about any of the usual suspects will work fine.

Read the link carefully and see where your favorite bore cleaner comes in .Coretac does not make cleaning solvents by the way. I put KG12 on a tarnished penny and it dissolved half of it in no time at all.



Let me attach this once again

[quote=Oldelkhunter] I put KG12 on a tarnished penny and it dissolved half of it in no time at all.[quote]

Must have been an old penny. The US mint stopped making solid copper pennies in 1982.

RAN

Don't know what year it is , the KG12 dissolved it and best of all it doesn't stink or destroy bores if left in them.

I’m in no hurry. Set my rifle in a cradle and run a patch thru barrel with patchout. At night before I go to bed run a dry patch thru. And recoat with patch out. Next morning dry patch. Keep up till clean. Hasbeen

I used to use KG12, but if memory serves, it etches the bore.

Nope no ammonia

For 7mm. 6.5CM, .308, .270, 5.56, 7.62 etc. am of the Copper Equilibrium School, so I don't remove copper as there is never "excess", just what is needed. Hoppes #9 and CLP. Tetra on bolt lugs.

12 ga. Brenneke slugs...Hoppes #9 and CLP.

In my .44s and 45-70s I NEVER shoot anything but cast lead and the bullets are correctly sized to the bore, so just using Hoppes #9 for cleaning and Break Free CLP for very light lube and metal protection. Metal is sealed with Tetra for sliding surfaces.

Even with thorough cleaning I come back a week or two later and run a caliber specific RamRodz down every bore to see if it picks up anything.

Must be thinking of something else I used in the past. I will give KG12 credit, it's a good copper remover.

It's the best , nothing even close. I use Wipeout when I don't want to use brushes and patches.

Help me out: what is the Copper Equilibrium School?

How much is the tuition per quarter? Where do I mail my transcripts?

lol, training is available but it looks complicated....


Copper Equilibrium

Google searches are only as good as the search terms.

See Here.

Refresh my memory again; KG12 does not produce a blue color when reacting with copper, it produces a tan or brownish color, correct?

Yes

KG-12 is in a class by itself for dissolving Copper, but its best use is to get Kroil a toe hold under the Copper, so the brush can sweep it out in chunks.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...break_in_barrels.pdf?5242045189986305547

My system [loosly based on Walt Berger's system 18 years ago] is:
1) Moly coat the bullets, not in a medium, but in a plastic container put in the Thumler's Tumbler.
2) Bore coat the barrels and fire them a few times.
3) Clean bore with powder solvent on a patch.
4) Dry patch
5) KG12 on a patch
6) wait 5 minutes
7) Dry patch.
8) 20 strokes (Kroil and Flitz) or (Witches Brew) on a bronze brush (of diameter greater than groove diameter, check brush diameter often.)
9) wait 5 minutes
10) 20 strokes (Kroil and Flitz) or (Witches Brew) on a bronze brush (of diameter greater than groove diameter, check brush diameter often.)
11) Alcohol on a patch
12) dry patch
13) Inspect bore at muzzle with magnification and a light.
14) If an Copper is seen return to step 5), if perfectly clean return to shooting

My system does not have to believe in break in to do it. It is agnostic.

I made a video tonight on how to make a bore inspection light for cheap. Shove the light transmitting fiber optic up the breech, look into the muzzle with magnification. At the focal point you should see how well the bore was lapped. The inspection for Copper at the muzzle is done at an angle.

👍🏼

I have a two bore scopes.

I have noticed that the soaking solutions seem to be very lacking in their ability to remove carbon deposit when 40 or more shots have been fired through the barrel...soaking.

Now use those same soaking solutions with good bronze bristle brushes, you will get the carbon out. Copper is easy to get out with the soaking solutions.

Typically when I examine a barrel when a guy has been soaking only, the barrel is usually black with carbon from one end to another...patches were coming out with only a slight trace of grey and the barrel was loaded with carbon to where accuracy was effected.

I noticed WIpeout is not on the list. Coretac doesn't make cleaning solvents but their website says that they are "The Canadian Distributor for KG Products."

You don't reckon that might bias their opinion, do you?

How long is a string?

No, only that they sell quality products. I have used pretty much all the solvents in that test. I am down to Kg1,3 and 12 and Wipeout. Have you used their product?

No but I'm curious. Who conducted the test and what were their methods?

Some people had the time to do independent tests.

Back in 2012 there were guys on Snipers Hide or Shooter's Forum that put Copper bullets in Copper fouling bore cleaner solutions, while weighing the bullets before and after.

Typically Bore tek lost no weight and the KG12 bullet lost 1.8 grains overnight.

If you want to relive 2012, there is a new scale I got for $18 that is very accurate and precise.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0731F3F2N/

I wonder how much solvent they used? And whether they used the same volume of the foaming bore cleaners in their liquid state? That would be an equivalent volume of solvent.

Seems that a test where you plunk a whole bullet into an unspecified volume of solvent is not very similar to what happens inside a rifle bore with a thin film of solvent contacting the bore.

There are billions of out of control variable in gun culture mythology, but focusing on that one for a moment...... I don't see an easy experiment. When you smear on the solvent, there are more variables than viscosity. And there is the weight of the smeared fluid. We don;t know how thick Copper fouling is. KG12 does not remove Copper as much as give Kroil or Witches Brew a crack to creep under.

A not perfect way would be to:
0) Clean the bullet of finger prints
1) Weigh the bullet
2) Smear the bullet with solvent.
3) Weigh the bullet with solvent and calculate smear wieight
4) Wait
5) rinse the bullet
6) dry the bullet
7) weigh the bullet.
8) plot different solvent's smear weights vs Copper loss

I don’t have any of the pics any more because the host quit me, but it was about 2012 that i put pics of my copper cleaner test on Shooters Forum. It was a matter of covering bullets in various cleaners. Nothing comes remotely close to KG-12 for etching the gilding metal of bullet jackets. I do have and use Boretech products as well, and they’re quite good. Nevertheless, if I have a _serious_ copper fouling issue, it’s a waste of time to start anywhere other than KG-12, in terms of chemical cleaners.

Ten out of twelve Gunsmiths agree!!

It would interesting to note how many people posting have a bore scope.

"gunsmith" is a loose term, only outdone by "girlfriend".

I have one.

That being said, I don't go for a completely clean barrel as most do; never understood that logic. A little fouling is a good thing as far as accuracy is concerned.

Montana extreme copper killer
JB paste
Hoppes #9

Depends on level of clean needed or desired for the particular gun I am cleaning.

Not only that, it contains cyanide, according to the MSDS sheet
KG12 MSDS

They don't say what the concentration is ("classified information"?) and it's obviously deemed safe for sale to the general public, but still....