Copper in barrels

I've bought at least a dozen barrels here, just got one and am cleaning it. It occurred to me that every barrel I've bought had a lOt of copper in it. I clean by pushing a patch with Hoppes thru the bbl, leaving it for a few hours, then pushing the same patch thru again. If it's green, I start with a clean patch and Hoppes. This can go on for a week or more, lotsa patches and Hoppes.
I don't know if the sellers don't clean their barrels, or don't clean the ones they sell. I do know that copper free clean barrels shoot better than coppery ones.
BTW, I've never bought a barrel that, clean, wouldn't shoot pretty well = <1" 5 shots 100 yards.

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Most factory Savage barrels can be "copper mines". I've had a few of their stainless and chrome molly barrels that eventually stopped coppering up after a few hundred rounds through them. My Savage factory 223 varmint weight barrel no longer gives me any indication of copper and it has 550 rounds through it.

First off don't use a copper-bronze brush you are just eating it up with the solvent you will never get the green out of your patches using one....use a nylon brush....let the chemicals do the work....Hoppes that is made now just not the same as it was in the 70's and before....I still like the smell if it....there's better copper solvents....Barnes CR-10 will get copper out with very little effort....

Shooting a barrel does less damage than people cleaning them....

I only clean my barrels when I notice accuracy starting to decrease. Even then, I don't go to town trying to get all the copper out of the barrel. A few passes with some Hoppe's #9 and it's back to shooting nice little groups.

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Originally Posted by joeb33050

I've bought at least a dozen barrels here, just got one and am cleaning it. It occurred to me that every barrel I've bought had a lOt of copper in it. I clean by pushing a patch with Hoppes thru the bbl, leaving it for a few hours, then pushing the same patch thru again. If it's green, I start with a clean patch and Hoppes. This can go on for a week or more, lotsa patches and Hoppes.
I don't know if the sellers don't clean their barrels, or don't clean the ones they sell. I do know that copper free clean barrels shoot better than coppery ones.
BTW, I've never bought a barrel that, clean, wouldn't shoot pretty well = <1" 5 shots 100 yards.

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Part of your problem is that whole "leaving it for a few hours". Most copper solvents are amonia based and the amonia will evaporate off after 10-15 minutes. As it evaporates it leaves the copper in the bore so you aren't getting anywhere fast.

Run your patch through and let it sit for a few minutes to soften up the copper then scrub the crap out of it with your brush. Personally I use Remington Bore Cleaner for the first pass with a patch, then load up my brush with RB-17 which is a gel for about 15-20 passes through the bore. After that it's several dry patches to clear out all the gunk, one patch soaked with CLP and one final dry patch.

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Originally Posted by MrFurious

Part of your problem is that whole "leaving it for a few hours". Most copper solvents are amonia based and the amonia will evaporate off after 10-15 minutes. As it evaporates it leaves the copper in the bore so you aren't getting anywhere fast.

Run your patch through and let it sit for a few minutes to soften up the copper then scrub the crap out of it with your brush. Personally I use Remington Bore Cleaner for the first pass with a patch, then load up my brush with RB-17 which is a gel for about 15-20 passes through the bore. After that it's several dry patches to clear out all the gunk, one patch soaked with CLP and one final dry patch.

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I use Hoppes 9 and a small nylon brush- 25 cal, and patches on the brush. The patch-after-hoppes#9 gets greener as time goes by, overnight = very green. I don't brush bores, i just let he solvents act. I use Hoppes #9 for copper, oderless mineral spirits for cast and jacketed carbon or whatever the black stuff is, and synthetic oil-food safe oil-for all lubing and storage. Maybe there are faster copper-getter-outers than Hoppes, but I'm in no hurry. I've tried a zillion foams, juices and gels, and Hoppes #9 does it for me.
Be patient, don't brush!! Those poor barrels are in agony! Food safe synthetic, never evaporates, never thickens up, and you can lube your food with it!

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Originally Posted by joeb33050

food safe synthetic, never evaporates, never thickens up, and you can lube your food with it!

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lol!!

I use 2 parts ammonia to 1 part distilled water. Plug muzzle...fill with funnel to throat. Place inside plastic bucket. Let set 10-15 minutes- drain, scrub with torpedo brush a few strokes. Run a clean patch. Run a second clean patch to just below crown. Examine for trace copper. Repeat as necessary. Lots of barrels like copper fouling up to a point. And lots don't. Lapping the bore will help you in this case. Lap the bore with lapping compound one session. This should help. Don't lap bore a second time using lapping compound....instead use JB bore polish.

Use bore tech eliminator with a nylon brush. If really bad, plug the bore and soak overnight with it.

There seem to be a lotta guys that know HOW to get copper out of a rifle barrel. Based on my bought barrels, there's a lotta guys who DON'T get the copper out of rifle barrels, my original point.

They probably don't understand that there is a lot a copper built up in the barrel. They notice that the barrel doesn't shoot up to there expectations, so they sell it. Why else would someone ever sell a great shooting barrel.

A barrel can shoot pretty good with lots of copper in it for a few rounds, then accuracy goes out the window when it all heats up.

I'm in the same boat right now with a beat up 243 I bought dirt cheap. I've been slowly getting copper out of it and it seems to have a TON of it. I don't keep many of my firearms where I live so it soaks a week in Hoppes while I'm away then Saturday and Sunday I work on getting it out while reloading or shooting other stuff then it goes back to sitting with Hoppe's all week. I use better cleaners when I'm there and can keep an eye on the ammonia based ones and remove them in a timely manner. The funny thing is it shoots decent, not great, with the severe copper fouling. I had no intentions of keeping this barrel but figured I'd try and get it cleaned up and see how it shoots before buying another. I have the patches and time so why not?

Had a fouling problem with my 243 also. Turned to have chatter marks in the barrel. Sent it back to Savage and then replace the barrel. Shoots great now and cleans easily.

lol at using Hoppes #9 to get copper out of a barrel. Good luck with that. It's fine for powder fouling and general cleaning, but it's not gonna do much for copper. Pretty much all of my shooting is done long range (read 600-1200 yards). I rarely clean back down to bare metal. Barrels will build up copper at a steady rate in the beginning, then kind of level off for a while, then go up again, and that's usually when accuracy falls off. That leveled off portion during the coppering process is when the barrel will generally be the most consistently accurate for the longest period of time. I will occasionally run one patch of Hoppes through my match rifle, and then patch it out, to clean powder fouling, but I also make sure I can put 5-10 rounds through it before the next match to foul it again so it's always shooting the same. For a really good deep clean back to bare metal, I use Patch Out or Wipe Out. They both work very well and getting a barrel back down to bare metal if that's your goal.

I have a model 111 270, which I got last year and it seems to pick up a lot of copper. When I run a tornado brush through the bore it kinda sounds like I am brushing the grooves on a record. The gun shoots good, but it is miserable to clean the copper out of.

I tried Bore Tech CU-2 copper solvent and am happy I did. Hands down, it's been the best,quickest odor free, solvent I've ever used in the past 35 years.
I prefer using mops.

I use Hoppes #9 to remove copper, have been since 1960, finished a barrel cleaning this week. Why would anyone suggest that Hoppes #9 won't remove copper? PM me your address and I'll send you a batch of green patches, VIVA Hoppes!

I use Hoppe's #9 for minor copper removal. Sweets (ammonia) when a 30-06 was loaded up, pawn shop find. It was ok afterwards with a little Flitz polish. Stays cleaner now using only Hoppe's #9.

I chemical clean only.

IMO WipeOut is the best. I never use any type of brush, just patches. I average using 6 patches every time I clean my barrels with WipeOut.