Tale of the barrel a.k.a ....copper chronicles

Purchased a lightly used CM barrel chambered in 6mm AI. Came with dies and some brass, so, figured I could not go wrong.

Have had the barrel for several months, but no action to put it on. Lucked onto a great deal on a Stevens long action, so the plan after that was easy.

Rifle could not have many rounds down the tube. Trigger was terrible. Bolt lift was quite a bit as well. Forgot to look, but found out this was a center feed after I removed the stock to remove the old barrel and install the new. Whoa?!?!?! Oh well...deal with a stock later. This is the first centerfeed in my inventory.

There was a touch of copper at the muzzle of the rifle, but figured, what barrel does not show a little? I coat almost all of the bullets I shoot with Danzac/WS2, so that I don't have any issues with copper fouling, and high volume shooting. More on this later.

After a couple of trips back and forth between Montana and Nebraska, the action, stock, and barrel were finally married. As these trips are rather expensive with $3/gallon gas, to say that I am on a budget, is an understatement. Low buck?? Try NO BUCK! :) Of course I forgot the wood dowel that I normally use for this mod to sporter stocks. So, a quick trip the the local store here, provided a jaw dropping price tage for a wooden dowel. I am NOT going to spend that much. So, started looking around the rest of the store. In the plumbing department, I found a piece of schedule 80 plastic pipe with a 1" diameter. Perfect! ...and the price was $1.99 for a three foot section. (this is real schedule 80, not the thin stuff) Found a package of 60 grit sandpaper for $1.39 for five pieces as well. If I purchased sheets of sandpaper individually, would have been 79 cents per sheet!! Weird!! I finally had the factory Stevens forend sanded out for the varmint weight barrel. In the Burris Signature Zee rings, I added a Leupold VXii 6-18x40 scope (fine crosshair with 1/8 moa dot & target turrets) to the existing weaver type rail which was on the rifle when purchased. This is fast becoming one of my favorite scopes due to the price, size, weight, and clarity for any type of rifle that will be carried afield.

I have a little time on my hands after work, so I built a small reloading table with components that I brought up here on one of my trips. Has a Forster CoAx and a Dillon 450 mounted on the remnants of kitchen table legs and a scavenged laminate countertop from my tin shed in Nebraska.

Prepped some new brass that came with the dies and barrel. Loaded the rounds with my standard Ackley Improved fireforming loads of "pick a powder that I have on hand that does not work particulary well in anything...and load it 1 grain under max load for chosen bullet weight". This, so far, seems to be about perfect for the 223 AI and 22/6mm AI when fireforming brass for those rifles. With 58 gr VMax, Magtech 9.5 primers, and H414, the groups were actually rather good. After one cold bore shot, this rifle grouped the rest in 5/8 to 3/4". Hmm...looks like this barrel will be a good shooter. Never set the chronograph up, due to the wind in eastern MT, so, I have no idea what kind of speed this barrel is flinging these plastic tipped bullets, it seemed quick to me. After fireforming some brass, I loaded some naked 65 gr VMax over a couple different powders to shoot over the chronograph today. Using a the ladder method, was rewarded with bullet speeds in the 3880 to 4099 arena. WOW...that is really smoking. Will definitely keep these loaded down to a bit more respectable speed to promote barrel life.

After returning from the last bench session, a look at the muzzle of the barrel, provided that ugly brownish/red tinge at the muzzle of the barrel. Great....I just love getting copper out of barrels. My 204 Ruger taught me how to get copper and carbon fouling out of barrels though. Plastic brushes, tight fiting patches, a good cleaning rod (stainless, one piece!!), and some Montana Extreme Copper Cream with good ol' Hoppe's #9....well..and some elbow grease.

Of course, I do not have any of the above mentioned MT Ext. stuff here, but, after searching the entire inventory of both stores that carry any firearm cleaning supplies, I actually found one bottle stashed behind some other MT Extreme items. Coat some patches with Hoppes, dry patch out, then dip the 6mm/243 brush in Hoppes, run thru the bore, leave hanging on the end, coat with the Copper Cream, and start brushing the bore. Follow the directions...it works very well with plastic brushes. Patch out, soak bore with Hoppes, let this sit for 5 to 10 minutes in the bore, and check if you have the dreaded green patch.....and repeat if necessary if you do. The MT. Ext Copper Cream is non abrasive and non imbedding, so, they say it will not hurt the inside of a barrel.

So, I now have a clean barrel that will have some Danzac/WS2 applied to a patch before going to the range again. Bullets will be coated with Danzac/WS2 this time as well.

dcloco I was wondering if you could explain the method for the Danzac/WS2 and how it helps with fouling I have heard of it before but don't know anything about it. RW

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RW

dcloco I was wondering if you could explain the method for the Danzac/WS2 and how it helps with fouling I have heard of it before but don't know anything about it. RW

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Need 3-4 ounce plastic bottles with lids
Drop 100 BB's into the bottle
Put a thimble or two of Danzac/WS2 in the bottle
Drop 50-100 forty to fifty five grain 223 bullets in the bottle
Place in your tumbler and tumble for 30 to 60 minutes

Seperate the bullets from the BB/WS2 mixture by punching small holes in a throw away aluminum foil pan

Place bullets in a tupperware container with shredded newspaper to polish
Remove bullets and place in a sock for final polishing

That is it.

Have not tried HBN - people say it works good too.

dcloco where do you get the Danzac/Ws2 and at what cost? and after coating is this better than moly? and does it clean up the same as moly? also do you feel these coatings reduce throut errosion any more or is is just for barrel life and is accurCY AFFECTED AT ALL? RW

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RW

dcloco where do you get the Danzac/Ws2 and at what cost? and after coating is this better than moly? and does it clean up the same as moly? also do you feel these coatings reduce throut errosion any more or is is just for barrel life and is accurCY AFFECTED AT ALL? RW

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Believe it helps quite a bit, across the board. WS2 can be ordered out of Canada. Just buy a pound and share...you are money ahead.

Have in excess of 2000 rounds thru my prairie dog 223 AI (the one that always goes on the trips). I keep COAL records in my index cards for loads for individual rifles. This one has a 0.005" longer throat now. I shoot everything from 50/55/69/75's through this rifle.

The REAL test for me, the 338 RUM that I built my hunting partner for long range shooting. Rock 32" barrel running 300 gr Sierra Match Kings at 2950 fps for just over 1000 rounds now. Borescoped six weeks ago and it is still running strong. THIS, I believe, is proof that this stuff works.

WS2 cleans a lot easier than moly. Couple of wet patches, dry patch out, and you are done. I routinely go 500 to 1000 rounds in the 223 AI before I clean it.

Also of note, you do have to add 0.1 to 0.3 grains more powder to achieve the same velocity as nekid bullets.

If anybody is using HBN, please comment as well. Application technique is the same.