Are older barrels more prone to copper fouling?

[Mr.Snerdly]

Just a small warning for those contemplating CLR. It does eat carbon like crazy and i have cleaned many barrels with it.
On the other hand the "R" in the name is for rust. Gun blueing is controlled "rust". CLR loves blueing as it does carbon.
Be real careful with it around "blued" surfaces. Rinse it well with water, kroil, alcohol or whatever because it will get you if you are not careful (got me several times when i thought i was careful).
That's all, just a reminder.

Good thing to know about the bluing. Is it necessary to do something to the bore after using the CLR? I am wondering if it can do any damage to the bore if something isn't done to completely remove the chemical or neutralize it.

[celltech]

Good thing to know about the bluing. Is it necessary to do something to the bore after using the CLR? I am wondering if it can do any damage to the bore if something isn't done to completely remove the chemical or neutralize it.

I run a patch of 99.9% alcohol once done with the CLR to clear it out. While the majority of my barrels are stainless I had a piece of cut off 12FV barrel lying around that I stuck in CLR. It turned the blueing to muck but has not appeared to harm the metal.

[Texas10]

CLR in a chrome steel barrel will have to be thoroughly removed, as will many other bore cleaners after cleaning to avoid rusting. I suspect that if you put a good borescope camera down the tube that you'd find a lot of rust pitting. An old rifle that's been shot "quite a bit" as you say, would otherwise be pretty smooth in the bore, my 1898 Krag is almost like new. And while not accounting for some fire cracking, would not copper up near as much as a newly manufactured Savage for instance, which is known for having railroad track like rifling that loves to accumulate copper.

Rust pitting is not necessarily the end of barrel accuracy, as long as you aren't shooting in matches, but if it were mine I'd be looking for answers. Rust pitting inside the barrel can be removed completely with electrolysis, which won't hurt the blueing. All you need is a battery charger, a steel rod that will fit loosely inside the barrel so that it doesn't touch the barrel ( use tape, o-rings, etc to keep it from touching) and some Arm and Hammer wash soda from Wally World.

[Newtosavage]

My old 110 is one year newer than my pre-64 Winchester 30-30 (made in '59). That rifle has been shot A LOT. But it still shoots great (most accurate Win 94 I've ever seen) and doesn't copper foul any faster than any of the newest barrels I have. This old 110 is the first rifle I think I've owned where I actually noticed the copper straight away. It was pretty obvious. Can't say I've ever really noticed it with the naked eye in any other rifle I've owned.

[Robinhood]

Rust pitting is not necessarily the end of barrel accuracy, as long as you aren't shooting in matches, but if it were mine I'd be looking for answers. Rust pitting inside the barrel can be removed completely with electrolysis, which won't hurt the blueing. All you need is a battery charger, a steel rod that will fit loosely inside the barrel so that it doesn't touch the barrel ( use tape, o-rings, etc to keep it from touching) and some Arm and Hammer wash soda from Wally World.

Just to be clear, I would only use this in a stainless barrel for the removal of carbon and copper. It is a viable cheap low odor option for cleaning a rifle barrel. My CLR suggestion was not for the removal of rust. The nature of my hobby puts SS tubes on all of my equipment. Anything that uses CS for the tube shoots about 10 rds a year maximum and if it needs excessive cleaning from that it is removed and replaced. The mistake was where my mind led me to believe that most people see the world as I do. This has never been the truth and reading many responses shows evidence of the oppositte. :)

Chive on.