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Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: Al Bundy on January 11, 2010, 07:49:24 PM


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Title: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Al Bundy on January 11, 2010, 07:49:24 PM

So, I picked up some Sweets Solvent the other day to run through my rifle. I didn't think it would have a lot of copper fouling, but I thought I see just for *censored*s and giggles.

Anyhow, here's the result:
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg684.imageshack.us%2Fimg684%2F7237%2F1007705.jpg&hash=3c00c9701dfaa51307103eeea41df114187a08c2)

I followed the instructions on the bottle. The two patches in the middle on bottom were the first two I pushed through. Seems like it took me quite a few patches as you can see. Is that a lot of fouling?

How often does everyone else clean for copper?
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: littlebuf on January 11, 2010, 08:13:00 PM
Ive never done it. that stuff has always kinda scared me, it can eat your bore if ya don't get it all out. and a little copper fouling isn't a bad thing unless your accuracy starts to fall off. mine ain't broke so I'm not fixing it. maybe I'm wrong tho  :dunno:
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: washelkhntr on January 11, 2010, 08:13:56 PM
X2
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Al Bundy on January 11, 2010, 08:19:10 PM
Ive never done it. that stuff has always kinda scared me, it can eat your bore if ya don't get it all out. and a little copper fouling isn't a bad thing unless your accuracy starts to fall off. mine ain't broke so I'm not fixing it. maybe I'm wrong tho  :dunno:

Yeah, I read that it'll eat your bore too. I used quite a few patches soaked in Hoppes 9 after I used the Sweets, scrubbed her real well, then more Hoppes. I put a light coat of oil in her too. She should be OK.

As far as accuracy, I haven't gotten to the range yet, but the rifling is definitely "crisper" now. 
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: littlebuf on January 11, 2010, 08:44:43 PM
as long as you keep it wet the whole time its in the bore and then clean it out like you did before it drys your good. I'm sure that thing has a mirror shine on her now
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: chrisb on January 11, 2010, 08:57:43 PM
I've always just used some Hoppes or oil on a bore snake. Those things work great.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Gutpile on January 12, 2010, 07:25:34 AM
Wow those pics are awesome. I'd say you definately needed to do it. Thats a lot of blue. What caliber was that?

I used it my 06 when accuracy fell off and it worked great that old rifle really shoots. I've also used it on my 220 swift. You don't need to use it a lot because in most calibers you won't have a lot of build up right away but if accuracy falls off it really does work good.

Quote
I've always just used some Hoppes or oil on a bore snake. Those things work great.

True but you wont even touch copper fouling with a bore snake. Your kind of comparing apples to oranges.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Al Bundy on January 12, 2010, 09:02:20 AM
Wow those pics are awesome. I'd say you definately needed to do it. Thats a lot of blue. What caliber was that?

I used it my 06 when accuracy fell off and it worked great that old rifle really shoots. I've also used it on my 220 swift. You don't need to use it a lot because in most calibers you won't have a lot of build up right away but if accuracy falls off it really does work good.


It was my old .35 Remington. She's over a hundred years old and as far as I know, it had never been cleaned for copper. She shot alright before, but it should be much better now. I just need to get to the range.

Kind of on the same subject, has anyone here ever used an electronic bore cleaner?
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: chrisb on January 12, 2010, 10:07:54 AM
Quote
I've always just used some Hoppes or oil on a bore snake. Those things work great.

True but you wont even touch copper fouling with a bore snake. Your kind of comparing apples to oranges.
[/quote]

SO how do you know if you've got copper in your barrel? is it based on the ammo you use or the amount of use or what?
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: high country on January 12, 2010, 10:23:22 AM
if you have pulled the trigger....you have opper in the barrel. the only way to know how much is by a expierienced hand on a jag or bore scope it. amonia based solvents like sweets and barnes are most dangerous on a blued barrel...stainless is generally safer. if you have super stubborn fouling the remington bore cleaner scrubbs very well as does butches bore shine.

I have one of outers foul out 3's and that thing is amazing...slow as mold, but works like magic.

as stated though, many guns shoot best with a bit of copper fouling. if you are shooting a factory barrel this is probably you. if you are shooting a better makers barrel, you want the copper out.

as throats erode the amount of copper fouling increases....that is just life. if you shoot a gun that holds lots of powder and a little bullet or shoot back to back shots you are in the upper end of the barrel burners club.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: chrisb on January 12, 2010, 10:47:46 AM
good to know. thanks.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on January 12, 2010, 10:54:22 AM
I use sweets a couple times a year on ally my rifle barrels. Great stuff! Friggin stinks though.

-Steve
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Shootmoore on January 12, 2010, 11:08:31 AM
Sweets here as well, once a year usually unless I am putting a lot of rounds through the gun.  Then its a twice a year deal.

Shootmoore
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: wrangler on January 12, 2010, 11:37:05 AM
mmmm love the smell of ammonia in the mornin! i use it on all my rifles after about 10 rounds. just be sure to run a couple oil patches down the barrel when your all finished. i have found that in most rifles it takes one or 2 'fowling' shots to get the point of impact to stabilize. usually the first 2 shots after a good scrubbing are a few inches high.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: MagKarl on January 12, 2010, 07:09:29 PM
Sweets says "Harmless to barrel steel" right on the bottle.  But, it also says don't let it sit more than 15 minutes.  Anyone actually had detectable bore damage?  If so, I'd like to hear about it.  Right or wrong, I was taught to clean my guns every time they are used.  The first time I used Sweets on my Win M70 30-06 I got a ton of copper out of it.  Now I get some each time I shoot but nothing like the first time.  I mainly shoot TSX so there's plenty of copper fouling potential.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: actionshooter on January 12, 2010, 07:15:40 PM
Copper solvent cannot "eat" a bore, what does happen is it dries the pores in the steel, which isn't good. If you don't use a good dose of oil to coat the bore after using any of the copper solvents it will actually foul worse.
 I clean with copper solvent every time I clean the gun.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Sporting_Man on January 13, 2010, 10:37:12 AM
I use the Bore Shine. I noticed that after 20 rounds from my 30-06 and 270Win - there is some Cu fouling that shows on the patch, but not affecting the accuracy at that point.
I remember also that my accuracy once got affected after about 150-180 rounds of 7mm RemMag, being only cleaned with Hope's during that time. There were about dozen patches that came blue-green, and I had to apply the solvent several times. So, I will not wait for more than 30-40 rounds to clean - in order to prevent unnecessary buildup.
Before using any Copper solvents, I "wash" the powder residues with Hopes Elite, or any other mild cleaner, in order to come to the metallic build ups. Then, I do the same after the Copper solvent is wiped, so that it "washes" the bore again, from the aggressive solvent. Then, there goes the oil at the end. My bores are like mirror.

Also, another thing that works well on copper is foam (shooter's choice makes it, among others), that is odorless and said to be completely harmless to the bore. I tried that one as well, did the job just fine.
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Al Bundy on January 13, 2010, 11:01:55 AM

Also, another thing that works well on copper is foam (shooter's choice makes it, among others), that is odorless and said to be completely harmless to the bore. I tried that one as well, did the job just fine.

I used some Birchwood Casey Foaming Gel Bore Cleaner when I first got the gun. I let it sit in the barrel overnight. All I got was a little blue on a single patch so I thought it was alright. The pic above tells me it didn't do *censored* to clean the copper. 
Title: Re: Feeling a little blue
Post by: Sporting_Man on January 13, 2010, 12:32:15 PM
I think that I remember something written about foam thing - if you find blue after the foam was sitting there for 15 minutes, apply it again (but wipe everything what you can from the first application), keep going like this until no blue color is showing on the patch. I am sure it is milder than Bore Shine or other amonia, or nitro based solvents.
On the other hand, those solvents will discolor and destroy the gun blue finish almost on touch...
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