Copper Fouling removal?

[Pete112288]

So in my adventure into reloading and trying to get my gun and my dad's to shoot well, I discovered both were very neglected. Few patches here and there were the extent of cleaning. I didn't grow up with shooting and guns and my dad has learned most of it from what I have learned from trial and error. I remember both our guns shooting much better back when we got them but have struggled to get consistency. I just couldnt get them clean. Send a brush through for just a pass or two and the patch comes out nasty.
I tried some of Hoppes Benchrest copper remover and the first patches I sent through came out completely blue, telling me of a lot of copper.
I have used it a bit and on some online articles I have tried a little JB cleaning compound paste.
Now I run the Hoppes through, let sit a moment, and the patch still comes out with these trees of blue.
Do I just keep going? Is running this stuff through it too much bad for the barrel?
Any advice here is appreciated.
After I get them back up to spec I have absolutely no intent on ever letting it get this bad again, haha

[Pete112288]

And after a pass with the brush, 1 oiled patch keeps coming out like this, despite the amount of cleaning and such is done.

[Crunchy]

hard to beat JB compound paste for a good scrubbing

[jrebel]

Chances are....your brush is dirty and leaving residue when brushing.  Thus, your first patch following the brush always being dirty. 

As for the copper fouling..... You will get ten different responses on which is the best copper remover and all 10 will be correct based on the individuals experience.      Once you get your barrel cleaned, it is easy to maintain if you clean ever 50-100 rounds (again, you will get a lot of folks with different opinions on this). 

I clean my barrels every 50 to 100 round or as my groups start to open up.  I use Sweets 7.62 solvent.....I never let the solvent sit in the barrel for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.  I patch the barrel with a healthy dose of Sweets and let it set for approx 3-5 minutes.  I then dry patch it to see how bad it is (based on how blue the patch comes out).  I then will patch it again with sweets and run a nylon barrel brush back and forth in the barrel 10-20 times.  Follow that by another couple patches with smaller amounts of Sweets.  Usually at this time It is coming really clean.  I then follow with as many dry patches as I need to get all the Sweets out of the barrel.  If my rifle is going to set for a while I run a patch with WD-40 down the barrel a couple times followed by two dry patches.  I do this to make sure all the sweets is out of the barrel.  I try and foul my barrels before leaving in the save for long periods of time as I like to burn any residue out before storing.  It also prepares the rifle for the next hunt as I never hunt on a clean bore. 

Lots of ways to skin the cat..... 

Things I don't do...

I don't use bronze brushes. 
I don't let chemicals soak in my barrel for long periods of time. 
I don't change direction with the brush mid barrel. 

[dreadi]

Ever try some Chore Boy to get a good scrape on the copper?


BLACK HAMMER ARMS
07/02 NFA Dealer

http://www.blackhammerarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/blackhammerarms
https://www.instagram.com/blackhammerarms

[JDHasty]

Ever try some Chore Boy to get a good scrape on the copper?


BLACK HAMMER ARMS
07/02 NFA Dealer

http://www.blackhammerarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/blackhammerarms
https://www.instagram.com/blackhammerarms

There are copper Chore Boy pads and copper plated Chore Boy pads and they are not so marked.  I take a magnet when I buy them.  The copper plated steel ones will absolutely reck a rifle barrel.  It’s been that way for twenty years that some are plated and some are solid copper. 

[JWBINX]

Chances are....your brush is dirty and leaving residue when brushing.  Thus, your first patch following the brush always being dirty. 

As for the copper fouling..... You will get ten different responses on which is the best copper remover and all 10 will be correct based on the individuals experience.      Once you get your barrel cleaned, it is easy to maintain if you clean ever 50-100 rounds (again, you will get a lot of folks with different opinions on this). 

I clean my barrels every 50 to 100 round or as my groups start to open up.  I use Sweets 7.62 solvent.....I never let the solvent sit in the barrel for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.  I patch the barrel with a healthy dose of Sweets and let it set for approx 3-5 minutes.  I then dry patch it to see how bad it is (based on how blue the patch comes out).  I then will patch it again with sweets and run a nylon barrel brush back and forth in the barrel 10-20 times.  Follow that by another couple patches with smaller amounts of Sweets.  Usually at this time It is coming really clean.  I then follow with as many dry patches as I need to get all the Sweets out of the barrel.  If my rifle is going to set for a while I run a patch with WD-40 down the barrel a couple times followed by two dry patches.  I do this to make sure all the sweets is out of the barrel.  I try and foul my barrels before leaving in the save for long periods of time as I like to burn any residue out before storing.  It also prepares the rifle for the next hunt as I never hunt on a clean bore. 

Lots of ways to skin the cat..... 

Things I don't do...

I don't use bronze brushes. 
I don't let chemicals soak in my barrel for long periods of time. 
I don't change direction with the brush mid barrel.

This is great advice to the T!!
 

[jrebel]

This advice keeps my barrels shooting tight groups. 

6.5 creed with 124 HH bullet.

[Luna butte]

You can get a teslong bore scope for as little as $50-$60. But you’ll probably be pretty disgusted with yourself after making your purchase. I have clean barrels.

[b23]

You can get a teslong bore scope for as little as $50-$60. But you’ll probably be pretty disgusted with yourself after making your purchase. I have clean barrels.

A borescope can be both a blessing and a curse.  The Teslong for the money are as good as it gets, I have two the rigid and flexible shaft models, but like the above statement don't be shocked when you have lots of wtf  moments using one because you'll go from I love this thing because they allow you to finally see the inside of your barrel with good clarity to I friggin hate this thing because it allows you to see the inside of your barrel. 

For me the worst barrel/s to try and clean, especially if they've been let go uncleaned for awhile, are factory barrels.  Their finish isn't very good and they're full of tool marks which seems to make them powder/copper foul that much faster and harder to keep clean as well as more difficult to get clean down to bare metal.  Often factory barrels will shoot better with a certain amount of fouling versus truly clean down to bare metal.

JB's can certainly help get a barrel clean to bare metal much faster and even sometimes is about the only way you can get one to bare metal if there's layers of fouling but don't forget it is an abrasive and like anything else you can over use it to a point of where it becomes to much of a good thing.  Having a smooth mirror like finish may look like the right way but it's not so be mindful of that when using abrasives like JB's.  With most factory barrels they're so rough it will take quite a bit to get to that point but I won't use it in any of my custom barrels unless it's a last resort.

[Stein]

    I thought I had clean barrels, but wasn't even close.  The barrel was much cleaner than the lugs though, even worse buildup of junk.

The bonus with the borescope is you can use it for other things.  I diagnosed a leak in my dishwasher where I couldn't see as well as a few automotive fixes.

I use the Iosso paste and the blue brushes and find that works very well for cleaning it down to the bare metal.  It works well on carbon and copper.  I also use the ammonia ones sometimes but most often go with Iosso.

[MADMAX]

Sweets

[pickardjw]

I've been convinced by the no-barrel cleaning crowd. Haven't touched em in a few years, over 1000 rounds down the 6.5 since. It'll still shoot a sub-1/4 MOA 3 shot group if I ever stopped there.