Copper Fouling in Handguns?

D

delta tide

New member
In your experience, is copper fouling a problem in handguns or is that something seen mainly in rifles. I am just courious. I have started cleaning my handgun barrels with a copper solvent, but am seeing very little blueish color on the patches. I assume the little bit of blue I am seeing is coming from the bronze brush.
 
I would hazard a guess that the higher the velocity, the faster copper will accumulate.

That being said, I have had handguns that I get copper out of from time to time. The question I cannot answer is, how much copper fouling is required to have a noticeable affect on accuracy from a service handgun?
 
Copper fouling in handguns, particularly a quality handgun with a high finish barrel, is not a real common occurrence. I've seen light copper fouling, as Zhillsauditor eluded to, on high velocity mag rounds like .357 and .44 fired from revolvers... but never on a .45, 9mm or even 10mm pistol.

As you may have deduced, it's very likely that your "blueish color" is coming from the brass bristle brush. Get a few stiff, nylon bristle brushes with stainless shafts and repeat your cleaning with a copper solvent... chances are, all you'll see is carbon fouling.

Not saying it's not possible... with guns, nearly anything is possible, just not very likely.

Cheers,
C
 
Thanks for the input. My handguns have been seeing a lot more use lately and I just want to make sure I keep them cleaned properly. I didn't think copper fouling would be a huge problem at handgun bullet speeds, but just like to get other people's opinion.
 
I began shooting a lot of JHP bullets in one of my .44 Magnums, these at velocities of 1400~1700 fps. I got a little copper wash in the bore. But I used Hoppes No. 9 and let it set (sit?) a day or so then dry it out. Did the trick for me.

Once I got real industrious and cleaned my bore with Brasso. Surprised at the result, clean as a whistle!

By the way, I use a 50/50 mix of automotive motor and Three-In-One oil after cleaning.

Bob Wright

And, by the way, no problems were encountered from the copper wash or fouling.
 
I get a little bit on my 460 BFR. I'm shooting 240 grain bullets right around 2,000 fps. But it cleans up pretty easily.
 
Depending on the pistol and the ammunition, you can definitely get copper fouling in a handgun.

The smoother the bore, the less you'll see. In addition, some types of ammunition just seem to copper foul worse than others.

These days, I use the foaming bore cleaners for general bore cleaning and find that the good ones are quite effective at removing copper at the same time. They have the added benefit of having a very mild smell (at least the ones I've tried) and of taking a lot less "soaking" time to accomplish the same effect as a traditional liquid cleaner.

I would agree with those who commented that copper fouling in a handgun doesn't seem to affect accuracy much.
 
I have never seen it in my 9mm or 45s. I do however get copper fouling in my blackhawk 41 mag with any jacketed bullet when pushed past 1300fps.
 
I use to see traces of copper from time to time back when I shot factory jacketed ammo. I only shoot cast lead reloads now and my barrels stay shiney clean.
 
I guess it all depends upon which copper solvent you use and how you use it. Unless you have a perfectly lapped barrel you will always get copper fouling - how much? usually not much at all but you'll normally find at least one land that will take a couple patches to cleanup.

I use bore tech Cu+2 with a non-brass jag and when shooting copper I always find traces in my handguns and this after smoothing out the machining marks in the barrel with 200 to 300 rounds of copper at break-in.

For those who have never used a copper solvent as fast acting as Cu+2 – a brass jag will give off a blue color before you insert it in the bore, so you’ll always have a false positive using a brass jag with a fast acting copper solvent.

I’ve never seen a badly copper fouled handgun barrel that affected accuracy but I suppose there might be some around.
 
I always shoot a .357 magnum revolver, generally with Full power ammo. I've never had any problems with copper fouling or excess leading. I've always made it a habit to run a bore snake through the barrel and charging holes when they are still warm, perhaps the increased temp. of the barrel makes it easier to remove any traces of copper or lead? I then use #9 or Shooters Choice to finish cleaning.
 
I guess it all depends upon which copper solvent you use and how you use it.
Click to expand...

I started using Hoppe's Benchrest the last couple of months, mostly just as an experiment to see how much copper I could get out of my 9mm and 40 S&W. I would let it sit in the barrel 4 to 6 hours (not over night like the direction suggest). I'm just not getting a lot out. I may need to let it sit longer or try a better / faster solvent. I'm gonna research the Cu+2; I've never heard of it until now.

Thanks again for everyone's input.
 
The 22LR coating

I've noticed that the lead in a 22LR bullet will swell up over time if it does not have a coating of some kind.
 
I use the foaming bore cleaners for general bore cleaning

JohnKSa, I have never used any of the foaming cleaners, can you give an example of what you prefer?
Thanks

As for copper fowling the only hand gun that I ever had a problem with was with a Contender 44 MAG. I was working up some very high pressure rounds for hunting pigs. It ended up easy to cleaning but I was surprised how much the gun picked up.
With that said I never saw any decrease in accuracy.
 
Breakfree makes a foaming bore cleaner that I've been pretty happy with, but there are others out there.

I've also used Outers foaming bore cleaner and it seems to work pretty well too. Not as happy with the Gunslick foaming bore cleaner or the Hoppes Elite foaming bore cleaner although the standard Hoppes Elite cleaner (non-foaming) works very well.
 
I got 6 1/2 boxes of JHPs with my FA 83 when I got it. Once in awhile I'll shoot a box to liberate the brass for reloading and I do get copper fouling in the bore from it. I don't notice a drop in accuracy, but it does bug me that I know its there so I clean it out with Sweets.

One day all the jacketed ammo will be gone and I will be able to stick with cast lead for it.
 
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