Copper fouling

S

schotzfyred

New member
I came into a BLR from a family member.
Started to clean up the gun and running a patch thru the barrel, I saw some heavy copper color [green] on the patch.
I have cleaned the barrel a minimum of 20 times with Hoppes 9 and i still get green patches after using a stiff brush and letting the 9 soak in the barrel, sometimes over night.
Obviously the prior owner didn't take care of the gun over the 20 years he owned it.
Looking for suggestions on getting that copper out...
 
You need to clean smarter, times change, technology moves us forward.

Get a bottle of Boretech's Eliminator copper solvent, follow the directions. They even have a more heavy duty cleaner, CU+2.

Both will get rid of copper like now, get a stainless steel jag, that way you don't get a false positive from a brass one.

This stuff is non hazardous, very light smell but nothing that will drive your wife crazy! You can use it indoors or out, whatever you need to do. By far one of the best cleaners on the market.

Just don't order it from them, they have some weird shipping costs. Get it from one of the big box gun stores.
 
I've used Hoppes 9 for 60 years [ just had my 80th] and all my guns are copper free. The problem is my family member didn't clean this gun very well or often
I'll try the Boretech or the CU+2.
Thanks.
 
Boretech works well, but is sometimes hard to find. Outers makes a foaming bore cleaner that works like a charm to remove copper, and is very easy to find at local gun shops, WalMart, KMart, etc.
 
Copper

I've not found that Hoppe's #9 is all that effective on copper, but it has served well as a carbon and powder solvent and preservative for me. Hoppe's Benchrest does a little bit better job on copper, but not by much.

What has worked well, with little effort, is Breakfree Foaming bore cleaner. Two treatments, one over the course of 20-30 minutes, and the second overnight, has solved copper problems on my two most stubborn rifles.
 
Personally I have had really good luck with Bore Tech. Their regular bore cleaner, Eliminator, seems to do a really good job of both cleaning and keeping copper fouling down when used regularly. They also have a CU+2, which is their dedicated copper remover for heavy copper fouling. I have not tried the Cu+2 as I use the Eliminator as my regular bore cleaner and it works well. Also, no crazy harsh smells, and it wont hurt your barrel no matter how long you leave it in. Just follow the instructions.

Here's a link to their site, you can order it from other places but you can get a look at it.
https://www.boretech.com/categories/gun-cleaners/bore-cleaners
 
MUSICMATTY........

That is a valid way to clean a SMOOTH BORE gun but will RUIN a rifled barrel.

People hear about running a brush in a drill in a shotgun and figure it'll work in a rifled barrel.
It will ruin a rifled bore in short order.
People can't understand how a bronze brush can harm a steel barrel until you explain the concept of a lapping rod, which is a brass or bronze rod that's used to lap steel smooth.

A cleaning brush run by a drill in a rifled barrel will quickly round off the critical sharp edges of the rifling.
A cleaning rod pushed by hand down a barrel will not harm the rifling, but rotating the brush will.

One missed problem with getting copper out of a barrel is when using a bronze/copper brush you forget that the brush itself will coat the bore with a layer of copper.
People have had fits cleaning and cleaning a barrel until they learn that what they're often seeing is the copper fouling left by previous passes with the brush.

A good way to clean copper out is to let chemicals do the work, not mechanical brushing.
Just run a brush through the bore with a copper solvent 5 passes or so, then run a soaked patch through.
Let it soak only as long as the bottle label says, about a max of 30 minutes for most copper solvents, then run a clean soaked patch through.
Inspect it for green or blue copper stains, and if you see any, let it soak longer and try another clean soaked patch.
Continue until you see no copper stains.

Also as above, use an aluminum or stainless patch holder to prevent getting a false-positive from the brass jags.

My long range shooting buddy recommends Bore Tec CU+2.
He says it works extremely well, and has much less odor.
Best of all, it's supposed to be harmless to the barrel, unlike many copper solvents that can do damage if left in too long.
He uses this in his $15,000 accuracy rifles.
 
MUSICMATTY........

That is a valid way to clean a SMOOTH BORE gun but will RUIN a rifled barrel.

People hear about running a brush in a drill in a shotgun and figure it'll work in a rifled barrel.
It will ruin a rifled bore in short order.
Click to expand...


My apologies! Yes, this works very well for smooth Bore only.
 
JBs Non-Embedding Bore Paste will get the copper right out. The last few months, I've been using Shooters Lube and it's amazing.
 
It's not the brand of solvent. It's the method of use.
Plug the muzzle with a rubber cork, fill the barrel with solvent(vs endless patches/brushes) and leave it over night. Then clean as per normal. Repeat as required.
 
I've had great results with Bore Tech Eliminator used according to their directions. But! Don't get it on a nicely finished wood stock. And don't ask me how I know either.
 
DON'T EVER plug a bore and fill it with solvent and leave it overnight!
Most solvents will etch steel with prolonged contact. This method could ruin a barrel!
 
Bill,
Boretech and other cleaners like it can be left in the barrel overnight. They're safe on all kinds of barrel steel.

Go to their website and read about their chemistry.
 
I've pushed and pulled bronze bore brushes both directions in rimfire and centerfire barrels. No ill effects at either crown or throat. Sometimes dry, other times wet with bore cleaner. No loss of accuracy for lives of the barrel.

Garand match barrels cleaned from the muzzle with bare steel rods wore away the lands and grooves and no copper wash the last half inch of the barrel. No loss of accuracy, still testing under MOA at 600 yards.
 
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"I've used Hoppes 9 for 60 years"

Do you still heat your house with coal or oil?

Times change. There are numerous products that are 1000x better than Hoppes.

Don't be afraid of change or to learn new stuff my friend.

Buy a quality copper solvent as mentioned and let it do the work.
 
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