Copper Solvents

K

kerth

New member
I've tried at least a dozen different solvents to get the pesky copper out of the bore. The ones that remove copper well didn't remove the other fouling. Cleaning becomes powder solvent, dry patch, copper solvent, dry patch, powder solvent, dry patch, more copper exposed!

I was even considering lapping the bores to reduce fouling, until I read some of Mr. McMillan's views that is (thanks TFL!).

Yesterday I tried Butch's Bore Shine, this stuff is wonderful. A series of four solvent swab and dry patch left my nastiest (Ruger) bores free of fouling. The remington and usra bores required two applications. All patch work, no brushing required (except for the chambers of course). Calibers were 30-'06, 243 and 223.

There may be some others products out there I have overlooked, but Butch's is by far the fastest/easiest to use that I have tried.

If you are spending a lot of time cleaning copper fouling you really ought to try this stuff. BTW, I don't sell Butch's or get paid for advertising, just thought I would share my observations.
 
Butch's Bore Shine is a good, low NH3-content bore solvent, and good for "finishing off" your bore when cleaning, but start with something more aggressive, with a higher NH3 (ammonia) content, like Sweet's 7.62, and you'll get MORE copper out, FASTER.
An advantage to Butch's is that you can safely leave it in the bore for extended periods (hours), even with chrome-lined barrels, while Sweet's shouldn't be left sitting there for more than about 15 minutes, ESPECIALLY in chrome-lined barrels. Best.
 
I found that Shooter's Choice MC#7 Bore Cleaner and Shooter's Choice Extra Strength Copper Remover works well.
 
Yes, You Forgot IOSSO Bore Cleaner

No brushing, just a patch run through the barrel a few times followed by clean patches until they come out clean.
 
I like to use SWEETS bore cleaner on copper fouling. It does a nice job. Turns blue when you have copper, but it is hard on brass brushes. You should use nylon brushes.

pwiz
 
Butch Foster is a nice guy, and a benchrest competitor...

I'd wager that about 50% of the shooters at the Supershoot were using Butch's to clean.

If it doesn't work, benchrest shooters don't use it. It's that simple.

I saw everything from Hoppes through GM Top Engine Cleaner...

FWIW, I only use Sweet's to check to see if I have fouling - I brush (yeah, I use a bronze one) with Butch's.

Yeah it eats brushes. So? How much did that barrel cost me? I may toast $10 worth of brushes over the competitive life of the barrel.
 
Leaves your barrel minty fresh, Jim?

I second the notion of using Butch's after you're "done" cleaning your barrel. It's great stuff that let's you know when you're really done because it doesn't turn blue/grey anymore after the bore is Clean.

Regards.
 
Butch's is good stuff. If you use a copper solvent such as Sweets7.62, don't scrub with it. It is the chemical reaction of the ammonia versus the copper that does the work for you.
The patches will come out blue/green like a tarnished copper penny, but don't leave any type of ammonia based copper cleaner in you bore for more than 10minutes, it will damage the barrel. What I prefer is to wetpatch the bore with KROIL and let is sit for about 10minutes, then follow up with a KROIL patch mixed with some JB bore compound. Repeat as necessary until the patches come out clean, you will never get a barrel this clean. We teach this in all of our A15/EM16 armorers and instructor courses.

Just my $.02
Sully www.defensive-edge.net
 
Thanks to all the info posted about your favorite solvents. I have used the orginal Hoppes no.9 since it is a bit quicker than Hoppes bench rest or shooters choice. The reason it is quicker it according to hope's has 6 per cent ammonia compared to the 3 per cent in the hope's bech rest. I would like to try Butches sometime but have been hesitating because of the current theory that claims that any ammonia based solvent will damage a barrel. Colt sends instructions with their stainless AR match rifle that states that ammonia based sovents will damage a stainless rifle's bore. The stronger the cleaner usually the stronger the solution of ammonia. I once took a deliberate wiff of my friends Sweets solvent and it almost knocked me off my feet, I actually could not breath for about a minute. I really do not know what the solution is to this problem of getting the copper out fast and therfore the risk of damaging your bore by cleaning it quickly. I am a national match shooter and I clean my weapons frequently so I have to be careful on which solvent I choose to use. W.R.
 
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