Let's talk chemicals

G

Gregory Gauvin

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So what's the REAL story behind Sweets 7.62? Is it safe? Does it etch barrels, or only when mixed with other chemicals? Does ammonia dissolve chrome?

In my experience the best copper remover I have ever used is the GunSlick Foaming Bore cleaner. Has anyone tried KG-12 Copper Remover?

What do you find best to remove HEAVY copper fouled bores from Military Surplus rifles?
 
You do not need any real foul smelling chemicals to remove the lead and copper from a barrel. There is a product by the name of KROIL that does the trick without the smell. Kroil is a penetrating oil that will get into the smallest crevice and under lead and copper in the bore. Saturate the bore with Kroil and let it soak for 30 minutes or so and then run a brush followed by patches.
 
old school

I have a friend who told me to make my own cleaner,

4 parts: 1 part Acid-tone
1 part Ford Trans Fluid
1 part Mineral spirit
1 part Kerosene

Has anyone used this and also was told NOT to get on anything but the barrel. I was looking for a cleaner to take out all the Plastic build up in my Slug Gun from the Sabot's I use.
 
The acetone in your mix will make it hard on wood finishes. As for plastic gunk, most plastics don't dissolve, all they do is swell up (unless you soak them in chloroform for a month). Your mix should do well on them if you let it soak for an hour before hitting it with a brass brush.
 
I did a little test with a copper penny. I put a dab of JB Bore Compound on a q-tip and rubbed it on a penny. It shined the penny.

I did the same test with Sweets 7.62, it worked much faster at shining the penny.

I did the test again with GunSlick Foaming Bore cleaner (non-foul smelling, no ammonia, can leave in barrel for extended time) and behold: This stuff worked the best and shined the penny MUCH faster than the powerful Sweets 7.62. It remains my favorite copper remover.

I had a heavy copper fouled 1918 dated barrel on my Model 1917. I was shooting the bore foam down the barrel for several applications over a period of days and letting it drip out, and it continued to come out dark blue indicating copper. I was getting frustrated not being able to get the copper out so I opted to try the Sweets 7.62 and JB Bore compound. Perhaps the initial cleanings with the bore foam removed most of the copper, as I followed the directions with the sweets and the JB and applied both of these cleaners 1 times, followed by another application of the GunSlick. This time, the gunslick did not turn blue indicating copper.

It makes me suspect that although the foam seems to clean the copper the best, either the Sweets or the JB compound finished whatever remaining copper was in the barrel to which I can not understand if there was only a small amount of copper left, why the gunslick did not lighten up in color prior to the applications of the Sweets and JB.

Perhaps a layer of power fouling caked onto a layer of copper (as I understand, copper and be layered between power fouling) to which the Sweets or JB loosened up. The gunslick does a WONDERFUL job of removing copper but doesn't seem to do too well a job at removing power fouling. I tend to use Hoppes and such for this. The first patch with the Sweets pulled a lot of black crap out of the bore.

This is a mystery.




I did the copper penny test with Kroil Oil and it did not shine the penny.
 
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While I don't have any CM steel barrels, I only have Stainless...

I use Butch's Bore Shine ONLY. Some feel that Butch's is abrasive, but I have YET to see ANY confirmation of that. I use Butch's and Iosso Eliminator Brushes which are polymer bristles on a brass core. I get Second-To-None results.
 
Cleaner!!

Show me a Cleaner that says on the bottle it "cleans plastic" out of the barrel. This has always made me wonder do the cleaner clean powder yes but plastic? We shoot a lot of slug(sabot) here in the lower part of MI.

Copper isn't the problem it's the powder and plastic build up.

I'm from old school and I NEVER pull anything down my barrel only pull out so cleaning takes time. Scrubing with a Spiralled SS wire is this good for Rifled barrel's?
 
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Copper isn't the problem it's the powder and plastic build up
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I'd have to do a bit of research to be able to talk about Plastic Removal, but the first thing that would come to my mind would be a stiff brush and some oil. I don't know of anything that cuts/dissolves plastic. I have a few Shotgun "brushes" that are made of spiralled stainless steel wire, but don't use that in a stainless barrel. CM steel barrels...I use the spiralled stainless in my 870 when I want to scrub it...
 
I don't know of anything that cuts/dissolves plastic.
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Depends on what "plastic" it is.

There are only hundreds of thousands of different ones.

Some can be dissolved in things like paint thinner, others need a 'hotter' solvent.

MEK will dissolve epoxy (a "plastic"), even faster if the MEK is gently heated with the plastic submerged in a beaker.
 
MEK will dissolve epoxy (a "plastic"), even faster if the MEK is gently heated with the plastic submerged in a beaker
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Don't tell that to the TAA, or they outlaw MEK as a threat to the new Boeing and Airbus airliners that are held together by epoxy.
Actually, common epoxy resins are crosslinked thermosets and won't dissolve in anything but oxidizing acids.
 
Always read the bottle for the manufacturers instructions.
In Sweet's case, they specifically say not to allow it in the bore for very long.
Only a fool doesn't listen to the maker.

No bore solvent will "dissolve" chrome lined bores, since solvents don't attack the hard chrome as used inside barrels.
What some solvents can do is damage bright nickel plating or decorative chrome plating as used as a finish on guns.
There's a big difference between these platings and hard chrome.
The solvent can infiltrate under the bright nickel or "bumper chrome" plating through scratches, cracks, or thin spots and cause the plating to start to flake off.

Also note that we're hearing a lot about "chrome moly" rifle barrels in advertising
While this isn't strictly false advertising, it is often being used as a means of fooling the buyer into thinking he's getting a chrome LINED barrel.
All chrome moly is is a form of steel that's been used to make rifle barrels since the 1940's at least.
It has no chrome lining, and is actually just a quite ordinary bare steel barrel.
"Chrome Moly barrel" is today's "Tactical" or "National Match".
 
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Hello Hunter10Pt.

The home made bore cleaner is also known as Ed's Red (C.E. "Ed" Harris). You need to be a bit more specific with your formulation but it basically works pretty well. I believe Anhydrous Lanolin can also be added and I did that to my batches. I have probably used several quarts of the stuff over the years. It works well, but does nothing for copper fouling.

For Copper fouling, I generally use Sweets 7.62. For other fouling, I tend to use JB Bore Paste. Both products work pretty much as advertised. There may be better products, but these two work well enough that I am not really looking for others.

- Ivan.
 
"Actually, common epoxy resins are crosslinked thermosets and won't dissolve in anything but oxidizing acids."

Dissolve is not really the correct term, the epoxy is simply broken down by MEK.

I use it regularly to remove the dip epoxy on electronic components and to remove potting epoxy.

We had one lab technician who did not watch carefully when removing potting from a DC-DC power supply and even the FR4 board epoxy was removed. Nothing but copper traces and fiberglass left.
 
GG--Post #5
As far as the "copper penny" test goes, you have discovered which products remove corrosion from copper. This does not necessarily tell us anything about which products remove copper.

Similarly, when you tested the Kroil on a penny, you miss the point. The Kroil gets underneath the copper and lifts it--this is a mechanical action. Do not confuse this with dissolving the copper, which is a chemical action. Either one may be effective, but the way they go about it is different.
 
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