I have tried them all. Hoppes #9, M-Pro 7, Hoppes Bore Gel, Bore Foam, CLP, FP-10, etc Nothing really gets the barrels clean. I shot 80 rounds through my Remington 700 (Wolf ammo, but it has done the same on better brands), clean the gun, go through about 20 patches, and the patches STILL come out dirty. So I pick up Remington "Bore Shine", and try that. Better, but 15 patches later, still not a clean white patch coming through. It has gotten to the point that I don't want to shoot anymore because I don't want to spend 3 hours cleaning the guns! Is there a product that actually does what it says it will? "Dissolves lead, copper and plastic fouling".
REAL Cleaner for barrels?
- Thread starter Homerboy
- Start date
250.ackley
Inactive
try sweet`s 7.62 or barnes cr10 this is amonia based solvents and will take the copper fouling away. take a nylonbrush and skrub the barrel wait 15min then ram som patches trough it untill they come out clean. then do it all one more time. no if you dont shoot benchrest this will do the jobb.( if the rifle shoots good then you do not need a superclean barrel even some toppnotch barrels are hard to clean but shoots good) and you can use some wd40 and rubb the barrel before you apply the solvent this will clean up some burned powder and other stuff...johan
Breakfree foaming copper solvent is the bee's knees for copper fouling. Fill up the barrel, wait 5min, run a few patches through. It may take two or three repititions to totally clean a very badly fouled barrel, but it requires very little elbow grease, the foam does all the work.
For plastic fouling in shotgun barrels the Breakfree Powderblast is awesome. Just get a mop for your cleaning rod, soak it with the Powderblast and go at it, it won't take long to deplastify.
I don't think there is any one product that does everything well, unfortunately. The two above are the best I have found for copper and plastic, somebody probably has your lead solution, but that's not something I encounter much.
For plastic fouling in shotgun barrels the Breakfree Powderblast is awesome. Just get a mop for your cleaning rod, soak it with the Powderblast and go at it, it won't take long to deplastify.
I don't think there is any one product that does everything well, unfortunately. The two above are the best I have found for copper and plastic, somebody probably has your lead solution, but that's not something I encounter much.
Shane Tuttle
Staff
What's your version of "clean"?
If you're trying to get every speck of copper fouling out of your barrel I think you're wasting your time.
IMHO, a little bit of copper fouling is good to have in a barrel. I think you may be taking it to extreme on your cleaning. My rifles sometime shoot worse initially after cleaning. Once I send a few down the barrel, my patterns settle in. If this happens, it tells me that I spent too much time getting it "clean".
It's one thing to have build up, but another to have your bore completely free of any copper/lead. No matter how much you clean, cleaning agents will pull fouling out of the rifling/lands in subesquent sessions.
That's my take on the issue anyway.
If you're trying to get every speck of copper fouling out of your barrel I think you're wasting your time.
IMHO, a little bit of copper fouling is good to have in a barrel. I think you may be taking it to extreme on your cleaning. My rifles sometime shoot worse initially after cleaning. Once I send a few down the barrel, my patterns settle in. If this happens, it tells me that I spent too much time getting it "clean".
It's one thing to have build up, but another to have your bore completely free of any copper/lead. No matter how much you clean, cleaning agents will pull fouling out of the rifling/lands in subesquent sessions.
That's my take on the issue anyway.
Heres what I do, & it works for me.
Using Hoppes #9, not the high ammonia content cleaners like sweets! Sweets is great stuff, but if you use it this way it will eat your bore
Run a clean,dry brush thru the bore 5~10 passes. Remove the brush from the rod before withdrawing.
(This gets the loose stuff off so the rest of the process gets the caked on & plated stuff out.)
Run 10 patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Run dry patches till they come out reasonably clean, not spotless.
Run 10 more patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Use a brush wetted with Hoppes, 1 stroke per round fired. (you do not need to remove the brush this time round.)
re-wet every 10 strokes.
Stand the rifle muzzle down overnight.
This lets the chemical action of the Hoppes dissolve & lift fouling, instead of scrubbing. The barrel doesn't have to be vertical, just the muzzle being the lowest point in the bore.
Next morning:
Run 10 patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Run 10 dry patches.
Repeat till they come out clean.
If the bore is heavily fouled from previous shooting you may need to repeat this a couple of times, untill all the earlier layers of powder & copper are completely gone, but once done the one overnight soak should be all you need to get the thing so clean it'll surprise you.
Using Hoppes #9, not the high ammonia content cleaners like sweets! Sweets is great stuff, but if you use it this way it will eat your bore
Run a clean,dry brush thru the bore 5~10 passes. Remove the brush from the rod before withdrawing.
(This gets the loose stuff off so the rest of the process gets the caked on & plated stuff out.)
Run 10 patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Run dry patches till they come out reasonably clean, not spotless.
Run 10 more patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Use a brush wetted with Hoppes, 1 stroke per round fired. (you do not need to remove the brush this time round.)
re-wet every 10 strokes.
Stand the rifle muzzle down overnight.
This lets the chemical action of the Hoppes dissolve & lift fouling, instead of scrubbing. The barrel doesn't have to be vertical, just the muzzle being the lowest point in the bore.
Next morning:
Run 10 patches well wetted with Hoppes #9.
Run 10 dry patches.
Repeat till they come out clean.
If the bore is heavily fouled from previous shooting you may need to repeat this a couple of times, untill all the earlier layers of powder & copper are completely gone, but once done the one overnight soak should be all you need to get the thing so clean it'll surprise you.
Jim Watson
New member
The best cleaner is time.
1. Pick a solvent that does not warn against soaking.
2. Brush and patch a few times to get out the loose fouling.
3. Leave the barrel wet with solvent overnight. A chamber plug to let you fill it up is even better.
4. Wipe out and reapply, soak again.
5. Repeat until the barrel is clean or you are tired of fooling with it.
1. Pick a solvent that does not warn against soaking.
2. Brush and patch a few times to get out the loose fouling.
3. Leave the barrel wet with solvent overnight. A chamber plug to let you fill it up is even better.
4. Wipe out and reapply, soak again.
5. Repeat until the barrel is clean or you are tired of fooling with it.
Shane Tuttle
Staff
My wife thinks I should use it for cologne...
Then again, she loves the smell of MEK, too!
I'm wanting to try K12 from these guys http://www.laniganperformance.com/kg12testresults.html
If you guys have never tried PB Blaster, you really should give it a whirl. It'll take crud and copper out of the barrel that you didn't know was there if you let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
Edit to add: After I spray the PB Blaster in the barrel, I let it sit for 10-15 minutes then I use a patch cut from a Swiffer Sweeper cloth to swab the barrel with Hoppe's #9. Those Swiffer patches hold a lot of #9, they're like a sponge. Then brush and clean as normal. The last patch run through the barrel is another Swiffer patch. You can't hide crud from one of those. The little fuzz is good for grabbing copper.
Edit to add: After I spray the PB Blaster in the barrel, I let it sit for 10-15 minutes then I use a patch cut from a Swiffer Sweeper cloth to swab the barrel with Hoppe's #9. Those Swiffer patches hold a lot of #9, they're like a sponge. Then brush and clean as normal. The last patch run through the barrel is another Swiffer patch. You can't hide crud from one of those. The little fuzz is good for grabbing copper.
Last edited:
Tucker 1371
New member
have the same problem with my SAR2 using both Rem Solvent and Hoppe's
No. 9. BUT, it's an AK so I usually just clean it until the patch is mostly white and consider it a job well done
No. 9. BUT, it's an AK so I usually just clean it until the patch is mostly white and consider it a job well done
Bore Tech Eliminator all the benchrester use it will remove powder residue and copper. Run one wet patch then dry patchs until clean patch comes out
then run another wet patch until patchs stop coming out blue. Use nylon brushes and jags because it will pull the coppr out of the brass. No Ammonia smell. Check out their web site www.boretech.com.
then run another wet patch until patchs stop coming out blue. Use nylon brushes and jags because it will pull the coppr out of the brass. No Ammonia smell. Check out their web site www.boretech.com.
Permit me my heresy. I think too many people are trying to clean too much. I occassionally use Sweets 7.62 for copper fouling .....but only occassionally. I used to uses Hoppe's #9 now I use Ed's Red. A wet patch, bore brush a few strokes, a couple of dry patches, a wet patch, a couple of dry patches, a wet patch...now put it away.
I do not care if the patch comes out gray when I run one through the next time I pull the gun out of the safe. The bores don't rust and the grooves aren't filled with bullet metal. The guns group as well as I am capable of shooting ( I plink and hunt-no competitive benchrest).
I do not care if the patch comes out gray when I run one through the next time I pull the gun out of the safe. The bores don't rust and the grooves aren't filled with bullet metal. The guns group as well as I am capable of shooting ( I plink and hunt-no competitive benchrest).