Copper Fouling Cleaning How Often

[roc1]

How often do any of you clean your bores with Sweets or foam or whatever else for copper fouling? I am curious what is a good method that will keep fouling down without over scrubbing your bore with harse chemicals?
Thanks for input
roc1

 

[Fumbler]

It depends on the gun.

For my defensive guns, I always clean the bore til it's perfectly clean. I use Hoppe's #9 Benchrest, Barnes CR-10, and Breakfree CLP.

On other guns it's maybe every 2-3 range sessions.

It's hard to keep copper fouling down.
the best you can do is polish the bore with JB Bore paste followed by some super fine metal polish. It helps a tiny bit, but don't over do it.

 

[Slamfire]

Never on handguns. I shoot 95% cast anyway. Use a brass bristle brush and powder solvent.

For target rifles. Aggressive barrel cleaning about every three hundred rounds. If after a through cleaning it takes around five shots, and huge elevation changes, to get the barrel to settle, I just bristle brush the barrel.

I know people who never clean their barrels. I would always recommend that you clean the powder fouling out, as that stuff will attract moisture.

 

[Uncle Mike]

When you start to stink, you shower...well some of us do. hehehe
When your accuracy starts to go south, then I would run a patch or two with sweets on it through the tube.

If your barrel is fouling every time out, this of course your not shooting 500 rounds a session, then something is amiss with your barrel.

 

[briansmithwins]

Pretty much every 300 rounds or so I hot the bore with Break Free bore foam which is a mild copper solvent. It's also great on carbon.

In between it leave the bore slightly oily and wipe it dry before shooting. I grew up in NM and got that habit as accumulated dust would scratch bores if they weren't wiped before shooting. BSW

 

[ArmedBear]

I use some foaming cleaner on my .30-06 bolt gun every time I go out.

accumulated dust would scratch bores if they weren't wiped before shooting.

That's why I clean it every time now. The foam is easy to use, and it's a mild copper solvent. Keeps the barrel from getting so I need to use the really nasty stuff that eats metal.

 

[Badger Arms]

If you use a good bore cleaner, you'll never need anything else. Break Free has something in it to dissolve copper. If you don't believe me, try it on a tarnished penny. I usually use Tetra-Gun copper solvent on used guns that haven't been properly maintained. I don't go for super-clean, only to get the bulk of the fouling out.

My opinion is that the VAST majority of 'cleaning' that goes on is detrimintal to the bore. If you aren't using corrosive primers, it doesn't take much to do the necessary amount of cleaning. One wet patch, a few passes with a nylon or brass brush. Another wet patch, dry patch, wet patch, dry patch, and then one more wet patch.

Before you shoot it next time, run a dry patch down the bore. Letting break-free sit in the bore between shooting sessions is all the copper removal my work guns need.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I give my firearms a shot of Wipe Out every time I come home from shooting them. A patching out the next morning keeps them copper free and clean. with only 1/2 dozen or so total patches used.
The foams BTW are not what I`d consider "mild" copper solvents. I know they aren`t as fast as the harsh ammonia based cleaners but they do just as well over night with almost none of the elbow grease and absolutly no brushing. To top it off they are as odor free as you can get, and Wipe Out at any rate also has a rust preventative in it. I do however run a slightly oiled patch after cleaning, just because I was taught to.

 

[DBR]

For general cleaning and copper removal try Bore Tech Eliminator according to directions.

For copper removal try KG12 according to directions.

Try them after cleaning with your favorite solvent. I have: I think you will be convinced that they really work

They are water based and "friendly".

 

[mike6567]

I just tried the Gunslick foaming copper cleaner the other night. It worked great without the harsh chemical smells the other products have. I used it inside with no problem. I let it work about 30 min in my AR and the first patch came out purple, about 10 patches later and it was clean.

 

[Pack]

+1 on the Gunslick Foaming bore cleaner, no matter how often you clean. I've been seriously impressed by the amount of junk this stuff has flushed out of a barrel that had been virtually clean - or so I thought - not long before cleaning with it.