Copper in the 300 RUM

[Alucard]

Hey guys. In my 300 RUM - rem 700 Police - I can shoot about 12-16 rounds before the barrel is visibly orange. It doesn't seem to matter what bullet I put down the barrel, it just coppers up quite badly. Also it doesn't matter if it is MAX loads or MIN loads. I shot 30 rounds, cleaning after each one for a break in. Carbon fouling is almost non-existant, but copper is a real problem. Anyone else have this problem? Could it be that the barrel is just THAT rough and I have to live with it? Is there anything that I could do to help this? Or is that just a reality of the cartridge? Thanks alot of the info!

[demarpaint]

Here is what was suggested to me for a Savage that fouled pretty bad.

Put a light coat of J-B on a patch and give the barrel about 50 strokes from end to end with it. Then clean the
J-B out with a couple of patches of Shooter's Choice MC#7. Dry the bore with 3 or 4 patches until it is completely dry. Then carefully clean the chamber of J-B. What you are doing is polishing the barrel, you can also try Flitz.

The barrel can also be fire lapped, the above method worked well for me.

Good luck,
Frank D

[Alucard]

Ok, thanks alot for the advice demarpaint. Did that help out at all? Also, why were you doing the chamber?

I have never used J-B paste before, and I hear that it is quite abbrasive. Will it hurt the barrel in anyway? Will the barrel life change at all? Like I said, I have never used that stuff before. Thanks.

[demarpaint]

No I didn't do anything with the chamber, just clean any of the compound that might get into it. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

As far as hurting the barrel is concerned, the JB treatment worked well, and cut the copper fouling way down. A lot of the Benchrest shootest love the stuff. As with any abrasive products there are always going to be pros and cons. I wasn't ready to put an new barrel on the rifle, and figured I would give it a try. I would not use it at every cleaning, but it did work shaping up that Savage barrel for me.

Just make sure you get it all out before you go shooting.

Frank D

[Alucard]

Ok, thanks for the info. The only thing that you did with the JB was to run it down the bore 50 times for the one time only? Or did you use this during the barrel break in? Do you have to keep using it for a certain amount of times, or is the one time enough? Sorry if it seems obvious, I have never used the stuff before. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Thanks again.

[Varmint Hunter]

My 2 cents:

If you are going to use the JB approach I'd only do 8-10 passes then discard the patch. Apply some fresh JB to a new patch and go at it again.

Jb is also fairly effective at removing the copper fouling when it builds up. Walt Berger used JB regularely and never bothered with bronze brushes which he felt were harmful to the crown.

VH

[demarpaint]

It's hard to say how many JB passes it will take to clear up the problem. I was never a big fan of breaking in a factory barrel by the book. I would clean the barrel when I first got the rifle before a shot was ever fired. Then I would run a patch of Kroil down the barrel, patch it out and shoot a 5 shot group. Do the same thing again. After that I would shoot and clean at the end of the session. My Savage was badly copper fouled so I did the JB polishing.

Varmint Hunter brought out a good point, change the patch a few times if needed. I think I would start with the 50 stroke procedure, take it to the range and see if it makes a difference, you can always do it again. The barrel will tell you when its broken in. Some barrels just foul badly, and might need another 50 or more passes, others might need the Tubb fire lapping kit (I never used it).

Just think of the perfect excuse you have to justify a custom barrel, if you are still unhappy with the amount of fouling after the JB polishing. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]



Frank D