Cooper removal in Rifle what works best

[Greyfox]

It's important not to confuse the ammonia based copper solvents like Sweets, Butch's, etc with the copper solvents like Boretech and ProShot which remove copper with the use of a Chelating agent(compounds that chemically bond with the copper enabling easy removal). The ammonia based solvents are far more corrosive to the barrel with prolonged exposure then the chelate based solvents, Bore-tech, also contains lubricants that allow prolonged exposure without damage to the barrel. I still prefer to wipe the Boretech out with a few patches and apply a good lubricant, especially if the firearm will not be used for s while. Having used the Boretech products extensively in several rifles for over 10 years with exvellent results,

 

[Boe]

In the 25 years of building Custom Rifles I have tried just about every bore cleaner that has been marketed. And I have always gone back to Kroil and Shooters Choice mixed at a two to one ratio. I recommend to all our clients whether it is a Benchrest, or Long Range Hunting Rifle.

Once the barrel has gone through the break in procedure, We recommend cleaning every 20 rounds. Most barrels clean up very quicky and exhibit minimal copper fouling. Barrels that exhibit excessive copper fouling I would recommend applying 3-4 drops on a patch of colloidal graphite after completing the cleaning process.

 

[Hired Gun]

That's a lot of cleaning.

 

[MTBULLET]

for me, it depends on the amount of copper fouling.
for "some fouling", WIPEOUT liquid
heavier fouling, WIPEOUT with ACCELERATOR
really bad (as in rem. mod 17 WWI era) WIPEOUT foam

 

[NoFences]

I use the wipeout products too. I've used them all , but I seem to use the wipeout products the most. I learned about them on a benchrest site, so I figured. If serious competitors used it, I'd give it a try.

 

[Gord0]

I have a Savage with a stock barrel that fouls something awful. Because of that I use sweet's on all my rifles. Just a quick patch for the ones that don't​ foul near as bad. That's always followed with a carbon cleaner and a dry patch. Then some oil if it's going in the safe for a while.

 

[jweigel]

Bore damage from solvent looks like a real light glass bead blasting. It removes the shine that is natural in a lapped bore. It causes the barrel to be more prone to fouling.

Wipe Out is a fine solvent but never leave it overnight. In a CM barrel it will have you chasing your tail with an endless pile of brown patches. That is rust. In blued actions is collects in the barrel threads and orange rust will appear. On stainless guns it just leaves pits like any other ammonia based solvent will. I have seen several Bat and Defiance actions with severely pitted bolt bodies. Best to neutralize it with a couple oily patches and wipe down anywhere it has touched.

Never seen any issue with Bore Tech Eliminator solvents. I frequently leave those in overnight for really dirty barrels.

Hired Gun....you are far more of an expert then I but want to understand your comment to NOT leave Wipe-Out overnight. I have been doing this all the time on several guns. Mine are all SS if that matters. I have personally not noted any issues. I started doing this based on what SharpShoot-R posts on their website......"If the first patch showed all three colors, the gun is heavily fouled. Let the gun set for 60 minutes or more, overnight is best. Wipe-Out ™ will continue to work for 24 to 36 hours.
Wipe-Out ™ was formulated for long term soaking, to absolutely remove the most stubborn fouling."

They also talk about have bad ammonia based products are to gun barrels as though they are implying Wipe-Out is Not ammonia based????

jjw
ND

 

[Hired Gun]

It is worse on blued guns than stainless. We used it for a couple years until we left it in some blued guns. Parkerized guns are really affected. We just don't leave many guns blued and 99% leave here with stainless barrels. Most blued actions we work on end up Cerakoted and nothing touches Cerakote. Here is a couple examples on Park and bluing. The first is a brand new parkerized Remington MLR. I chased brown patches for a week soaking overnight each time till we noticed this.





According to the can it said to store it with a light coat in the bore so once clean I put in the Accelerator and WipeOut foam. Then pushed a couple dry patches through. No oil.

Looked good going in.





Opened the bolt a couple weeks later to this.



​

One of our customers who we had built 7 rifles for him at that time called telling me his Bat action was all rusty. He had stored that one with WipeOut according to the instructions. Once we polished off the rust his bolt still shows pits on it. A few of his other rifles were damaged by it the same way. I contacted WipeOut, showed them the pictures and relayed all the stories and though it is easily recreated they continue to deny that this is possible. I returned what we had and they replaced it. The new stuff still did it. A few months later I was showing it to someone here in the shop and it was coming out of the can rusty. It was eating the can. Again WipeOut denied it. I can go on and on about WipeOut.

At the advice of Kirby Allen we switched to Bore Tech Eliminator products. No problems since. You can even cork the barrel and fill up and soak for a week with no troubles.

​

 

[Barrelnut]

I can believe the pics above. I have used Wipeout and am not impressed.

I think it is water based and that is why it causes rust. IMO, it is nothing more than watered down Windex. Just water with a small amount of detergents an ammonia it.
It even smells like Windex!

Wipeout is a marketing scam....

 

[jweigel]

Yikes.....pictures don't lie. Did you ever get them to state if it contains ammonia or not . It just seem to work fine with all SS guns I have. I actually have some Bore Tech Eliminator.

Thanks for advice

jjw
ND

 

[Laelkhunter]

Hired Gun- Thanks for the pictures. Those pics are worth more than a thousand words. Glad I never tried the Wipe Out. I too have been using Bore Tech for quite a while, and have found it really effective for copper removal. I followed Lilja's barrel break-in procedure when I had my rifle rebarreled. It now comes clean with only two or three patches. Could be the break-in or the Bore Tech, but either way I'm happy with the results of both.

 

[J E Custom]

I hate to see any rifle get damaged like that, and fortunately I have not encountered that problem (Not because I am any smarter, But because I have been lucky)Because I never leave any solvent In my barrels because I don't trust any of them that can actually dissolve copper fouling or any other fouling.

I have tried many different types of solvents, and settled on the ones that worked best under the conditions of the barrel. I have been lucky with my choices and had good results with the ones I now use.

Some solvents were just to messy, Some were to harsh on everything else if it found it's way on to
other areas. I tried plugging the barrel and did not like the lack of control and the mess. So I still recommend the conventional method of brushing or swabbing the barrel with a good solvent (Muzzle down) and patching until it is clean, Then applying a light cote of oil until the next use.

PS: I also believe in a periodic cleaning on stored rifles/firearms just to make sure nothing is going on.

This has been a very good thread and hopefully it will save someone from the damaging effects of barrel solvents if not used correctly. and we all can learn from it (I Did For sure).

J E CUSTOM

 

[Dosh]

HG, that's some nasty looking rust. This thread should open some closed minds on the subject. The barrel cleaning threads are always interesting and receive a variety of opinions. Perhaps a good subject for an extensive scientific test to settle the debate.

 

[Wedgy]

I have always had good results with Wipeout mostly using it as a slow overnight and will use ammonia based at the range. Inside the garage mostly Bore Tech stuff. I'm not sure how you manage to get it all over the gun like that but I would suggest using a bore guide as the chamber, bolt, and raceways shouldn't have copper on them.