copper fouling in new gun

[The Syndicate]

Ok having a problem with my new gun thought you all might have some insight that might help.
(problem)::
Just bought a Tikka (made by sako ) in a 300 win
this is my favorite new round, but went to the range with a box of Remingtion 180 swift scirocco rounds and they would not print worth a crap at 100 yds. 3 round groups of 1" to 1-1/2" It made me cry. so went home and promptly loaded up some 168 gr Hornady match bullets with 68 gr of IMR 4350 the data book says that they should be going about 2500 fps or so not a hot load. so back to the range. well this time the first 2 rounds almost in the same hole and the 3 one just high and to the right group size 1/2" or smaller so to the house to clean the gun. used shooters choice bore cleaner and sweets 7.62 copper solvent. ok ok I will get to the point after cleaning the crap out of the gun I looked down the barrel and to my dismay I saw copper streeks on the riflings thought sweets was the best now I wonder if the third shot problime is the copper build up?????????????
do you guys have a solvent that works better or a cure for the copper problime I am all ears
thank you for your time <font color="black"> </font>

 

[Waltech Jim]

The Syndicate,

I am not sure from your post just how many of the Hornady you fired, and I realize that you are concerned about the copper. But I have to ask, have you tested this load to the point that you are sure there is a problem? I can ask this question because I have been guilty of not testing loads enough in the past. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

By the way, you very likely know this, but if you have'nt "broken in" the barrel, you will often get a lot of fouling, and the groups while breaking in can do some wierd things. (you mentioned it is a new gun)

I have used (and like) Sweets, CR-10 and Wipe Out and have been able to get barrels clean with all of them.

Jim

 

[Pat S.]

As was stated in the previous post, your barrel probably isn't broken in yet and will take some bullets down the barrel to lap it in. As for the copper, it make take several cleaning attempts with Sweet's to get your barrel really clean. I've found that brushing with a solvent such as Shooters Choice followed by Sweet's seems to do a good job. I've also found that very light traces of copper don't seem to affect the accuracy in my gun.

I bought a box of Scirroco bullets and found that my gun didn't shoot them well also. Hornady Interbonds seem to shoot the best for me.

Pat S.

 

[The Syndicate]

Thanks guys the info helps. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The barrel probably is not lapted in yet. I have shot about 40 of the honady rounds. going to make up some for sun and try it again. I won't be happy till there is only one hole.
I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Mysticplayer]

Consider not cleaning the bore to improve performance!

Yep, many factory barrels are a bit rough and need that layer of fouling to 'smooth' things out. Only clean when accuracy degrades.

Might surprise you how much better a dirty barrel shoots.

Jerry

PS CR-10 and janitorial grade ammonia work best to remove copper from a bore. You can also polish the bore with some JB bore lapping compound and then non embedding compound to speed up the 'break in'.

 

[Kevin Ballowe]

....some of my factory rifles never seem to stop copper-fouling....and I get more copper with Hornady bullets than Sierra bullets.....

Removing that copper is the subject of many, many posts. I use Butch's Bore shine mixed 3:1 with Kroil at the range and some Sweets or Barnes CR-10 at home. There are some that just won't let go of that copper.... scrub, scrub, scrub, and you can still see those little streaks. Others come clean almost immediately. I started using Wipe-Out brushless bore cleaner, leaving it in the barrel for 4 - 8 hours after I got back from the range. Most amazing stuff I have ever seen. No bad smell and it really works. The down side is that it is slow. Get some and try it. It's amazing. I don't use the Barnes or Sweets anymore.

Kevin

 

[kraky]

I used to think I had to get every "flick" of orange out of my barrel. Then i got a rifle that wouldn't shoot till it had 15 rounds through a freshly cleaned barrel. Another of my guns is a rem 700 in 25-06. Two shots of any brand of bullet will leave lots and lots of copper in the barrel. Yet it will shoot many many times before accuracy goes down hill and it shoots almost any wt bullet under moa. (Wouldn't sell that gun for nothing!!) BTW--swift scirroco's have alot of "brg area" going down the barrel and will foul pretty strongly. A couple things that work well for me lately is to take a boresnake to the range and run it through about every 10 to 15 rounds or when switching to another recipe to try in the gun. Wipeout cleaner has been a blessing to me. I love the stuff. Yes on that remington it might take 2-3 applications to get it spotless but heck it takes about 4 total minutes to apply, let sit over night, swab out and then apply kroil as a final cleaner/storage oil. (I don't believe in running the cleaning rod down the barrel any more than I have to). Now if I see a little streaking I don't "sweat it". I clean and get the fouling out--apply a little kroil and put the gun in the gunsafe till next year.
A little playing around with that new tikka and you'll put your own procedure together. I own 2 of them--they are about the best value for price IMHO&gt;

 

[nowler]

i have had a load of sako's in the past, and they tend to take a hundered or more shots before they start to come online in terms of accuracy.

the bad news is that the first 2 or 3 shots are the most important ones in a barrels life. the bore should be spotless for each of these shots imho

i'd clean it using forest foam. leave it in for 24 hours and clean again. you may need to do this a few times to remove all the copper you've hammered into the barrel... hoppes benchrest also works well for me.

as it's a factory hammer forged barrel, it might benefit from firelapping it with tubbs' kit????

 

[ricka0]

[ QUOTE ]
janitorial grade ammonia work best to remove copper from a bore

[/ QUOTE ]
Not doubt about that fact. One gallon is less than $10. Make sure it's at least <font color="purple"> 7% ammonia. </font>

ricka's cleaning page

 

[The Syndicate]

ok cleaned the gun a lot ( lots and lots ) and went to cyote hunt this morning no luck on dogs but hit a water jug at 550 yds. used the lica range finder and had a witness not on papper yet but the water jugs are in serrious danger.