Copper removal from used gun

[3chester]

All the solvents and JB's, brushes, patches,etc. then, Yep, 100% been using a light oil final patch, going on 45 years now.Light duty gun oil, Kroil or Lock- Ease-Lubricant, the best,,just a couple dry patches after all the cleaning work,a few drop on final patch to lubricate the bore. also take a bore mop that fits the chamber, wrap a flannel cleaning patch on it and swab the chamber,done ready to fire,or put it away til the next outing. Hang in there don't let em scare ya off the bore lubricant, benchrest shooters been doing it for a long time cause it works.

 

[DartonJager]

If you aren't in no particular hurry I as highly as possible recommend Wipe-Out foaming bore cleaner made by Sharp Shoot R products along with Wipe-Out Accelorator
Been using both for 10+ years and are absolutely satisfied with both
First before you do any cleaning of the bore clean your chamber and receiver areas very well otherwise you will just keep pushing that junk into your barrel when you clean it.
I place the rifle in question in a gun cleaning vise as close to level as I can get it
Then I clean out the built up carbon which is a separate process in itself
Once the carbon is gone I start with the Wipe-Out
Put my bore guide in the receiver and get prepared to plug both ends. Coat bore well with a patch saturated with Accelorator
I then fill the barrel with Wipe-Out foam from the muzzle end till it comes out of the boreguide and plug both ends
Let sit anywhere from 2 hours to overnight depending in how minimally or severely the barrel has been fouled.
Remove plugs
Using preferably a nickle coated patch jag patch out the bore
If you need to clean further repeat process but only let soak two hrs the second time.
One thing I do if I know the bore is badly fouled is when I coat the bore with Accelorator I use a nylon brush 1-2 calibers smaller in size soak a patch in Accelorator wrap it around the brush same direction as the rifling twist and work it back and forth through the bore whipping the Accelorator into a foam like state
I now use nothing else on my CF/HP rifle bores.
Has saved me a very considerable amount of money by reducing the number of cleaning patches by 90%

 

[Cred1]

Wanted to add that with KG bore cleaner, don't let it sit, it needs to be swiped trough on a patch about 5-15 times. It's not sticky and wont eat the copper, it will swipe it away like magic though. That's what the instructions say and how I do it. Works like magic.

 

[nicholasjohn]

If you aren't in no particular hurry I as highly as possible recommend Wipe-Out foaming bore cleaner made by Sharp Shoot R products along with Wipe-Out Accelorator
Been using both for 10+ years and are absolutely satisfied with both
First before you do any cleaning of the bore clean your chamber and receiver areas very well otherwise you will just keep pushing that junk into your barrel when you clean it.
I place the rifle in question in a gun cleaning vise as close to level as I can get it
Then I clean out the built up carbon which is a separate process in itself
Once the carbon is gone I start with the Wipe-Out
Put my bore guide in the receiver and get prepared to plug both ends. Coat bore well with a patch saturated with Accelorator
I then fill the barrel with Wipe-Out foam from the muzzle end till it comes out of the boreguide and plug both ends
Let sit anywhere from 2 hours to overnight depending in how minimally or severely the barrel has been fouled.
Remove plugs
Using preferably a nickle coated patch jag patch out the bore
If you need to clean further repeat process but only let soak two hrs the second time.
One thing I do if I know the bore is badly fouled is when I coat the bore with Accelorator I use a nylon brush 1-2 calibers smaller in size soak a patch in Accelorator wrap it around the brush same direction as the rifling twist and work it back and forth through the bore whipping the Accelorator into a foam like state
I now use nothing else on my CF/HP rifle bores.
Has saved me a very considerable amount of money by reducing the number of cleaning patches by 90%

I have also been using this stuff for a couple of decades. I just set the rifle in the cradle, pump in the foam, and let it soak all night. I only use the accelerator when I want to use the rifle again pretty quickly, which isn't very often. On occasion, I have also soaked them for a second night, just to see if there is any blue on the patch. I only had that show up once in all these years. I have also bore-scoped the barrels several times to see if they were clean, and now I don't even bother. I have never found anything with the scope after an all-night soak. This product works exactly like the manufacturer says it does, and I have been completely satisfied with it. The only thing I don't like about it is that it will eat the oil finish off a walnut stock in no time at all, so a stock boot ( like the ones Sinclair use to sell years ago ) takes care of that. I also put a rubbery plastic tube on the nozzle, and it effectively plugs the chamber end of the barrel. I jam it in tightly, and leave it all night, with the can still attached to it. This prevents the foam from creeping back into the action, where it will drain down into the magazine well and make a mess. The excess just drips out of the end of the muzzle, into a cottage cheese tub on the floor below. I throw the patches in there, too, and clean-up of the working area is quick & easy. I have never used any brushes with Wipe-Out - never felt a need to do so. I think it will probably eat a bronze brush in short order. I also don't do any back & forth scrubbing with the patches. I just push them through one time and let them drop into the container on the floor. Works great.

 

[Foulhooked]

Easy enough to test all your copper removal products.
Take a small section of copper pipe from home depot. Place drops of all your favorite copper removers, allow the to sit on the copper pipe for 1-2 minutes, wipe off and view the results.
I tried this years ago and KG12 had the best results

 

[Old Rooster]

I have a Weatherby Vanguard in 300 weatherby mag and it loves to leave copper big time.
I shot 4 rounds and cleaned for close to 4 hours!
Started using KG products and that helped but it still took well over 1 hour.
I ran a cotton ball through and where the cotton strands stick was 2 high spots or maybe rough spots.
Got tired and bought Final Finish from David Tubbs and followed instructions and man it's way better.10-20 minutes and I'm done.
I love KG products but at the advice from friends on this site I tried Bore Tech Cu+2 and I have to say it really works well.
We have many products to use and I can remember in the late 60's all we had was Hoppe's #9.
We have never had it so good.

 

[nicholasjohn]

I have a Weatherby Vanguard in 300 weatherby mag and it loves to leave copper big time.
I shot 4 rounds and cleaned for close to 4 hours!
Started using KG products and that helped but it still took well over 1 hour.
I ran a cotton ball through and where the cotton strands stick was 2 high spots or maybe rough spots.
Got tired and bought Final Finish from David Tubbs and followed instructions and man it's way better.10-20 minutes and I'm done.
I love KG products but at the advice from friends on this site I tried Bore Tech Cu+2 and I have to say it really works well.
We have many products to use and I can remember in the late 60's all we had was Hoppe's #9.
We have never had it so good.

I have used the NECO fire-lapping products with excellent results. It seems that guys are either fans of fire-lapping or preach adamantly against it. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground on the subject. I am a proponent, but have only done it with one rifle. There may be problems associated with it, but I sure haven't seen any. The rifle shoots much better, and cleans very easily. Velocity also increased after lapping.

 

[Old Rooster]

Thanks for the reply nicholasjohn,I too like the idea of fire lapping on a barrel I may end up replacing sooner or later.I would not do it to a custom barrel but a factory barrel that is super hard to clean is clear cut to me.
I have a brother in law that wants me to get some and try his but David Tubbs is out of .308 size.
I'll check NECO fire-lapping to see if they have .308 size in stock

 

[Mrvmax]

Wanted to add that with KG bore cleaner, don't let it sit, it needs to be swiped trough on a patch about 5-15 times. It's not sticky and wont eat the copper, it will swipe it away like magic though. That's what the instructions say and how I do it. Works like magic.

Just thinking about your statement and wanted to comment. The cleaner needs to either abrade the copper away or dissolve it in order to remove it. If it cannot do either then how is it going to remove the copper? The copper is layered on the barrel and needs to be separated from it some how.

 

[nicholasjohn]

Thanks for the reply nicholasjohn,I too like the idea of fire lapping on a barrel I may end up replacing sooner or later.I would not do it to a custom barrel but a factory barrel that is super hard to clean is clear cut to me.
I have a brother in law that wants me to get some and try his but David Tubbs is out of .308 size.
I'll check NECO fire-lapping to see if they have .308 size in stock

Old Rooster,


If it's a barrel that you were going to take off anyway, you have nothing to lose in trying the process. You may salvage one that is still useful. The NECO system is done with your own bullets. It's a sloppy process where you embed the abrasives into bullets you already have, by rolling them back & forth between two flat steel plates with grease smeared on them that has the different grades of abrasive particles in it. It's kind of a pain in the keester. I would just wait until you can get what you need from David Tubb, unless you're just a dyed-in-the-wool do it yourselfer. If I didn't already have the NECO kit, I would buy the bullets with the abrasives already on them and save a lot of fussing & fuming. If you do get the kit and do it yourself, consider using the bullets with the longest bearing surface you can find, so that you can minimize how many shots it will take to get the job done. Since there is also a lot of bore cleaning going on between lapping shots, fewer shots means less of that laborious task. It's not a big thing, but it is something to consider. If the Tubb bullets are available in different weights, the heaviest one available in the diameter you need would probably be the way to go. He may even just be selling one weight per diameter, and if he does I would think that he would be optimizing it for the proper bearing surface to do the lapping. Good luck !!!

 

[Old Rooster]

Thanks I'll wait until David Tubb's bullets are back in stock.I have lot's of projects to get done before hunting season begins in October and like you said the do it yourself bullet system is messy,I tried it and still have the kit come to think of it.

 

[nicholasjohn]

Thanks I'll wait until David Tubb's bullets are back in stock.I have lot's of projects to get done before hunting season begins in October and like you said the do it yourself bullet system is messy,I tried it and still have the kit come to think of it.

Oh ...... so you've been down that rabbit hole already. Then you are already aware that the process is tedious enough without having to prepare the lapping bullets beforehand.

 

[Old Rooster]

Yep I did it several years ago.
Compound and 2 metal plates right?
I have been using the medium and fine grit compound to lap a barrel but found out quickly that I don't want to do that anymore.
Tubbs is already made and ready to load,no mess no problems,just shoot like the instructions says.
They should be back in stock soon.

 

[RevJim]

I use WipeOut foam to clean to bare metal, THEN I sop that bore with a wet patch of EezOx. Let dry overnight. It will help keep the fouling down. In fact, I clean the carbon, etc at the range with just EezOx and a patch/rod or just use a BoreSnake and EezOx. Love it!