Thread: cleaning bore/copper/blue?

im well aware some people could care less about this, and some/most have different methods .... if you wanna comment with "ya dont bloody need to do that mate" or "my wifes cousins uncles dad used to da da daa daaaaa daaaaa" then please refrain.

so after using Barnes cr10 for yages.... ive changed to mpro7 copper solvent for removing copper from bore.
when you fellas do so, do your patches after the scrub come out blue?lots? a little? not at all?? and then clear? or do they show blue forever and a day because the brush u use with the solvent is blue?

when i used to use Barnes id get a decent amount of blue on a white patch, would get less and less,,, with this mpro7 copper solvent, which is a thick ish red stuff, i havnt seen any blue come out on the patches at all,, after leaving 10 mins and then 30 mins,,,

this is with a 270 wsm stainless barrelled xbolt and blued barrel 308 ruger.

ta

A lot of the BLUE is from the bronze brush used to scrub the barrel, I am old school I use Hoppes No9 and Sweets 7.62 solvent,
I first run a bristle brush through to clean out the powder residue then a patch with Hoppes let it soak for a bit then scrub with a bronze brush and Hoppes 10 or 20 passes patch out with Hoppes three patches, run dry patches though to remove the Hoppes,
Then a patch with Sweets let it soak a couple of minutes run a clean patch should be spotless if it has blue then scrub with Sweets
on a Nylon brush and patch until there is no blue, finish with a patch of Hoppes or a good gun oil, Don't leave Sweets in a barrel more than 20 minutes it can etch the barrel,"so I have heard", some of the new solvent are said to be better than Hoppes the Bench-rest crowd swear by Butches products if you are in the market would be worth a try. Robert.

Originally Posted by shooternz

A lot of the BLUE is from the bronze brush used to scrub the barrel, I am old school I use Hoppes No9 and Sweets 7.62 solvent,
I first run a bristle brush through to clean out the powder residue then a patch with Hoppes let it soak for a bit then scrub with a bronze brush and Hoppes 10 or 20 passes patch out with Hoppes three patches, run dry patches though to remove the Hoppes,
Then a patch with Sweets let it soak a couple of minutes run a clean patch should be spotless if it has blue then scrub with Sweets
on a Nylon brush and patch until there is no blue, finish with a patch of Hoppes or a good gun oil, Don't leave Sweets in a barrel more than 20 minutes it can etch the barrel,"so I have heard", some of the new solvent are said to be better than Hoppes the Bench-rest crowd swear by Butches products if you are in the market would be worth a try. Robert.

What i do but a lot less passes, but then i don't shoot for the sake of shooting much, new barrel on the 303 requires about that to come clean but everything else is just a couple of patches.

Remember to use a alloy or plastic jag when using copper solvent.

thanks for that!

Blue? Isn't it green? I got a little bit of green the first few times I cleaned my x-bolt 308, which was after every shot that first day at the range. But now I get basically no copper, no matter how long I let it sit for, and just the black from powder.

I don't use a brush though, just patches, and it always looks spotless afterwards without using a brush.

Edit - i'm a bit scared to use a brush and scratch my baby!!

I just started using mpro7 after being recommended it.

iv used it for two total copper removals.

I don't know why I bothered a second time, its so slow, iv gone back to the barnes too I think it is, ammonia based anyway.
so the reason for your forever getting blue/green patches is yes the bronze brush, but also, your still slowly removing copper maybe...

Matty do you realise how hard stainless steel is and how soft a bronze brush is? Surely you'll shoot the barrel smooth before your brushes will wear down the rifling.....

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

Matty do you realise how hard stainless steel is and how soft a bronze brush is? Surely you'll shoot the barrel smooth before your brushes will wear down the rifling.....

Logically, yes, I know.

However, no matter how much copper solvent I use, or how long I let it soak, after putting a couple of patches through it's all clean. No more green, no more black. I look down the barrel and it is shiny clean with not a hint of anything except stainless steel, and it still shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100m.

So what i'm having trouble understanding is why I would want to scrub it out with a metal brush...?

I'm new to shooting/hunting, but I have a fairly cynical view on all of the cleaning products used. There is a lot of money to be made there, and how much of it is necessary i'm not sure. For example, the people talking about endlessly removing copper fouling when using copper brushes. Hmmmmmmmmm, I wonder....

For those of you who are brush fanatics - do you go both ways? Scrub up and down inside the barrel? Some people say that you should only ever push it through from one side and remove the brush as it comes out of the barrel at the other end, then repeat, etc.

Where can u buy alloy/plastic brushes?
Anyone in Chch sell Barnes cr10??

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

Where can u buy alloy/plastic brushes?
Anyone in Chch sell Barnes cr10??

I usually get all that sort of stuff from Julian at workshop innovation, really fast service.

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

Where can u buy alloy/plastic brushes?
Anyone in Chch sell Barnes cr10??

Proshot make them, NZ Ammo are the agents. Your local shop should be able to get them.

I only use that system if the copper fouling is bad, mostly just use patches after cleaning out the powder residue with the bristle brush,
the brushes won't scratch your barrel it's the wear from the cleaning rod that does the damage always use a bore guide,
I don't get copper fouling much any more I switched over to cast bullets 2 wet patches and it's job done. Robert.

Yeh the mpro swabs out blackish , no blue yet. The bottle says 4x quicker than ammonia solvents.

So another question. How many of you get blue/green coming out on patches?

And secondly

If copper fouling is the devil, how does anyone know they have got all or most of it out of the barrel?
Is it a visual thing? Can u see it come out on patches?how does anyone know that these solvents are actually loosening the copper??
Or does everyone just "trust" the writing On the bottle without any visual confirmation ?

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

If copper fouling is the devil, how does anyone know they have got all or most of it out of the barrel

Differing opinions on that one.

Excessive fouling is not a good thing, but some folks believe that you should not necessarily clean out all the copper. Barrels vary tremendously, best thing IMHO is to see what works from observed results and go with that... You may find that your barrel shoots very well with some fouling, or you may find it is at it's best when completely stripped of copper.