Thread: Copper Fouling

I have a new .308 xbolt that I've put about 140 rounds through at the range and Ive finally found factory ammo that I can get .7moa groups.
I've cleaned everytime afterwards using the GunSlik kit cleaning stuff, but have noticed a bit of copper on the lands when looking down the barrel.

Should I be worried about worried about trying to get all the copper out, and is it normal to have some as long as I've cleaned the carbon out .... how anal do I need to be if its shooting well, should I just go with it?

If it's shooting fine I'd personally leave it. You'll find that the bore will develop a copper fouling equilibrium, meaning once you notice accuracy starting to drop off you will clean out copper fouling till it's back to shooting .7MOA or close to that.

As above if it is shooting well leave it and just oil it when you put it back into the safe. I would only remove copper once accuracy starts decreasing otherwise you could find groups and Poi will change if you completely remove all traces of fouling everytime. I found out the hard way, lots of cleaning products used and lots of rounds shot, I now just let the bore foul, no more issues.

Originally Posted by chris-b

I have a new .308 xbolt that I've put about 140 rounds through at the range and Ive finally found factory ammo that I can get .7moa groups.
I've cleaned everytime afterwards using the GunSlik kit cleaning stuff, but have noticed a bit of copper on the lands when looking down the barrel.

Should I be worried about worried about trying to get all the copper out, and is it normal to have some as long as I've cleaned the carbon out .... how anal do I need to be if its shooting well, should I just go with it?

After 140 rounds the main cause of coppering in a new (quality) barrel should be gone/burnt off - ie the radial burrs from chambering. These bits abraid the projectiles and the Cu goes into plasma form to then be deposited neared the muzzle. Once this cause has gone it is then down to how good the barrel surface is, powder type, projectile type. Of course badness starts again when severe throat ersion tears away at the jackets ha ha.
I never like to leave any copper (visible) in the barrel. I also have a bore scope and have examined barrels of people who have assured me they have cleaned to the point of perfection - oh yeah. I clean after each outing generally using bore foam or Boretech Cu+. I understand how each of my rifles perform re fouling (and they are different) and how many shots usually I can fire before drop off in performance. I also understand my rifles cold shot performance which is probably the issue why owners don't wish to clean.
Copper fowling if left can be nasty and the barrel fowling may be in several layers of Cu Carbon and so on. I would rather keep on top of it and look after my investment.
But that is just me.

I just got the copper out of my barrel a couple of weeks ago using the gunslik it took around 5-6 days I just squirt foam , tape up barrel & leave upside down till the nxt day & repeat till its gone.

Just did mine with the Boretech stuff.
The instructions reccomend to use a nylon brush,
didn't read that when I bought it then had to go back to get one which was a bit of a pain in the....
Seems to have done a good job, haven't shot it yet so can't say anything about accuracy.

KG-12 works great, but is stinky and harder to work with than boretech. I only use the boretech occasionally as an indicator now after using KG-12 as the KG-12 does not turn blue

Is it possible that some barrels simply don't foul been going through things to improve groups on a rifle tried copper remover and none came out

I copper clean after each use for the reasons Zimmer described. I do notice my rifles tend to group better after 6 or 8 shots though...don't know whether it's me or the gun getting it's groove on.

Originally Posted by northdude

Is it possible that some barrels simply don't foul been going through things to improve groups on a rifle tried copper remover and none came out

Im personally convinced not all copper removers are created equal .... I had a factory sako barrel that I used boretech eliminator on, patches kept coming out clean. Even with sweets 7.62 patches came out clean... Was a different story with boretech copper remover, patches came out filthy blue....

Had the same experience, boretech eliminator doesnt get rid of copper well. I switched to KG products for everything, and have mpro 7 as well for powder.

I've tried hopes outers and g96

two words (wipe out)
even better than my old favorite gunslick foaming bore cleaner!

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I asked at the gun shop last week if they had any Boretech eliminator, the guy behind the counter said they don't stock it anymore after using wipe out

Wipe out is the way to go.