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Posted: 4/28/2019 11:11:39 PM EDT
[#1]
My precision rifles get it every 50 rounds or so, or when I see accuracy start to degrade.
Battle rifles might get it every year or so... Ar's... unless you are going for precision... I would think a good dose of copper remover every few thousand rounds. |
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Posted: 4/29/2019 12:17:03 AM EDT
[#2]
Quoted:
How often do you 'de-copper' your barrel? Never. Thousands of rounds later, still shooting 1-1.25moa with gov barrel. |
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Posted: 4/29/2019 8:18:33 AM EDT
[#3]
I use M-Pro 7 gun cleaner or bore gel for regular maintenance precision rifles and once every few cleanings on my duty/ rack grade guns. I don’t have issues with copper in any of them.
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Posted: 4/29/2019 5:10:30 PM EDT
[#4]
I just spray the bore down with M-pro 7 solvent and let it sit for 10 min and use a rip cord to clean it out.
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Posted: 5/1/2019 12:28:18 AM EDT
[#5]
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Posted: 5/8/2019 9:53:01 AM EDT
[#6]
Even Hoppes cleaner will pull a lot of copper. I do it more frequently on new barrels, wet patch, let sit 20 minutes, patch again. The second patch will come out pretty green. How often? On my competition rifle, not that often, it gets cleaned once or twice per year.
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Posted: 5/8/2019 8:57:25 PM EDT
[#7]
Great information guys!! Thanks to all who replied. I finished my first ar build about 6 months ago. Been to the range 4 times. Been wondering if I should do anymore than hoppes. Let trip it shot half moa and best was .170. Have 360 rounds through it so far. With this information I will wait till i see the groups open up.
Again thanks!!! |
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Posted: 5/9/2019 4:59:35 PM EDT
[#8]
A lot of cleaners will remove enough copper, especially if you have a chrome lined bore, that you won't have to do anything special.
Hoppes #9 (standard orange bottle) has about 5% ammonia and will remove some copper if you let it soak for a few minutes. Break Free Foaming Bore Cleaner will remove a lot of copper in the bore. |
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Posted: 5/10/2019 7:14:14 PM EDT
[#9]
hoppes & a bore snake is all I use.
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Posted: 5/11/2019 6:34:22 AM EDT
[#10]
Since I clean it every time I shoot it I guess nothing build up in it. Hoppe's#9, brush, patches, elbow grease, etc.
I seldom shoot more than 50 rounds through any one rifle on a range trip. Sometimes I'll take up to 3 AR15's for an afternoon of sighting in, load development, comparison with another AR15. |
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Posted: 5/20/2019 2:54:39 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Since I clean it every time I shoot it I guess nothing build up in it. Hoppe's#9, brush, patches, elbow grease, etc. I seldom shoot more than 50 rounds through any one rifle on a range trip. Sometimes I'll take up to 3 AR15's for an afternoon of sighting in, load development, comparison with another AR15. |
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Posted: 5/22/2019 2:57:17 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
My precision rifles get it every 50 rounds or so, or when I see accuracy start to degrade. Battle rifles might get it every year or so... Ar's... unless you are going for precision... I would think a good dose of copper remover every few thousand rounds. The only thing I'll add, is ANY stainless barrel does get a copper terminator treatment after each range session for the first 3 trips. If I'm breaking in a barrel, I always use copper treatment after first shooting |
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Posted: 6/30/2019 12:14:59 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This right here has worked for me for tens of thousands of rounds and years of shooting. The only thing I'll add, is ANY stainless barrel does get a copper terminator treatment after each range session for the first 3 trips. If I'm breaking in a barrel, I always use copper treatment after first shooting Not smart especially on a 'competition' rifle. |
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Posted: 6/30/2019 12:29:25 PM EDT
[#14]
Never did it when I was in the .mil so unless it's a match barrel, lol...never?
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Posted: 6/30/2019 6:08:45 PM EDT
[#15]
I use Iosso bore paste on a nylon brush. Seems to work really well.
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Posted: 7/1/2019 5:40:22 AM EDT
[#16]
Probably not as often as I should.
Once a year I get a can of Montana XTreme, and start cleaning them out. If the wife is home, this stuff will run her out of the house. It is muey strong! |
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Posted: 7/1/2019 6:14:50 AM EDT
[#17]
I have been using Gunslick foam, also have some Hoppes 9 foam.
Haven't tried the Hoppes yet, But the Gunslick stuff turns blue so I know the copper is coming out and has no Amonia, so no bad smell. No scrubbing. Fill barrel with foam, let sit, push out with a patch. I usually flush out the barrel with Gunscrubber and then a Patch of Breakfree CLP to protect it. |
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Posted: 7/1/2019 6:40:35 AM EDT
[#18]
All stainless/match barrels get de-coppered a couple times during break in period.
My bolt guns are de-coppered about every 300 rounds if I can see it needs it. Chromelined AR barrels get it once after shooting the first several hundred rounds and again somewhere in the 1k round count. I use Boretech Eliminator. I don't know that there's an easier to use copper solvent. |
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Posted: 7/3/2019 11:28:01 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If you are doing as that guy suggested you are never reaching the point of copper equilibrium and losing potential accuracy. Not smart especially on a 'competition' rifle. Never an issue. It shoots great out the gate and after 3-5 fouling rounds, the groups tighten up more. |
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Posted: 7/5/2019 10:44:57 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I disagree. High quality match barrels don’t build up copper like a mass produced factory barrel. Breaking in and cleaning the copper out initially leads to very little copper build up long term. More consistent I guess. Never an issue. It shoots great out the gate and after 3-5 fouling rounds, the groups tighten up more. My match barrels get decoppered when and only when the accuracy begins to fall off noticeably or my notes indicate it is about time for it to happen. I doubt 3 to 5 fouling rounds are going to get you there friend. May be part of the reason you don't know / understand - You have never experienced it because your barrel is always kept too clean? |
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Posted: 8/12/2019 5:02:45 PM EDT
[#21]
I mostly use moly'd bullets. My regimen is oil/dry patch every outing, light solvent use at ~250 rounds, and light solvent/JB paste at ~500.
Alternating Hoppe's #9 and dry, it takes 4-6 patches total til the patches are light gray or white. The closest I get to decoppering is reciprocating a #9-soaked patch with JB paste ~6 times, primarily in the first 4" or so. A well made barrel that's properly broken in shouldn't need decoppering til after 500 rounds. If accuracy is falling off within 100 shots, don't clean, and adjust the load. Or get a replacement barrel. |
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Posted: 8/13/2019 5:05:49 PM EDT
[#22]
Never.... I have never seen a benefit to it but I have seen shifts in zero and accuracy because of it. It is about as pointless as oiling your anodized receivers. The barrel will build up copper to a point and pretty much stops which at that point you are zeroed for. Then you remove the copper and you can see a shift in your groups or your groups temporarily shrink or grow in size till you rebuild that copper back up. I did it on my Winchester Model 70 and noticed about a 2" shift in my zero up and to the right and my groups grew about 1". I made an adjustment to my scope then after some time I noticed my groups migrate down and to the left which made me readjust back to the original settings prior to the cleaning. I repeated this 3 times getting nearly the exact same result give or take a .25". I have since never removed the copper and have never had another shift in zero or drastic change in group size outside shooter being the cause.
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Posted: 8/23/2019 1:14:47 AM EDT
[#23]
For decoppering, how many of you take it down to "bare steel" as this gunsmith recommends?
https://www.range365.com/dirty-little-secret-gun-cleaning/ |
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Posted: 8/23/2019 2:30:17 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
For decoppering, how many of you take it down to "bare steel" as this gunsmith recommends? https://www.range365.com/dirty-little-secret-gun-cleaning/ And most cleaning regimens don’t get anywhere close to that. |
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Posted: 8/31/2019 4:55:26 PM EDT
[#25]
I use Bore Tech Eliminator during every cleaning. It pulls all of the copper and carbon buildup.
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Posted: 9/5/2019 10:11:35 AM EDT
[#26]
I use Boretech Eliminator or their specific copper solvent formula.
I also had good luck with Iosso bore paste. As far as frequency, I always swab the bore with Boretech after each session, and I notice only minor build ups. |
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Posted: 9/5/2019 11:15:11 AM EDT
[#27]
BoreTech and Iosso are what I use as well.
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Posted: 9/17/2019 12:45:18 AM EDT
[#28]
I have a bcm 14.5 lw and a dsg 16” stainless that has printed many 1” or less groups at 100.
I treat them both the same, run a bore snake down a few times and call it good. The bcm is my go to and goes through pretty high rate of fire. The stainless barrel doesn’t see as many rounds but I don’t baby it either |
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Posted: 11/14/2019 3:07:41 PM EDT
[#29]
Never. I don't shoot much though. My last upper only had a little over 13,000 rounds threw it then
I gave it away. Current upper only has about 3,000 rounds through it. I follow the Pat Rogers school though for AR barrels. Two patches soaked with CLP and you are done. |
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Posted: 11/15/2019 4:10:38 PM EDT
[#30]
Bore Tech is the best and safest stuff on the market. I tend to spend a little more time on my SS barrels then my nitride or CL barrels.
Eliminator= copper and carbon. C4= carbon only. CU+2= copper only. Rimfire Blend/Shotgun Blend work very well as well. Nylon brushes and Proof Positive jags. Why people still use Hoppes and harsh ammonia based products is a mystery to me. 
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Posted: 1/11/2020 12:07:28 PM EDT
[#31]
I have never de-coppered my CL'd AR barrels, I just run a patch with CLP through them after every range session. I switch off between my rifles so none of them have more than 1500rds through them and I haven't noticed a change in accuracy yet.
On my other center fires and my .17 rimfires I'll clean the barrels with Sweets 7.62 every couple hundred rounds. |
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Posted: 1/14/2020 6:14:06 PM EDT
[#32]
Unless using and older style soft copper projectile I have never had copper fouling issues until velocity reached 3,500 FPS +.
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