I finally got a chance to go to the range with my new OLY 16" SUM upper. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned with patches and solvents only (no brushing per OLY advice) and FINALLY got it spotless before going. I could not buhLEEVE the time and effort it took to get it clean.

Anyway, while doing barrel break in of cleaning after each shot, I had to do the following, using Break Free CLP:
Run a wet patch-2 or 3 times
Run a bronze brush - 8-10 times
Run patches (tight fitting/good quality) 5-10 times back and forth.

I had to run anywhere from 6 to 10 patches to get a clean one. This was every time after one shot. This was obviously very time consuming and I am not done with the first 20 shots yet.

Is this pretty normal? Any recommendations on doing anything differently or trying some other product or just keep at it?

IMO, CLP is not gonna clean your bore, ya should use a bore cleaner like Hoppes #9 or my choice Sweets 7.62 as a bore cleaner. This is why it took so long to get the bore clean.

As to break-in, IF this is a chrome chambered and chrome-lined barrel breakin is not necessary, but I use the same method for all my rifles. Shoot 10-20 rounds and clean throughly, shoot 40-50 rounds and clean throughly, from then on, I clean when done with the shooting session no matter the round count.

Mike

PS - w/ the Sweets, which is/can be harmful if left in bore for extended periods, ya should rinse it out throughly, I use a clean carb cleaner like the SuperTech 2000 sold by Walmart for this rinsing, BTW this works well for blowing the carbon outta the gas-tube too. If I'm going right back to shooting, I don't lube the bore, if I'm done shooting for the day, I lube the bore w/ a CLP soaked patch and run 2 or 3 dry patches to remove the excess.

Thanks Mr. Wilson. That is the first time anyone has recommended Hoppe's. You must be an oldtimer too. The barrel is an SUM - stainless ultra match .223.

I used Hoppe's trying to clean it initially and just went over and over it. I switched to CLP and it came clean fairly soon thereafter.

I don't have any Sweet's, but I do have some Butch's bore shine. Will that work on the next break in trip or should I shop for some sweet's locally?

Hoppes #9 should be dead and buried by now.. :)
It does nothing to clean copper out of a barrel. There are far superior bore cleaners on the market. If you want something that will take out some copper then try shooters choice, or hoppes benchrest formula. I use shooters choice on occasion, but.. my main bore cleaner now is MPro7. It works great at removing everything but the copper, for that I use sweets.

Dude I use hoppes #9. It works great.

hehe.. yeah, you may use it.. but, it's far from great.. :) Plus, at 17 or whatever young age you are.. you don't have lot's of time pushing it through your bore.. :)

For break-in, I use butch's bore shine.  You need a copper remover (ammonia) for break-in, based on the theory of breaking in a barrel.

I just swab it real good with butch's, then bronze brush a few strokes, then push a few dry patches out.  That's it.  It doesn't have to come out spotless for break-in, IMHO... just the majority of the copper fouling should come out in preparation for the next shot.

#9 and CLP aint gonna do a whole lot for breaking in a barrel, without a ton of scrubbing.

I used Hoppes #9.

Run a brush, I use a plastic one for cleaning case necks, let it set for 15 minutes and then run a patch through.  Now if there's green on it I always assumed that was copper fouling that the Hoppes disolved, hence the plastic, not bronze, brush.  After about 4 iterations the "green" usualy diminishes and/or ceases.

I used to use Shooter choice but felt it was a tad too harsh for match barrels.  The key to using Hoppes is to let the chemicals do the work.  Let it set 15 minutes before wipeing it out.

I could be all full of shit, or somebody else could be too.

Only Hoppes benchrest formula has copper removing properties. Hoppes #9 does not dissolve copper whatsoever.

Well I know that I have some Bore Shine in the cabinet so I will try that next trip out. If that is not working any better than the CLP I will try to find some Sweet's locally. I believe the Mpro7 and shooters choice are mail order only options.

I'll follow up and let you guys know what I find after this weekend (I hope!)

Actually it's Hoppe's Nitro No. 9, Powder Solvent that I use and it does remove copper fouling.

Wow what a revaluation. I have no idea what Hoppes 'nitro' is, but, if it's anything like their benchrest formula I suppose it could dissolve copper as well. But, as I stated, Hoppes #9 has no copper removing properties whatsoever. I'm glad to hear that you're using something other then plain #9 to 'dissolve' copper, we can't have people running around with all these copper fouled barrels!