I have a .50 ar-15 beuwolf ther is some copper fauling in the barrel that I have been unable to get out useing hopes and fp-10. What is some good copper remover? How is that stuff they sell at wallmart the foam stuff?

Edit sorry for bad spelling*

I know you didn't mean to make a joke but a cooper is someone who makes barrels or buckets as in a wooden barrel and copper is a metal commonly used to jacket bullets. hoppes bench rest Copper Solvent or Sweets 7.62 Copper Solvent work for removing copper. I don't know about the foam stuff


now that I have reread your post you must be joking cause you wrote goof instead of good stop making fun

holy crap now I feel like a spelling Nazi but hey its fouling/ there/copper/good/

Don't use the foam shit!  I used it here in Iraq on my M16 before reading on the can that it wasn't to be used in semi-autos.  It gummed up the gas tube but luckily I have some long pipe cleaners and a can of air and I found out on the range, not on the streets.

I use to use Sweets 7.62 copper solvent, it contains a subtantial amount of ammonia. Besides the smell, it may not be the best product to use if you have a chrome lined barrel. I have since switched to Bore Tech Eliminator, it is odorless and ammonia free. I recently spoke with someone at Bore Tech and he stated that Eliminator will not damage a chrome lined barrel regardless of how long it's left in the bore.It does a great job at removing copper fouling quickly. The only distributor I know of that sells it is R.W. Hart in PA.

Pro Shot Copper Solvent IV.  Not as fast as Sweets but safe for all metals except copper, naturally.

sweets


i have tried the foaming stuff from wal-mart and the best thing to back that up with is some brake cleaner to make sure there isnt any trace of it in the gas tube and crevices



i have used the foaming stuff on my beowulf and it works

Sweets 7.62 , 15 mins to remove Cu.
Hoppes No. 9,  overnight to remove Cu.

Quoted: Sweets 7.62 , 15 mins to remove Cu. Hoppes No. 9,  overnight to remove Cu.

Is the Hoppes #9 the copper solvent? There's a Hoppes #9 that's just a regular solvent (powder solvent  I think, it's the stuff that smells REALLY good so I dab a drop behind each ear before leaving for work in the morning ) and I think I'm confusing the two. Overnight seems like a long time--won't it damage the chrome since I read that the #9 copper solvent has some ammonia.

The best way besides electronically cleaning it..Is to buy a chamber plug and soak the inside of the barrel overnight.

Quoted: Quoted: Sweets 7.62 , 15 mins to remove Cu. Hoppes No. 9,  overnight to remove Cu. Is the Hoppes #9 the copper solvent? There's a Hoppes #9 that's just a regular solvent (powder solvent  I think, it's the stuff that smells REALLY good so I dab a drop behind each ear before leaving for work in the morning ) and I think I'm confusing the two. Overnight seems like a long time--won't it damage the chrome since I read that the #9 copper solvent has some ammonia.

yep regular hoppes no. 9 works on copper, just dead slow. I dont know about a chrome lined barrel as i only used the overnite soak on no chrome lined barrels.

A simple test to tell if your cleaner works on copper is to get a penny and put a few drops of your solvent on the penny and check it every so often, if you see a geeeish substabce forming, your solvent will remove copper.

Shooters Choice Copper, smelly but effective

Quoted: Quoted: Sweets 7.62 , 15 mins to remove Cu. Hoppes No. 9,  overnight to remove Cu. Is the Hoppes #9 the copper solvent? There's a Hoppes #9 that's just a regular solvent (powder solvent  I think, it's the stuff that smells REALLY good so I dab a drop behind each ear before leaving for work in the morning ) and I think I'm confusing the two. Overnight seems like a long time--won't it damage the chrome since I read that the #9 copper solvent has some ammonia.

Old #9 contains a bit of ammonium oleate so yes, it has a bit of ammonia.  Ammonia oleate is a soap of sorts.  Soaps are salts of a fatty acid and a base.  In ammonia oleate's case, the fatty acid is oleic acid and the base is ammonium hydroxide.  Yes, it dissociates into ammonia, providing mild copper removal.  The addictive smell of #9 is due to the iso-amyl acetate and a small bit of nitrobenzene, a good reason to use it with good ventillation.  Here is the formula from Hatcher's Notebook:


                                                                           Original component Notes
Ammonium oleate (CAS#544-60-5)                        5.0 oz (also known as ammonium soap)
                                                                          Could substitute lanolin but this would sacrifice
                                                                          its mild copper removal qualities.

Amyl Acetate (CAS#544-60-5)                               8.5 oz ("banana oil").

Nitro-benzene                                                       2.0 oz (the racing fuel additive).

K1 Kerosene                                                         8.5 oz.

Neutral Saponifiable Oil                                          8 oz (Not identified, probably sperm oil,but
                                                                          ATF could be substituted.

Thanks, that's useful info. So I take it Hoppes Copper solvent has more ammonia and not safe for chrome lining.

Perfectly safe for chrome.  Some electroplated nickle finishes have a sub-plating of copper which IS attacked at breaks in the nickle, damaging the copper and ultimately, causing the nickle to fail.

But chromium is unaffected as is the steel underrneath by the slight ammonia in Hoppes.

Quoted: Perfectly safe for chrome.  Some electroplated nickle finishes have a sub-plating of copper which IS attacked at breaks in the nickle, damaging the copper and ultimately, causing the nickle to fail. But chromium is unaffected as is the steel underrneath by the slight ammonia in Hoppes.

Thank you. Now I gotta get some fouling off.

Don't mean to hijack the thread,
I picked up some pro-shooters copper removal and Kroil yesterday.

OMG!!!! I didn't have a clue how dirty barrels really are! I am not on to leave my guns dirty, I always, ALWAYS clean my guns after shooting.

I cleaned one barrel for two hours and still didn't get all the copper out!! No joke.

I recommend pro-shooters copper remover, It doesn't smell bad like Sweets and does the job well.

I cant wait to clean ALL the rest of the guns in the safe, we're talking days!!

Quoted: Sweets 7.62 , 15 mins to remove Cu. Hoppes No. 9,  overnight to remove Cu.

No. 9 keeps on working for days with one dry patch and one wet patch to re-apply. With this technique you will always get some green when other techniques show clean bore. I don't brush much except to placate my concience.

Except for long term storage just leave No. 9 in there. For chrome bores I'm not sure. I just do two or three soaks and then oil.

I have tried everything but electrolytic cleaning in the last 50 years and seldom use anything but No. 9, Break-Free and occasionally Kroil.

Except for rimfire I seldom put more than 30-40 rounds through a rifle in a week. Nearly all shooting is on a range and my cleaning regimen might be different if I had more rounds or dirtier conditions.

On the other hand I might just be lazy. Auto pistols; I just keep adding Break-Free.