Has anyone noticed a copper fouling problem more so with any particular brand of bullets, not including any Barnes'?(everybody knows they foul badly) I am wondering if the brand I'm shooting may be more prone to copper fouling than I am realizing.

The copper fouling from Barnes bullets is generally exaggerated and usually related to a previous guilding metal fouling that was not removed before firing the pure copper Barnes

That being said the pure copper fouling is generally easier to remove than the guilding metal fouling from bullets other than Barnes.

I don't "mix" bullets in a particular barrel

Fouling? for the limited number of shots before a thorough cleaning it really isn't relevant to me

I tend to find one "happy load" for a particular rifle in accord with it's intended use, make a BUNCH of that exact load
then don't muck with it endlessly.

Fouling is what it is.

AD

A few friends have copper trouble with 6.5 cal Hornadys in their Swedes. That is the only specific issue that I have first hand knowledge of.

Swift Scirocco. Pure lead, pure copper. Fouls more than Barnes TSX/TTSX.

I have heard that Remington jackets look nicer because they are more pure Copper, and thus foul more than a harder alloy.

I find that remington brass has ever so slightly more copper than winchester brass.

this makes the rem brass slightly more yellow than the win brass and thus a touch softer.

there is the other side of the coin.

I have never had a piece of rem rifle brass crack at the neck.

I expect to start losing win brass (either 30-06 or 7mm Mag) to case neck splits whan pulled over the expander
after the fourth or fifth reloading.

because the win brass though thinner and offering slightly more capacity is also more brittle.

AD

quote:

Originally posted by Allan DeGroot:
I find that remington brass has ever so slightly more copper than winchester brass.

this makes the rem brass slightly more yellow than the win brass and thus a touch softer.

there is the other side of the coin.

I have never had a piece of rem rifle brass crack at the neck.

I expect to start losing win brass (either 30-06 or 7mm Mag) to case neck splits whan pulled over the expander
after the fourth or fifth reloading.

because the win brass though thinner and offering slightly more capacity is also more brittle.

AD

Interesting post Allan, but how does it apply to “Has anyone noticed a copper fouling problem more so with any particular brand of bullets”?

quote:

not including any Barnes'?(everybody knows they foul badly)

Afraid that's old news. The new Barnes TSX and others have several grooves cut around their circumference,the copper is deposited there rather than the barrel. They don't foul more than any other bullet and their accuracy is great.

I've been shooting Barnes Xs since the late 90s and haven't had any fouling problems. I don't think any other bullets would make a big difference either. I think this has more to do with how I shoot rather than the type of bullets I shoot.

I don't target shoot with my hunting rifles so they don't get shot much. At most, maybe 15 rounds per session. When I do shoot, I clean the barrel completely free of copper when I'm done. Before the start of the hunting season, I fire a fouling shot, fire a 3 shot group to confirm my zero and hunt for the rest of the season. When the season is over I clean my barrel of all copper and the rifle sits in the gun cabinet til the following spring.

So, unless you're doing a lot of shooting or you have a particularly rough bore, I don't think it's even an issue for you. Of course as someone once said, "every barrel is a rule onto itself" and only you can determine if your barrel has a problem with excessive fouling or not.