Last week a few of us at my local gun club decided to do a scaled down version of the Zim PH shooting test: rapid fire sequence at 25 meters then standing long range(100 meters with shooting sticks). I shot about 25 shots without cleaning my CZ in 416 Rigby, using Hornady 400 grain RN soft points at 2400 fps.
I had (I think) properly broken in the barrel: cleaning after each shot for the first ten shots and then subsequently cleaning after three to five shots on average. I had shot around 50 rounds before our little test and the barrel was quite clean.
Now I see quite a bit of copper buildup in the barrel and repeated scrubbing just seems to smooth out the barrel somewhat but irregularities on the bore surface are still detectable when passing a patch and are visible in the right light. Any secrets out there to getting this barrel really clean again? One guy at our club tells me to fire a gas-checked lead bullet and it will scrub out the copper. Any experience with this approach?

Wink - Not sure what your access is to proper copper solvents, however, something like Sweets or CR-10 will knock out your copper fouling very quickly.

Shooting a lead bullet through the bore only covers the copper with lead. While it may hide the copper from view, it does not magically pull the copper from the bore.

I hear from others tht "Wipe Out" foam is very good.

As for me I am very satisfied with Sweets. I use it on every firearm I own, including my double rifle.

Just follow the label instructions.

I have better things to do than to have to wait for my copper solvent to work!

Wink,

Don't waste your energy and wear out your barrel scrubbing it. Get some Wipe Out and LITERALLY WIPE OUT THE COPPER. It may take a couple of overnight applications but your barrel will be clean and the house won't stink nor will your eyes run water from the ammonia based solvents.

Regards,

Mark

Wink, think about what your friend suggested for a minute; if you shoot a copper gas checked lead bullet down the bbl. how wood that clean it? I haven't tried Wipeout but any of the good copper solv. like Sweets, Barnes, etc. will remove most if not all of that copper. BTW, how did you fare on the shoot?

Wipe-Out is best. As sure as Varget is a top performer in the .404 Jeffery. Best thing since sliced bread. It might just take a couple of twenty minute retentions of the foam with a few patches to follow each soak. You can do other things while the Wipe-Out cleans the rifle bore. Minimum elbow grease. Cleaning chores never get procrastinated since I discovered Wipe-Out. It is that easy.

Hey, did I say Wipe-Out is great?

I don't know if it is available in France, but there is a product called Kroil (usually marketed as an industrial penetrant) that will get under the fouling & you can wipe it out with a patch. I put 500 solids through my 475 & cleaned it with 3 patches. Just wet the bore, let it soak for an hour & wipe it out.

I can get a locally produced Kroil equivalent (at least they say it's the same thing) but Wipe-Out is not on the shelves that I've looked at. Who makes Wipe-Out?

Concerning my friends theory about shooting a gas check, he claims that the gas check is not the same metal as the guilding metal on jacketed bullets for one (he says it's harder) and that the leading edge of the gas check acts as a sort of scraper as it goes down the bore. I suppose I could just try his theory and report back to you all. Heck, if it works it might be of some use to some of us.

Wink - If a bore were as smooth as glass, then maybe the gas check theory would hold a modicum of water. However, even the smoothest hand-lapped bores are rough and will eventually foul with copper. A copper solvent will quickly solve the problem. When selecting solvents, use the one with the most ammonia content - Sweets, CR-10, Montana X-Treme. They will work the quickest with very little scrubbing.

Kroil will certainly emulsify powder fouling and loosen some copper in the process, however, it is not a copper solvent and will not fully remove fouling. You need a solvent to remove copper.

Wipe Out is the ultimate answer. Not sure how to get it in France, though. Midway carries it-- they used to have an operation in Norway; not sure if they do anymore.

Buy Wipe Out, and throw your brushes away.

Pertinax

does wipe out corrode barrel steel?

whoops! stupid me.

Wipe out is very safe with steel and bluing; however, the manufacturer warns about getting it on certain stock finishes. It is as good as the others say it is. It really makes working at cleaning a thing of the past.

When it is first used, you may have to clean the bore two or three times as it eats its way down through the built up crud. Spray it in; let it set; wipe out the fouling. The first couple of times, what comes out looks like blue ink. When you can push an oiled patch through and not have blue streaks on the patch, its clean. Thereafter, spray; set up; wipe out; re-oil. Ku-dude

Hi Wink,
There is a link from my site to the Wipe-Out site. You can get hold of Terry Paul by e-mail through it.
www.470mbogo.com
Take care,
Dave

Wink,

If you are able to get Wipe-Out in Europe, or get it sent over in the mail, please tell us. I tried a while ago to get the Wipe-Out producer to send some to Norway with no luck. Said he couldn't (wouldn't?) send it in the mail... Maybe this has changed?

Erik

Erik,
He is probably come up against the EU ruling about "hazardous" products in the mail and/or air shipment which means slow surface shipping (by boat) and therefore only significant quantities would be worth going to the trouble to ship. Probably better to find someone willing to stick a couple of cans in his luggage and discretely bring it back to Europe that way. I am waiting for a reply from the producer about European purchases and will let you know what he says.

Wink,

I am most sastified with :
" Bore Cleaning Foam" from FORREST professional, MJP Finland ............. available in France at Kettner or Frankonia. I am using it for every cleaning and it's saving a good deal of elbow grease. The foam is white and when getting blue (about 30 minutes)all the dirt, tombac, copper, lead had been removed. A couple of cloth patchs and it's over. It's a cinch.
Makes me think my 7*64 and my 9.3*74 are "foamed" since Sunday. Lucky this foam is not corrosive.
BTW, I have no news from Sauer150.

JB,

My cousin is a Forrest Bore Foam distributor here in Norway, and mentioned to me that Forrest does contain ammonia! Thus, he personally does not leave it in the barrel for over 30 minutes... I've used Forrest for many years, long before he started, and have previously left it over night many times. Apparently without problems. But knowing that it contains ammonia does make me wonder if etching or other minute damage in the barrel may have occured without me noticing. So be carefull!

Re. Wipe-Out, does anyone know what it contains? It must be something simular to ammonia I'd think. And I've been told that it works even better than Forrest!

Erik

Wipe Out is much better than Forrest..I have used both and nothing compares to Wipe Out....

Once cleaned with Wipe Out or Forrests or any other Amonia based cleaner, be sure and oil the bore profusely or it will rust....

I am a confirmed Wipe Out fan...It simply works.

I must agree with Ray and others about Wipe Out. I am a big time Barnes x shooter and nothing cleans out copper fouling as thourghly and easily as Wipe Out.

Period.

I did the Wipe Out challenge test. Take your cleanest barrel. Fill with Wipe Out and leave over night. Check how much blue comes out. I was flatly amazed. I was sure there would be little or none. I couldn't believe how much came out. Pretty easy and few patches are necessary.