I recently bought a 22-250 Rem model 788. I swabbed the bore, did a light clean and shot it. I grouped one set of reloads at about1/2 inch. Ok now it was dirty with 30 or so rounds through it. I knew it was copper fouled, I could see it at the muzzle. I bought a bottle of Sweets 7.62 because I had heard good things about it. I followed the instructions up to the point of 15 minutes. I still had plenty of copper coming out. I dry patched then oiled with Ballistol and started again, same results only this time the stuff coming out of the barrel was thick like mud. I went through twenty or thirty brushings until the brush had little balls of copper on the end of the bristles dry patched oiled etc. I know it is still dirty. Any body have any suggestions? besides re-barreling it. DW

Order a can of Wipe-Out. Fantastic stuff and works easily and quickly. I tried the same stuff you did after hearing it was good and I had the same results and basically I think it sucks. You will be much better off with Wipe- Out.

I too love Wipeout. A benchrest friend told me about it and I've been using a lot of it. Takes all the work out of cleaning.
Phil

I am an admitted cleaning heretic. If I have a rifle that shoots 1/2 inch groups I do everything I can to not disturb the conditions that cause that.

I would run 1 patch soaking wet with Ballistol. Store it muzzle down and wipe it dry before shooting it the next time. other than that I would not touch that magic 1/2 barrel until I saw it opening up the groups.

First thing I would do is borescope the barrel to see how dirty it really looks.

If it still contained copper, then I would use one patch pushed through with patchout followed by filling the barrel with wipeout. (I like to use both products) Lay the rifle on its side on a flat surface. 4-6 hours later, roll the rifle over to the opposite side. This gives the product some dwell time on both sides of the barrel. Let it lay there overnight. It will remain active for 24 hours. Patch it out the next day and use the borescope to see if any copper remains.

If the copper is gone and you have lots of black carbon fouling to the point you think it is a problem, it's time to use something abrasive. Holland's witches brew is the best stuff I have found thus far for removing black carbon fouling. I'll use it every 200-300 rounds when the black carbon fouling gets heavy.

Remember, Sweets will dissolve bronze bore brushes and give you a false flag. If the gun shoots 1/2 in groups with 30 rds I would just keep it at that state of fouled.

quote:

Originally posted by dwheels:
I recently bought a 22-250 Rem model 788. I swabbed the bore, did a light clean and shot it. I grouped one set of reloads at about1/2 inch. Ok now it was dirty with 30 or so rounds through it. I knew it was copper fouled, I could see it at the muzzle. I bought a bottle of Sweets 7.62 because I had heard good things about it. I followed the instructions up to the point of 15 minutes. I still had plenty of copper coming out. I dry patched then oiled with Ballistol and started again, same results only this time the stuff coming out of the barrel was thick like mud. I went through twenty or thirty brushings until the brush had little balls of copper on the end of the bristles dry patched oiled etc. I know it is still dirty. Any body have any suggestions? besides re-barreling it. DW

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bobster:
Remember, Sweets will dissolve bronze bore brushes and give you a false flag. If the gun shoots 1/2 in groups with 30 rds I would just keep it at that state of fouled.


^^^This is correct IMHO.

Factory barrels (many to most) are hard to clean and harder to keep clean of copper yet some of them shoot very very well.

You MIGHT have a barrel which will re-foul with copper on the very first shot after cleaning it thoroughly so let accuracy be your guide.

There's my 2 cents for free.
Zeke

I've been using Montana Extreme for all rifle shooting jacketed bullets with good results
What is the collective's thoughts on using Ed's Red for cleaning cast bullet rifles?

Another vote for Wipe Out. It is amazingly good.

quote:

Another vote for Wipe Out. It is amazingly good.

Yes Wipe OUt is good stuff. Keep in mind more bores are ruined by cleaning rods than shots fired..

Mixing Wipe Out with other cleaners isn't recommended..

Also there has never been an animal killed with a clean bore, nor a 5 shot group winning a trophy..

Too many gunnies are cleaning fanatics, thats controversial at best..

quote:

Originally posted by arkypete:
I've been using Montana Extreme for all rifle shooting jacketed bullets with good results
What is the collective's thoughts on using Ed's Red for cleaning cast bullet rifles?

Ya know, Ed lived just a couple hours north of you. His concoction works great for a cast bullet gun, has no copper cleaning capability, however.

For a bore such as you describe, Id mix up a mess of one quart of Commercial strength Amonia, a cup of Hydrgen Peroxide, toss a copper bullet or penny in it to turn it blue. called Blue Goop and it works, don't leave it in barrel for more than 30 minutes max, dry and oil..

The other is Wipe Out, not as strong but works pretty darn good..

Then I clean with a little oil on a bore snake to top it off. Kinda like a chaser over a shot of Tequila (two Ls in spanish sometimes)

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Yes Wipe OUt is good stuff. Keep in mind more bores are ruined by cleaning rods than shots fired..

Mixing Wipe Out with other cleaners isn't recommended..

Also there has never been an animal killed with a clean bore, nor a 5 shot group winning a trophy..

Too many gunnies are cleaning fanatics, thats controversial at best..

many ex military still clean bbls till they shine every time they shoot cause thats what the military teaches you. old habits. many times its the best way. like ur ass and ur teeth. but i agree with you about gun bbls DEPENDING on what the gun itself wants. cleaning gun bbls just to clean em is counterproductive i think.

Do NOT scope the bore of your factory rifle barrel or else you'll never be happy with it again!

Be happy the thing shoots .5 at 100! Damn nice.

Clean the hell out of it and then see how it shoots. You can always foul it to get the accuracy back. Haha

Zeke

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Do NOT scope the bore of your factory rifle barrel or else you'll never be happy with it again!

Be happy the thing shoots .5 at 100! Damn nice.

Clean the hell out of it and then see how it shoots. You can always foul it to get the accuracy back. Haha

Zeke

Why?

I have rifles that have barrels looking like an elephant skin.

Still shoot very well.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Do NOT scope the bore of your factory rifle barrel or else you'll never be happy with it again!

Be happy the thing shoots .5 at 100! Damn nice.

Clean the hell out of it and then see how it shoots. You can always foul it to get the accuracy back. Haha

Zeke

Why?

I have rifles that have barrels looking like an elephant skin.

Still shoot very well.

Because most guys who see the elephant skin look or dry lake bed will be horrified and never feel right about it again even though it shoots well.

Therefore I stand by my statement that most guys should never scope the bore on a factory rifle lest they want to be horrified.

As my friend Randy Brooks previous owner of from Barnes Bullets once said to me, "It's amazing how well a factory $2 barrel can shoot".

Zeke

Zeke

Been using Ed’s Red for many years as I shoot primarily cast bullets. Only exception is my 222, 6mm Remington and my Garand and Carbine. It’s a great general purpose cleaner. Just last week I had to mix up another quart of the stuff.

Like many have said though… it’s not good for copper fouling.