Thread: Cupronickel bullets and barrel fouling

Originally Posted by Old_School

Well thats just it, its not an alloy, its two layers with a copper jacket nickel plated over the top it seems, i will get a photo later to show you what I mean, I may as well polish it all off in the tumbler if its indeed as bad as what everyone is saying.
It was around 1943 that they stopped making the stuff and switched to copper. Ive got some rounds made that year that have both types.

I have some I know what they look like. Putting it through your tumbler is not going to be helpful, the jackets are made that way for a reason. The fouling left in the bore from shooting cupro-nickel bulelts is still nearly pure copper.
Just dont shoot them too fast.

To clean copper fouling you need to use ammonia.

Originally Posted by John Duxbury

I have some I know what they look like. Putting it through your tumbler is not going to be helpful, the jackets are made that way for a reason. The fouling left in the bore from shooting cupro-nickel bulelts is still nearly pure copper.
Just dont shoot them too fast.

To clean copper fouling you need to use ammonia.

So in theory the copper residue should not be any worse with these then?
From what I understand, cupronickel is an alloy of copper and nickel(anywhere between 60-90%), just like what our old silver coins were made from.
I filed a bullet down this evening and it was still shiny nickel all the way through but the others ive polished are starting to show copper at the base which indicates they are plated, I had one that had the nose filed off and had exposed the copper.

It seems like some are 100% cupronickel all the way through and others are plated over copper from what ive seen, most of my stuff was early 1940s before they switched to copper. I have some 1920s and 1930s stuff here too, im presuming the plated rounds are the later type.

Does ammonia attack the steel at all? I will give it a go soaking the bore in the stuff and see what comes out.

They are not 'nickel' all the way through. They are worse for copper fouling, which is why they changed the alloy, but I doubt you have enough to make any difference. Dont worry about it, just shoot them. There is no shortage of .303's in the world anyway.

Yes it does, leave it overnight in the bore and wash it out.

Originally Posted by John Duxbury

They are not 'nickel' all the way through. They are worse for copper fouling, which is why they changed the alloy, but I doubt you have enough to make any difference. Dont worry about it, just shoot them. There is no shortage of .303's in the world anyway.

Yes it does, leave it overnight in the bore and wash it out.

My apologies here, ive just discovered what I thought appeared to be plating is intact something to do with the citric acid in my tumbler brining out the copped colour it appears, I went over the copper with some autosol polish and it brings it back to the shiny nickel colour.
It seems to show up more at the base of the rounds and where cuts have been made for some reason but taking a file to it makes it go away.

Anyhow, ive got a few spare 303 barrels, but want to look after this one.

If you have spare barrels, then as a .303 fanatic, you are a wealthy man. I know a madman who has 17,000 rounds of greek .303 ball in his garage. (Yes, decimal in the right place) Seen it with my own eyes.

Originally Posted by Old_School

I get the feeling this is a typical sight to see on most 303 rifles. Its probably also an indicator how well it was looked after in the days of corrosive ammo.
I know that corrosion can continue with layers of fouling trapping the salts in the pores of the steel, so is probably good to give this thing a decent clean once and for all, whatever damage is likely done, but that being said, it has a very tight bore for a 303, shoots pretty accurate and im getting tight 1 inch groupings at 50m.
I see a product talked about alot called collings no 90 barrel solvent, seems to have good reviews, do you know alot about that?
Presuming i get back to a nice clean bore, going forward, how many patches should it take to clean it out after a days shoot at the range of say 40-50 rounds?
I think it will be good to get a gunsmith to check it out at some stage with a bore scope too. I have a few spare barrels too that I should get cleaned and checked over.



That looks an interesting trick, might be worth a shot, excuse the pun!
I wonder how well that would work in an old shotgun of mine with a pitted bore?

The Collings solvent was a knock off of the no 9 so is similar to hoppes. The bore tec stuff works great
Or pure ammonia but it eats steel after a while if left in for prolonged periods. Clean with no9/Collings again to neutralise

True. The formula for Hoppes #9 was well known. I think it was kerosene, methyl - ethyl ketone and another ketone thats what give itis the fruity banana- like smell. Collings 90 comes in a much bigger tin.

Originally Posted by John Duxbury

If you have spare barrels, then as a .303 fanatic, you are a wealthy man. I know a madman who has 17,000 rounds of greek .303 ball in his garage. (Yes, decimal in the right place) Seen it with my own eyes.

Yes I expect so, turns out barrels are fairly easy to find at gun shows for cheap. I got a nice lithgow barrel for $50 and found 2 more for 20 bucks each. The lithgow barrel is the one im currently using and measures tight, my mates smallest bore gauge did not fit from his set, so it must be good. If im getting 1 inch groupings with this in the condition its in, then im hoping i can even get it better.

Originally Posted by omark

The Collings solvent was a knock off of the no 9 so is similar to hoppes. The bore tec stuff works great
Or pure ammonia but it eats steel after a while if left in for prolonged periods. Clean with no9/Collings again to neutralise

Interseting to hear that, lots of people talk about bore tec too. KG-12 is one that many seem to be recommending at the moment alot too.
I overheard some talking about hoppes no9 at a gun show, reckoned the original formula was the best but they stopped making it because it was highly toxic and had chemicals in it that caused cancer, all I know is i cant stand the smell of the stuff and the fella in our store told me that they even sell a car air freshener that smells like the stuff!

Funny that about the Collings 90.
A very good guy at restoring firearms stocks and sadly deceased told me that the collings was very good and better thahln the old no9. Rated it highly so I bought some. Just don't do enough shooting to get a comparison

Originally Posted by csmiffy

Funny that about the Collings 90.
A very good guy at restoring firearms stocks and sadly deceased told me that the collings was very good and better thahln the old no9. Rated it highly so I bought some. Just don't do enough shooting to get a comparison

Yeah and its durt cheap compared to many of these other products too.
I wonder if its ammonia based?

Cupro nickel can’t be too bad, Norma still use it for the jackets of their Plastic Point projectiles.


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Originally Posted by Dicko

Cupro nickel can’t be too bad, Norma still use it for the jackets of their Plastic Point projectiles.


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Wow, I didnt think anyone was still producing it, its possible that they have tweaked the alloy mixture to improve it i guess.

Originally Posted by Old_School

Yeah and its durt cheap compared to many of these other products too.
I wonder if its ammonia based?

No not ammonia based. It’s predominantly odourless kerosene and other”stuff”. The original hoppes did have some nasties like toluene and nitro benzine in it. The new stuff works better than the old stuff. I had a big jar of the old stuff (80s vintage) and tested it on Omark bores which had jacket fouling and the new stuff had more grunt. The old stuff definitely smells better though…
I purposefully spill a few drops of the old stuff from time to time along with Rangoon oil…and young’s… just love the smell. Reminds me of old rifle shooters and bygone days…

Originally Posted by John Duxbury

If you have spare barrels, then as a .303 fanatic, you are a wealthy man. I know a madman who has 17,000 rounds of greek .303 ball in his garage. (Yes, decimal in the right place) Seen it with my own eyes.

I'd hate to be the one doing the shake and pull test on 17,000 rounds of HXP. he'd end up with a lot of powder and projectiles though. and a lot of garden fertilizer from clumped together powder!

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

I'd hate to be the one doing the shake and pull test on 17,000 rounds of HXP. he'd end up with a lot of powder and projectiles though. and a lot of garden fertilizer from clumped together powder!

Hi might be very lucky and have the early stuff that didn’t needed to go through the concrete mixer !!!