Thread: What Copper Bullet Fouling, looks like

What a let down with that Barret POS barrel ! I never break a barrel in -ever -and only clean the carbon out after a hundred or so rounds .Unless it affects accuracy badly I dont bother and a premium barrel from True Flight shouldnt need any "breaking in" as it has been lapped already -or should have been

Originally Posted by el borracho

What a let down with that Barret POS barrel ! I never break a barrel in -ever -and only clean the carbon out after a hundred or so rounds .Unless it affects accuracy badly I dont bother and a premium barrel from True Flight shouldnt need any "breaking in" as it has been lapped already -or should have been

Yes it was a major PITA cost me heaps to bring it in.......Bloody cool rifle though much nicer than a TRG, IMHO.....owes me about the same now

It isn't the barrel that causes most of the fouling but the chamber cutting & doesn't take many rounds to clear it.... normally

G'Day Fella's,

Vietnamcam, the only solvent I used on this barrel, was Hoppes #9 Copper Solvent!
I would shoot a shot (or later on, 2x or 3x or 5x) into my bullet trap, then put the rifle in the cleaning cradle.
I then put a patch wet with the above Hoppes thru the barrel and leave it sit for 10ish minutes, and go and do some reloading etc.
I then pushed a couple more patches, wet with Hoppes thru the barrel to remove any loose fouling and then look into the bore for signs of copper fouling.
I would then push a .45 cal bronze brush, wet with Hoppes thru the barrel for 10 strokes each way and leave it sit for another 10ish minutes.
I would do this until ALL of the copper was removed, then dry the bore and chamber with several clean dry patches, and fire another shot/shots etc etc etc.

It is very convenient to be able to do this, next to your reloading bench. As you can also work up a Maximum Safe Working Load, at the same time!
Hope that helps

Doh!
Homer

G'Day again,

Here is an image of the same rifle and part of a Ladder Test of loads I tried.
As you can see, the rifle shoots OK at 50meters.
It wasn't the best time of day to be shootin but that's another story!
As the load went up in powder charge, the rifle started to shoot left and then lower.
I got up to 26grains of ADI AR-2205 with a 300 grain bullet, at just under 1600fps.
I need to get some LP Magnum primers, and see if I can make it to 1700fps, safely?

Doh!
Homer

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Yes it was a major PITA cost me heaps to bring it in.......Bloody cool rifle though much nicer than a TRG, IMHO.....owes me about the same now

It isn't the barrel that causes most of the fouling but the chamber cutting & doesn't take many rounds to clear it.... normally

What do you mean by that Greg?

Originally Posted by R93

What do you mean by that Greg?

I have been told that with a "good" barrel, lapped, Ultra match etc, the chamber edge is where the majority of the copper fouling comes from.

The little burr left by cutting plasmaises the copper as the bullet goes past spreading it down the barrel.

There is another theory that a really really smooth barrel is possibly not desirable either.

It is like "running in" a barrel, some people swear by it, some swear at it

kero, rag, 3000micron diamond lapping paste and ten minutes work to remove all the sharp edges. It's the hand held version of lead lapping but taking twice as long.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

I have been told that with a "good" barrel, lapped, Ultra match etc, the chamber edge is where the majority of the copper fouling comes from.

The little burr left by cutting plasmaises the copper as the bullet goes past spreading it down the barrel.

There is another theory that a really really smooth barrel is possibly not desirable either.

It is like "running in" a barrel, some people swear by it, some swear at it

Not sure I get that reason Greg. Where is the burr? You would think it would have to be in the throat area to have any influence. If it is the cause in some cases, I have seen some pretty even coppering right to the muzzle after one shot.

Originally Posted by R93

Not sure I get that reason Greg. Where is the burr? You would think it would have to be in the throat area to have any influence. If it is the cause in some cases, I have seen some pretty even coppering right to the muzzle after one shot.

Where the reamer cuts the throat or lead etc apparently.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Where the reamer cuts the throat or lead etc apparently.

You would think lapping would get rid of it eh? Cheers Greg. Must have a look at a few barrels with a scope to see if its obvious.

If your doing that look at hammer forged, button and cut rifled barrels, you'll note different finishes and why some are more prone to fouling then others. Quality of a reamed chamber comes down to the skill and care of the operater, guilty as charged on that one, being in a hurry, not enough cutting fluid, swarf scoring the lands in front of the cutters the list goes on!

Originally Posted by Walker

If your doing that look at hammer forged, button and cut rifled barrels, you'll note different finishes and why some are more prone to fouling then others. Quality of a reamed chamber comes down to the skill and care of the operater, guilty as charged on that one, being in a hurry, not enough cutting fluid, swarf scoring the lands in front of the cutters the list goes on!

Ive scoped a few barrels over the years Walker and the only hammer forged ones I have seen are military ones that are chrome lined. Who makes them for the hunting/shooting scene? Yep swarf is the enemy alright. I would like to see a shoulder without some form of chatter/scoring as well.
I had a decent bore scope I perked but dropped the bugger while still in a barrel and buggered it. Went to price a new one. Farkin dear! Ill just trust the barrel makers I think

Originally Posted by R93

You would think lapping would get rid of it eh? Cheers Greg. Must have a look at a few barrels with a scope to see if its obvious.

The chamber is generally cut after it is lapped, ie fitting & chambering an after market barrel ?

True, but a good plumber should always give it another tickle up after any machining. Not aggresively but I always did it to remove/smooth out any chatter or small burrs.
I still do it on any new rebarrels done for me if they look like they need it.

Ruger, remmington,sako and tikka are all hammer forged including the chamber I think ruger have got a video of the process being done.