Rifle Barrel Copper Fouling:
A rifle gets its name from the presence of spiral lands and grooves in the bore called “rifling.” The bullet is forced into the rifling when the cartridge is fired which engrave in and spin the bullet, thereby increasing the rifle’s projectile range and accuracy.
Once you have fired a round through the barrel it will begin filling the bore with copper and powder fouling, after 5 – 10 rounds through the average hunting rifle, accuracy will start to deteriorate.
Between 10 – 20 rounds enough copper and powder fouling has accumulated in the lands and grooves of the bore to change its true bore diameter. It is at this point where bullets are barely being gripped by the rifling and accuracy is a total failure. Believe it or not the average centerfire hunting rifle you buy today is very capable of extreme accuracy when shot in and cleaned correctly to help reduce barrel fouling.
You may be sitting there reading this thinking your rifle is shot in and the bore is clean, unless you have used a good, strong, copper solvent, such as “Sweets” in the bore I can assure you that neither are true.
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Barrel Break In:
You may have heard the term of a barrel being shot in and it took x amount of rounds to do so. Well, correctly, it would be called barrel break-in, of which all rifles need from the time they are purchased and which almost all are never done correctly.
The reason you need to break in a barrel is to help smooth out or burnish the bore which slows the accuracy robbing fouling process.
To properly break in a barrel for top notch accuracy whether the gun is new or used is this —
1. 20 rounds of ammunition,
2. Copper solvent,
3. Powder solvent,
4. Cleaning kit.
Procedure:
Make sure that the barrel is clean and fire one round, now clean the bore using your copper and powder solvents until the bore is perfectly clean again, repeat this exact process for twenty rounds.
The roughest part of the bore will accumulate copper after only one round any more rounds than one and your only adding copper on top of copper so it is important not to shortcut this process.
At the end of this process your rifle bore will finally be broken in correctly.
Note: It is not uncommon for a cold, clean, hunting rifle after this process has been followed precisely with the right ammunition to shoot one ragged hole 3 – 5 shot groups at 100 yards.
Proper Rifle Barrel Cleaning:
To properly clean your rifle barrel you have to remember that one of the most critical areas is the chamber itself as it aligns the cartridge with the bore. Any dirt left in the chamber area and accuracy will suffer.
1. The first pass with a dry bore brush through the bore needs to be from the breech or chamber end to the muzzle end to remove loose powder and carbon pieces.
A. Hoppe’s Boresnake Bore Brush has bronze bristles embedded in cord to loosen hard deposits. First floss area removes foreign particles prior to the scrubbing action of the brush. Ideal for quick cleans, cleaning in the field and cleaning from the breech end.
2. The second pass is to apply powder solvent or solvent that comes with most cleaning kits to the bore.
A. At this point take a paper towel and make a plug with it and plug the chamber this stops the solvents from getting into the action.
B. With your cleaning rod attach the slotted end to it and a patch saturated in solvent and fully coat the bore working from the muzzle end, as you are not applying any pressure no damage will be done to the crown of the muzzle. Allow the solvent to work approximately 5 minutes.
3. With the muzzle pointed down toward the ground or floor remove the paper towel plug from the chamber carefully. Now pull your dry Boresnake through the bore at least 3 times working from the breech end towards the muzzle.
4. This pass is to apply copper solvent to the bore.
A. At this point take a paper towel and make a plug with it and plug the chamber this stops the solvent from getting into the action.
B. With your cleaning rod attach the slotted end to it and a patch saturated in solvent and fully coat the bore working from the muzzle end, as you are not applying any pressure no damage will be done to the crown of the muzzle. Allow the solvent to work approximately 5 minutes.
5. With the muzzle pointed down toward the ground or floor remove the paper towel plug from the chamber carefully. Now pull your dry Boresnake through the bore at least 5 times working from the breech end towards the muzzle.
6. This step is critical so extreme care must be taken. Attach the patch jag to your cleaning rod, apply patch or patches so that you have a snug fit in the bore, apply 2 – 3 drops of copper solvent to the patch, working from the muzzle end slowly push the patch through the bore from the muzzle to the chamber end. You are now exerting pressure on the rod so be careful as not to allow the cleaning rod to contact the crown of the muzzle. Once the patch is through examine it for any color or dirt from green blue which is copper or black which is powder fouling.
If no dirt is present proceed to 7, if dirt is present repeat steps 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
7. This step is critical as well so extreme care must be taken. Attach the patch jag to your cleaning rod, apply dry patch or patches so that you have a snug fit in the bore, working from the muzzle end slowly push the dry patch through the bore from the muzzle to the chamber end. You are now exerting pressure on the rod so be careful as not to allow the cleaning rod to contact the crown of the muzzle. Once the patch is through examine it for any color or dirt from green blue which is copper or black which is powder fouling.
If no dirt is present continue shooting or if your done shooting apply a light coat of oil to the bore and chamber area.
Note: Always remember before your next range outing or hunting trip to completely remove the oil from the bore and chamber area.
