Copper fouling?

thumper1

thumper1

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I just bought a nib 5R Mil Spec from a shop finally received it today put a scope on it and thought that maybe I should give it a good cleaning tonight before I shoot it tommorow. So I ran some copper and lead solvent though it and low and behold the patch came out as blue as a BB King song. Should there be copper fouling in a brand new rifle could it be from the factory? Or did I receive a slightly used rifle?

Thanks
 
I haven't noticed that with mine when I bought them :confused:

Yours might have been lightly used. Did you buy it from a store or online?
 
You may have gotten one that was test fired at the Factory. My XR-100 purchased from WSS was dirty when I got it home.

There was a thread on this before as well. Some Rem's were coming unfired and some test fired.
 
All US made guns are fired at least twice, cases kept on file with serial number of rifle... If using a copper jag then that may give off blue too.

Always good idea to clean before "first" use, am often amazed at what comes out of them.
 
In all fairness, I've only used regular cleaners and not copper specific ones for brand new rifles. Maybe I should change that practice.
 
On my last visit to a factory, every rifle was fired with a proof round followed by 4 regular rounds to test for mag feeding, extraction and ejection. Each rifle got a quick pass with Hoppes and a dry patch. So, I would expect a new rifle to need a good copper cleaning.

About every 100th rifle is shot a bit more and the rear sight is adjusted to zero the rifle. This is to make sure the iron sight components being installed are capable of being zeroed. That is, to make sure the front sight is not too high or too low.

At another factory, making military rifles, each rifle is test fired on semi and full auto and every rifle is zeroed. After zeroing the rear sight cannot be too close to the end of its adjustment travel.

So, no, it is not unusual for your barrel to be fouled. I know of no new rifles that are delivered, unfired. (Rim fire might be different.)
 
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Remington barrels are crude (like all factory rifles) . If you looked through one with a bore scope, you'd never buy one - that doesn't mean they won't shoot - but they foul like an SOB. There are some that are way better than others, but count on them fouling.

I recently installed a match barrel on another 6BR. I load developed and shot a match before I ever cleaned it and there was NO copper fouling at all.

Go to 6mmbr.com/Lilja_BoreScope_VID.wmv
 
Since this barrel copper fouls, try this test when you go shoot it. DON'T CLEAN IT for at least 20RDS. Keep an eye on accuracy.

You will likely find that best accuracy happens after the barrel is heavily fouled. The fouling fills in the tool marks and actually makes the barrel more consistent. The highs and lows of the bore are evened out.

If this is the case, clean sparingly and don't worry about excavating the copper to bare metal. You will only have to fire a bunch of rds to refoul the bore till it shoots its best anyways.

You will learn how little you need to clean that bore to maintain accuracy.

YES, copper fouling can be so bad that the bore is GREEN the next day. You can see visible streaks of copper in the bore which turns green when it oxidizes.

As long as the holes in paper snuggle up to each other, don't worry about it.

If you want shiney bores that shoot great, get a match pipe. Ian and I will be happy to chat with you on that :)

Jerry
 
My experience with my 5R barrel was that it fouled fairly quick at the beginning. After 20 rounds the accuracy would go. I cleaned it and the accuracy was perfect again. After break in it doesn't seem to foul anywhere near as quick or bad. It just seemed to occur during regular break in. My 5R barrel now takes about half the time or less to clean vs the regular barrels (factory) on my other rifles.

Although I have to say I shoot it sparingly and for groups only. At around $1.80 a round there is no spray and pray going on, or long strings of firing. I generally shoot it at the end of the day and only for a few 5 round groups.
 
Obtunded said:
Remington barrels are crude (like all factory rifles) . If you looked through one with a bore scope, you'd never buy one - that doesn't mean they won't shoot - but they foul like an SOB. There are some that are way better than others, but count on them fouling.

I recently installed a match barrel on another 6BR. I load developed and shot a match before I ever cleaned it and there was NO copper fouling at all.

Go to 6mmbr.com/Lilja_BoreScope_VID.wmv
Click to expand...

On factory barrels I have always had great luck with moly bullets. They seem to fill up the imperfections with moly and shoot not that bad.
 
Obtunded said:
Remington barrels are crude (like all factory rifles) . If you looked through one with a bore scope, you'd never buy one - that doesn't mean they won't shoot - but they foul like an SOB. There are some that are way better than others, but count on them fouling.

I recently installed a match barrel on another 6BR. I load developed and shot a match before I ever cleaned it and there was NO copper fouling at all.

Go to 6mmbr.com/Lilja_BoreScope_VID.wmv
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. I have a factory LTR and also a Rem w/ a Mike Rock 5r M24 Countour 22" barrel. Looking at both through a borescope, the LTR Factory barrel looks like it was cut with serrated blade as opposed to the Rock Barrel, it was crude. I guess that's why there is no comparison between a factory and a custom barrel. For some reason though alot of the Rem's with mass produced factory barrels shoot quite well, although my LTR did not.
 
mysticplayer said:
Since this barrel copper fouls, try this test when you go shoot it. DON'T CLEAN IT for at least 20RDS. Keep an eye on accuracy.

You will likely find that best accuracy happens after the barrel is heavily fouled. The fouling fills in the tool marks and actually makes the barrel more consistent. The highs and lows of the bore are evened out.

If this is the case, clean sparingly and don't worry about excavating the copper to bare metal. You will only have to fire a bunch of rds to refoul the bore till it shoots its best anyways.

You will learn how little you need to clean that bore to maintain accuracy.

YES, copper fouling can be so bad that the bore is GREEN the next day. You can see visible streaks of copper in the bore which turns green when it oxidizes.

As long as the holes in paper snuggle up to each other, don't worry about it.

If you want shiney bores that shoot great, get a match pipe. Ian and I will be happy to chat with you on that :)

Jerry
Click to expand...


I practice the same principles as what Jerry recommends. I don't clean until I notice accuracy starting to go. For my LTR that is around 150-200 rounds. For my Accuracy Int'l I can go as many as 400 and even then all I notice is the 100 yard zero just starts hitting low. As of 2 days ago I was at 280 rounds since the last cleaning and it was still shooting in the 1.5" - 2" range at 500 yards.
 
Field trip? We just finished invtng 30 guys (and gals) to spend a day shooting. many of the will come to our classroom sessions this winter.

Our next "field trip" is to a F Class invitational in Jamaica in February.
 
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