Review: Barnes CR-10 and Foaming Bore Cleaner

Westicle

Westicle

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Ok a quick review....

I have always been hesitant to use a strong ammonia based cleaner but I bought a sako AV LH in .338 Win Mag that had some serious copper fouling, obvious copper on the lands and grooves and just ugly looking with filth.

while first I tried "Wipe Out Brushless Bore Cleaner" says right on the package "disolves Carbon, copper fouling, brass fouling, bronze fouling, black powder fouling and smokeless powder fouling"

directions specify spraying the foaming cleaner into the barrel and waiting for 1 hour for best results.....

while I did that, sprayed the foam in and made a mess as it poured back at me from the muzzle end..... and none was coming out the breach end yet.

waited an hour and ran 2-3 patches thru, the first patch was bright blue and then subsequent patches where less and less..... so I looked down the bore and saw that the situation was not much improved. still obvious signs of copper fouling.

tried it once more..... went and watched TV for an hour and came back and did the same thing, about the same amount came out but upon inspection the bore was still filty.

I gave up... I don;t have all week to clean a gun..... so I do not recommend this product, and frankly Iam not impressed with the foaming aspect because more came back out at me then went down the barrel.

TWO THUMBS DOWN !!!

Well went to the gunstore today and picked up BARNES CR-10 copper remover.... this is an ammonia based remover and is not to be left in the firearm for more then a minute or two..... with total cleaning time with wet patches not to exceed 15 minutes.

ran my first patch thru, came out bright blue..... ran number two thru, same result...... ran another patch thru and scrubbed it up and down while doing it and then ran two dry patches thru.

inspected the bore and it looked good.... but I did the whole process 2 more times and by the end of the second time the wet patches where coming out clean and no sign of copper fouling. ran 2 more dry patches, one patch of hoppes #9 and then another dry patch and one more patch with CLP on it to protect the bore.

after that I got the bore light out and inspected the bore and it is spotless and clean..... took no more then 10 minutes and got rid of ALL the copper buildup in the rifling, which was especially evident at the bore.

TWO THUMBS WAY UP for barnes CR-10.
 
I haven't tried Wipe Out myself and I'm not doubting your results but I think it's the first negative review I've heard about Wipe Out in the whole firearm community from several forums.
 
Obviously, you haven't read my reviews of wipe out.

Me no likey this stuffy. But then I don't like most cleaners from Sweets through to Boreshine.

Many cleaners are geared for smooth barrels and shooters that clean way too often.

If you want a barrel clean, have rough or production barrels and not take a week to do it, Barnes CR10 has been my favorite of the stuff we can get in Canada.

Personally, I use GM top engine cleaner for the powder and Janitorial grade ammonia for the copper.

Dirt cheap and does a great job....FAST.

Jerry
 
Patience Grasshopper!

In a badly fouled barrel Wipout need 24-48 hours to do it's thing. It has taken me a week to clean a barrel using Sweets, so a product that you can apply and forget has it's benefits. Once the barrel is clean - that is after you can fill the bore with foam and let it sit for 24 hours without getting any color from the patches, simply use the product after every shooting session.

If you want to ruin a barrel with pitting just use full powered ammonia!
 
X2 on alot of what Boomer has said.
Fill the barrel with foam from the muzzle end,first plugging the chamber end of course.Go back an hour or two later and top up the barrel with another shot.Leave overnight and patch out.I had a terrrible copper fouling T3 that I started the wipeout treatment with and now use it on all my centerfires.Just keep it off your walnut stocks.RB
 
some of you may have time to take a week to clean a gun barrel.... me I want it clean after shooting incase I get called out to work and will be gone for 2-3 weeks.

either way, foaming bore cleaner is not for me... to slow, to messy and really my time is not worth 2-3 days waiting to clean a gun.

CR-10 does it in 10-15 minutes and the results are the same.... why bother with a 3 day cleaning.
 
You can leave wipout in a bore indefinately if you wantt to, because it will nnot attackk the steel.
it is not that bad once you get onto it, eveen I can use it!

CR10 does work howeever, but i have found wwith good quality barrels that I don't have to clean copper nearr as much as some would think.
I also use the spray stuff that Mystic does for cleaning fouling, only my chhoice is Amzoil. ( only because i have it!) I started with Mercury Quicksilver power tune about 10 years ago, and have never looked back!

Tis type of cleaner is so good thhat if you have heavy powder fouling underneath the copper, it will get right into it and the patches come out blue!
It will not reemove copper on its own however....
Cat
 
Well, the warning about leaving conc ammonia in a barrel is a good one. The stronger the stuff, the less time you leave it in the bore - to me that is a very very good thing.

Read the instructions to determine the effectiveness of any commercial cleaner. Any cleaner that is 'safe' to leave overnight or should sit for a few minutes to one hour, forget it. Not strong enough and probably will not work effectively on really rough bores.

I use the most conc stuff I can get. I wipe it in. Wipe out the copper. No waiting. No damage can come to the bore if the ammonia is not allowed to sit longer then it is designed for. There are cleaners that want, require you to let sit. This stuff has very low conc of ammonia. Too low to be of interest.

If I have a really tough fouling barrel, I use the very stiff black nylon brushes from Kleenbore. A few strokes with a soaked and wet bore and voila, fouling all gone. Wipe it out with a few dry patches, then with one or two wet ones just to make sure all is well, dry again, oil if needed (hoppes works just fine). All done.

For me, time is so limited that I will not spend hours or days cleaning. Would rather spend that time building rifles or reloading. Cleaning bores is not a highlight for me in this hobby.

Plus, I do have a few rifles that foul badly enough that I need to clean while at the range. If I use anything but what I use, I just can't fit in any more shooting.

Spray stuff doesn't work so well with muzzle brakes or ports. Really don't think the foam can migrate down 35" of barrel and the amount I would need to do several cleanings would get really expensive in cans of foam.

Yes, it can work and does work, but not the method that floats my boat.

I prefer the stinky stuff used quickly.

Jerry
 
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Like Jerry, I have used 12.5% ammonia from our local janitorial supply company. Label on the jug says Precision Chemical Manufacturing, Edmonton (403) 484-5641. First tried it when there was no CR10 in town. Had read about using it, both here and at The Campfire.

I have used it for a few years now and never had a problem. It gets copper fouling out quickly and two dry patches leaves the bore squeeky clean. Finish up with a patch soaked in Kroil, followed by another two dry patches, then one more Kroil and she's done.

Never had a problem with a bore being damaged.

Ted
 
now see I doubt if I will ever have enough need to go the janitor supply route.... once clean my guns stay clean and get cleaned after every range session.... at least the bores get mopped with hoppes #9 and clr a few times to get the grime out.

the little bottle of cr-10 will last me years....
 
I'll stick with the Wipeout. I spray it in the barrel when I get home, patch it out the next morning and I'm good to go, and I don't have to spend a whole night pushing patches through the bore. Two patches the barrel is clean and ready to use - my Kroil will last a long time now. I can't see putting strong ammonia in my $500.00 barrels - now I've got fewer but better guns.

One way to reduce the mess is to spray the Wipeout into the muzzle with the bolt closed. Just a quick shot and hold it in place for a moment until you see it come out of the gas relief hole at the bolt face - don't use the straw.

I did the commercial ammonia route years ago when I had an M-17 with a rough throat, that took forever to clean. While I could clean up the barrel in a night or two it was labour intensive and meant that I had to push patches through the barrel instead of reloading ammo. This process used up lots of patches too, and until I figured out that I had to rinse the jags in kerosene the ammonia was hard on the jags too. I'm always looking for a better way of doing things, but in my experience ammonia ain't better and wasted lots of time.
 
I'm a Wipeout covert. I use a tube to squirt it into the barrel from the breech end. I stick the tube right into the neck (I use different size tubes for different calibers) and give it a squirt. Once it starts coming out the bore I put my finger over the muzzle and wait until it stops making hissing noises against my finger. Pull the tube out and leave it be. Voila. Leave it overnight and patch it out. Clean rifle. Just set the rifle level before you get started and it'll work like a hot damn.
 
Yep, I understand. Only reason I tried it was there was no CR10 in town.

I hardly ever need to remove any copper fouling either, so have enough for ten lifetimes. Not just for myself, but for many friends, too. :D

Ted
 
I use both CR-10 and WIPEOUT, the real WIPEOUT, not the other foam chemicals. I also use Ed's Red for general gun cleaning.

Wipeout is simply the best, for my purposes.

I don't really enjoy clenaing bores, so WIPEOUT makes that easy.

There is learning curve to getting the foam where you want it to go,and the right amount, but it isn't difficult to learn.

Once you have your rifle actually *clean* (with no built up fouling) it is easy.

I squirt it in, and go reload ammo or make lunch or chat on CGN and let it sit overnight.

Next morning, all that blue sludge comes out with a coupel of patches.:)

I really dont' knwo what could be easier than that....

CR-10 is god if you want it done fast, but it *is* more effort and actual time spent cleanign your rifle, with the scrubbing etc.

I dont' bother with commercial ammonia or anythign liek that, because I can afford $20-30 over the year on specialized cleaning products.
 
Morning Gatehouse, just got some wipeout at the big gun show. Tried it for the first time. It seems good although my 338 doesn't really get copper in it anyway. I'm a little leary about leaving it in the bore till next shoot, what has your exerience been, do you leave it in or finish with oil/preservative. Mike
 
I got totally tired of running patches through in order to get a proper bore cleaning done.

Soooo.....

I broke down and purchased an Outer's Foul Out electronic bore cleaning system and have never been so happy. I mean it cleans everything out of the barrel. When the green light comes on I remove the rod and wipe off the build up that has now transfered to the rod.

It can get a bit messy if you do not install the plugs tight enough though. Had it happen once when I first got the unit but due to the ease of using it I will never go back to all of that scrubbing that I used to have to do..
 
MTM said:
Morning Gatehouse, just got some wipeout at the big gun show. Tried it for the first time. It seems good although my 338 doesn't really get copper in it anyway. I'm a little leary about leaving it in the bore till next shoot, what has your exerience been, do you leave it in or finish with oil/preservative. Mike
Click to expand...


WIPEOUT says on the bottle that it has some lubrication properties, but it's not oil or rust preventative.

So if you arent' going shooting the next day or 2, you may as well run a bit of an oily patch downt he barrel. I run an oiled patch and then a dry one so there is a teeny bit of lube, but not much. Seems to work okay.:)
 
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