All copper

[Zen Archery]

Pondering the last time I cleaned any rifle

 

[Rick Richard]

I see no difference in powder fouling regardless of the projectile metal. I believe it has more to do with the barrel than the burn.

 

[memtb]

Pondering the last time I cleaned any rifle

I'm much the same as you…..though I don't shoot nearly as much as some (most) of these guys!

I did "break-down" and give mine a good cleaning this summer…..I needed to develop a new load, and thought that it would be prudent to give her a good "scrubbing"! memtb

 

[MagMan]

This! Also, barrel design/groove configuration.

View attachment 492894
(https://riflebarrels.com/support/faq/#3groove)

I have a couple of Lilja 3G barrels, and they hardly foul.

The only three groove I've owned was the toughest barrel to get broke. Solid copper all the way down. 10 good scrubbings later and it hardly built up.

 

[andy smith]

andy, something else to consider, in relation to the rifle barrel!

I mentioned a good slick, smooth barrel! I started using Barnes around '93, even then they already had a reputation for fouling……I had zero issues, however I was running a match grade barrel.

Several folks, including my wife, had fouling issues! After a good hand lapping of their barrels significantly decreased the fouling while significantly improving accuracy.

While the early mono's had issues, possibly design and specific metallurgy…..having a good smooth barrel helped mitigate those issues! IMO. memtb

Thanks for the info. I'm using proof barrels now an I think they are pretty smooth.

 

[BigDon]

Copper fouling is real and is still a thing, if you shoot a lot. It will effect your accuracy. However if you clean every 50 or rounds, you should have no problems. My 7RM started having group issues at about 70rds and the Copper was very hard to remove. Since then I clean after every shooting. It took about 5 hrs of cleaning to get all the Copper out of 70 shots with hoppes copper solvent. Your barrel may vary.

Why don't you let us know who's copper bullets you're using. Thx - BigDon

 

[victor3ranger]

Pondering the last time I cleaned any rifle

You might be related to me

 

[victor3ranger]

I'm much the same as you…..though I don't shoot nearly as much as some (most) of these guys!

I did "break-down" and give mine a good cleaning this summer…..I needed to develop a new load, and thought that it would be prudent to give her a good "scrubbing"! memtb

yup

 

[Phil Rizzo]

So we're talking about copper fouling but powder fouling is still an issue for me. How often do y'all think you need to clean due to powder fouling?

Some powders are famous for burning relatively clean. Some are downright nasty. After you are broken in and smoothed up I'd let the barrel tell me when it's ready for a scrub. And when you see accuracy fall off and/or velocity spike you've let it go a bit too far.
Keep track of shots fired and schedule accordingly. Good luck with it.

 

[ButterBean]

Copper fouling is real and is still a thing, if you shoot a lot. It will effect your accuracy. However if you clean every 50 or rounds, you should have no problems. My 7RM started having group issues at about 70rds and the Copper was very hard to remove. Since then I clean after every shooting. It took about 5 hrs of cleaning to get all the Copper out of 70 shots with hoppes copper solvent. Your barrel may vary.

It is with most copper solids but Hammer's foul very little at all