Is a little copper ok? I think it's copper

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boomer92266

Blackhawk
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Jan 21, 2008
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I just bought a new Ruger American in 243 and shot it the other day to set scope. Counting the shots to set the scope plus a 3 shot group, the gun has less than 10 rounds in it. I ran a patch with regular Hoppe's and let it stay in with barrel slightly tilted down to allow some drain. After about an hour I ran another Hoppe patch through and did this over and over about 3 times till no patch had dark residue. I then ran several dry patches that were clean. I then ran a lightly oiled patch with Barricade in the barrel to prevent rust. Although not enough Barricade was in there to drain I still left my barrel tilted slightly just in case. Today it was time to put it in the safe and I noticed at the muzzle some brown spots in the barrel, more in the lands I think they are called than on the grooves. The raised part of the rifling has less brown than the wider lower area inside. Now they are not a lot, just a streak here and there or a spot here and there. Will this hurt anything or do I need to get it out? I didn't use a brush as it has less than 10 rounds through it. Do I need to use a brush? Do I need to use copper solvent and if so do I need t let it set a while. Thanks for any help.
 
I'll just say that this stuff is fantastic, and it won't harm your barrel, like some strong ammonia type copper solvents can, if left in the barrel too long. Been there, done that.

 
Won't hurt a thing, and there is such a thing as overdoing cleaning - of the bore especially. In fact you'll find that accuracy improves as some copper fouling is allowed. It's called bore (or fouling) equilibrium. After a couple hundred rounds your accuracy will plateau and may start to drop off. The precise number of rounds will vary in different barrels and ammo. You should keep track of round count and group sizes to know when it's time to refresh the bore. When it does you can get in there with a brush and solvent to remove most of it, but try to avoid getting all the way back down to the original bare metal.
 
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I commonly leave Hoppes #9 in the bore. Never had a problem. Sometimes I use KROIL on the final patch-again never a problem. As mentioned, I wouldn't leave some of the 'more aggressive' bore solvents in the bore for long periods.
 
I was finally able to get a pic, here it is. I have tried Bench Rest solvent from Hoppe's and no patch has blue or green on it. Do I need something better or is it not copper?
 

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That doesn't look like copper fouling I'd normally expect to see. I'd take a Hoppes soaked patch and let it sit in the spot over night. If it is copper, the patch will turn green(and most likely the 'fouling' will be gone).
Stubborn 'copper' fouling usually hides in the 'corners' of the rifling or imperfections in the bore.
 

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