I'm looking at another rifle for sale that the owner says he can not get it to shoot with any accuracy at all. He's said that it shot good when he first got it so I'm I suspecting its copper fouling because of the caliber of gun, .300wsm. He let me take a couple of shots and I couldn't get it to shoot consistently. It would shoot a shot and hit one place and the next could be 5-6 inches in a different spot but I just wonder if fouling could cause that much of a difference. The crown looks good and I checked all of the obvious stuff but he claims he's cleaned the barrel but the only cleaning items that I saw was a Bore Snake. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Just how much does copper fouling affect accuracy?
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I'm with you on thinking it's the copper fouling. He said it was a shooter when he first got it, I would go for it. If you do buy it I would take the scope and mounts off and remount so you know it's done correct & everything is tight there. If all he is using is a bore snake to clean it with, I bet the bank that it's copper fouling.
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I just finished cleaning a rifle for a friend that had the same story. "It had hole touching groups then it startede shooting all over the target". It was a .300Win Mag. The bullet is laying down copper into the grooves at 32 tons of pressure. It does affect accuracy. I wore out 5 stn stl brushes over 4 days scrubbing it with Barnes copper remover. It looked like blue/green syrup dripping out the barrel, but with persistance I finally got it clean. He now cleans after 10 shots and has no trouble shooting hole touching groups at 100 yds.
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So many issues come into play, the load,trigger,scope & mounting, the shooter, and bedding issues etc.. Not to rip on your friend but some shooters have more trouble than others. I start with a clean gun,good trigger, & load & adequate scope. I also want total control of the grouping at 50 yards or so before going further. I see guys start at 100 & they never have any consistent group to adjust from.
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I do not know if this helps control copper fouling but it does keep the 1st shot accuracy on a clean barrel. I had a benchrest shooter clean the barrel of my 6.8 Rem SPC because I had left my cleaning rod at home. After cleaning the bore he ran a patch soaked in Loc Tite Lubricating Oil (Blue Container available at Advance Auto) down the barrel. When I questioned him about it he asked, "Do you run your car without oil?" He went on to advise the graphite does something and I can attest that my first shot on a clean barrel hit exactly where my 2nd and 3rd hit.
I would clean that barrel really good and try to clean it after every range session if you do buy it.
I would clean that barrel really good and try to clean it after every range session if you do buy it.
Copper fouling can and will effect accuracy. Extreme copper fouling can ruin a barrel. This is way it is reccomended to "break in" a new barrel.
Picture this. Every time a bullet (copper clad or solid) is fired, a minute amount of copper is left behind. Each shot afterwards leaves more copper. At some point, the copper build up becomes excessive and instead of leaving copper behind, it is now removing copper,,,,, and a microscopic piece of the lands(rifling) go with it. To many pieces of the lands being removed is whats refered to as a "shot out" barrel. Constantly firing shots from a HOT copper fouled barrel is sending it to an early grave.
I have taken many guns that people say will not shoot well anymore and copper stripped them. Accuracy returned if the barrel has not already been shot out.
The purpose of breaking in a new barrel is to "slowly" smooth the bore in an effort to minimize copper fouling. Lapping the bore is one method of breaking in. Fire lapping is another. The end results is to have a barrel that will allow more shots to be fired before it copper fouls.
There is a product called WipeOut that will remove even the worst copper fouling with little to no effort. Its like a shaving cream that is injected into the barrel and left for an hour or so to do its thing. Extreme fouling may require 2 treatments.
IMO, This is the best copper remover on the market.
HTH
Picture this. Every time a bullet (copper clad or solid) is fired, a minute amount of copper is left behind. Each shot afterwards leaves more copper. At some point, the copper build up becomes excessive and instead of leaving copper behind, it is now removing copper,,,,, and a microscopic piece of the lands(rifling) go with it. To many pieces of the lands being removed is whats refered to as a "shot out" barrel. Constantly firing shots from a HOT copper fouled barrel is sending it to an early grave.
I have taken many guns that people say will not shoot well anymore and copper stripped them. Accuracy returned if the barrel has not already been shot out.
The purpose of breaking in a new barrel is to "slowly" smooth the bore in an effort to minimize copper fouling. Lapping the bore is one method of breaking in. Fire lapping is another. The end results is to have a barrel that will allow more shots to be fired before it copper fouls.
There is a product called WipeOut that will remove even the worst copper fouling with little to no effort. Its like a shaving cream that is injected into the barrel and left for an hour or so to do its thing. Extreme fouling may require 2 treatments.
IMO, This is the best copper remover on the market.
HTH
funman said:
Somebody needs to share some wisdom. Centerfire rifle barrels don't really need to be cleaned but maybe once a year. In fact a clean barrel won't shoot worth a hoot. Old wives tales prevail amongst most shooters that's why they can't figure out what's wrong with their rifles.
