I'm primarily a shotgun shooter, so I'll claim that as an excuse.
I have a Ruger American in .223. Nice scope on it and a aftermarket 1.5 pound trigger I put in it. It was (was) a 1 MOA rifle with the proper factory match ammo, with maybe 400 rounds through it at this point. It started to open up to a 1-2 MOA rifle with the same ammo. Reading around I see that copper fouling can be a major cause of rifle inaccuracy over time. I would see a hint of green on the patches when I cleaned that rifle, so I thought that couldn't be an issue. Since I started shooting in the late 80's, I always used good 'ol Hoppes No. 9. Back then, that was it. I see there are other products out there meant to clear out any copper. Some are ammonia based, which I was not interested in using. I see that there are other non-ammonia products out there like Boretech Eliminator. I got hold of some and the pic below is the second patch that went through the bore. Needless to say I was a bit shocked. Later patches were even darker in color. I believe my bore was very copper-fouled from the looks of these patches. I can't wait to get the rifle back to the range to see if there is any improvement.
Do you guys normally shooting rifles use these copper-cleaning products? Surprised there is not more concern out there, as so much of what you read just says to use a CLP or Hoppes to clean your bores.
I have a Ruger American in .223. Nice scope on it and a aftermarket 1.5 pound trigger I put in it. It was (was) a 1 MOA rifle with the proper factory match ammo, with maybe 400 rounds through it at this point. It started to open up to a 1-2 MOA rifle with the same ammo. Reading around I see that copper fouling can be a major cause of rifle inaccuracy over time. I would see a hint of green on the patches when I cleaned that rifle, so I thought that couldn't be an issue. Since I started shooting in the late 80's, I always used good 'ol Hoppes No. 9. Back then, that was it. I see there are other products out there meant to clear out any copper. Some are ammonia based, which I was not interested in using. I see that there are other non-ammonia products out there like Boretech Eliminator. I got hold of some and the pic below is the second patch that went through the bore. Needless to say I was a bit shocked. Later patches were even darker in color. I believe my bore was very copper-fouled from the looks of these patches. I can't wait to get the rifle back to the range to see if there is any improvement.
Do you guys normally shooting rifles use these copper-cleaning products? Surprised there is not more concern out there, as so much of what you read just says to use a CLP or Hoppes to clean your bores.
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