Copper??

P

pyscodog

Active member
Just how much does a copper fouled barrel effect accuracy?


I know it has an effect but how much? I bought a Sako Forester in 243 a while back and admit, I didn't give it a good deep cleaning when I got it home. Just a few wet patch's and called it good. Long story short, accuracy is bad, meaning well over an inch with everything I have tried.It seems a little long in the throat and haven't ruled out that it may be time for a new barrel but tonite I started cleaning and got a LOT of blue patch's. I patched then brushed for about an hour and finally started getting patch's with just a hint of blue. Might be from my Dewey jags but its a bunch better. One more trip to the range to see if it made a difference and if not I'll start looking for a barrel.
 
You won't know if it is clean, until you scope it. But it isn't uncommon for over bore cartridges to find new owners when barrel life is near the end. Did you hear about the dumpster find?
 
what was said above . Scope it .
also might get lucky .. look for a bad 'carbon ring' that might have built-up . those things are as hard as diamonds, normal cleaning routine wont deter them. can be right there at the end of case mouth area. if bad enough it will open up group size.
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Yeah it definitely doesn't help to be copper fouled lol. But, the problem is probably that it's copper fouled because the throat is alligator hide, burnt out. 243's are easy to cook and don't have that long of a lifespan ime. I agree, scope it. Bore cams are cheap enough now anyone with more than 2 guns should have one imo.

If so, and even if not burnt out, I have had some success with the Tubbs final finish bullets reducing fouling significantly.
 
I bought the rifle used. Just not sure exactly how used. I gave it a good deep cleaning last night and have a few rounds to try. I've about come to the conclusion if it needs a barrel to get a new premium barrel and not waste money on my used barrel even though it shot pretty good before I pulled it.
 
I shoot the Barnes 80 gr TTSX bullet in my 243 and have not had any problems with accuracy from copper fouling. I am not shooting hundreds and hundreds of rounds out of it though. I keep it clean but am not over obsessive about it. A little copper, especially on a factory new barrel, can be good for it as it will fill in very small imperfections in the lands and grooves.
It sounds like you may have ended up with a shot out barrel if it is that innacurate as the 243 is easy to load for and an accurate.
 
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