Copper Cleaner Test

[fredhorace77]

I stopped by the local gun shop today and picked up some butch's bore shine. For some reason I thought this stuff was supposed to be fairly good. I applied a coating of solvent on the bullets, waited 10 mins, and applied another coat. Then at 23 mins you can see the results. Looks like I wasted my money on the Butch's and should have just bought another bottle of sweets. Nothing scientific here, just a quick simple test for myself.

23 mins.
Left to Right:
Hoppe's Powder Solvent 9
Hoppe's BR-9
Sweets
Hoppe's 9
Butch's Bore Shine

 

[dkhunt14]

It looks like Butches will work, just take longer. I like Bore Tech cleaner and Carbon cleaner. 50 BMG is fast but smells would wake up the dead. Matt

 

[fredhorace77]

It looks like Butches will work, just take longer. I like Bore Tech cleaner and Carbon cleaner. 50 BMG is fast but smells would wake up the dead. Matt

I think bore tech was the one I was trying to remember while at the shop, and accidently bought Butch's. Like you stated, it would be a good choice for an overnight soak. So maybe not all is lost.

 

[boltman13]

I have known for a long time that Butches is not as aggressive at clearing copper fowling as Sweets or Montana Copper Killer, but the fumes from those two can be bad in a confined space and leaving them in the bore for too long can cause major problems. Butches also really clears up carbon on my rifles and my match barrels have more carbon than copper fowling.

 

[fredhorace77]

I have known for a long time that Butches is not as aggressive at clearing copper fowling as Sweets or Montana Copper Killer, but the fumes from those two can be bad in a confined space and leaving them in the bore for too long can cause major problems. Butches also really clears up carbon on my rifles and my match barrels have more carbon than copper fowling.

Good to know, thank you. I was hoping for something more aggressive and faster acting than Sweets. Honestly I just took a chance on Butch's, not really researching it before I purchased it. Sweets has always been my go to, and I honestly don't clean that often. I'm more of a hunter rather than comp shooter. I hate cleaning and would rather spend my time here learning

 

[bdale]

Good to know, thank you. I was hoping for something more aggressive and faster acting than Sweets. Honestly I just took a chance on Butch's, not really researching it before I purchased it. Sweets has always been my go to, and I honestly don't clean that often. I'm more of a hunter rather than comp shooter. I hate cleaning and would rather spend my time here learning

KG12

 

[eric n]

The last 2 bottles of butches I had didn't work as well as I remember.
Anyone else see this or is it my imagination?

 

[fredhorace77]

The last 2 bottles of butches I had didn't work as well as I remember.
Anyone else see this or is it my imagination?

That's interesting . I thought for sure it would be very aggressive. It came in a carton that was locked up tighter than Fort Knox, you would have thought I was buying 100% hydrochloric acid

 

[bdale]

That's interesting . I thought for sure it would be very aggressive. It came in a carton that was locked up tighter than Fort Knox, you would have thought I was buying 100% hydrochloric acid

http://www.eabco.com/KG12Test.pdf

 

[Milo 2.0]

Way to buy the big bottle, lol

 

[fredhorace77]

Way to buy the big bottle, lol

LOL, Exactly....

 

[Acyr]

KG12

^^^
This.

 

[LHSmith]

There has been several more regulated tests on bore cleaners that have been published in the last few years. I don't have the links handy at the moment, but IIRC in one independent test about 50 solvents were tested by immersing jacketed bullets in the solvents over a set time period and before and after weights recorded. KG-12 and Montana Exteme scored best, BBS did well, Hoppes #9 did very poor. These tests were done a few years ago and solvents used were the current formulas at that time. The problem with these tests is that government reg's are continually forcing companies to re-do formulas to comply with their edicts. I believe it is safe to say that virtually no bore cleaner has the same potency that it originally had. I do know for fact that exposure to air and light quickly reduces their effectiveness and as a result I take measures to reduce their exposure to same.

 

[mikegaiz]

Try Boreteck C4 and Montana Copper killer (BMG 50) Think you will be surprised.

 

[K22]

Try Boreteck C4 and Montana Copper killer (BMG 50) Think you will be surprised.

For years I've used Shooter's Choice and from what I read it not impressive as a copper remover. I recently purchased some BoreTec C4 to try. I followed the directions after the rifle was cleaned with Shooter's Choice as I normally do and dry patched the bore after cleaning. Either I did something wrong or the C4 didn't work real well or the Shooter's Choice is better than a lot of shooters claim because I got virtually no 'blue traces' on the patches. I only tried this on one rifle - a 223 Rem. I will try on others and see if it works any better and report back if it does.

 

[BenPerfected]

For years I've used Shooter's Choice and from what I read it not impressive as a copper remover. I recently purchased some BoreTec C4 to try. I followed the directions after the rifle was cleaned with Shooter's Choice as I normally do and dry patched the bore after cleaning. Either I did something wrong or the C4 didn't work real well or the Shooter's Choice is better than a lot of shooters claim because I got virtually no 'blue traces' on the patches. I only tried this on one rifle - a 223 Rem. I will try on others and see if it works any better and report back if it does.

With the C4, try using about 5 wet patchs in a row. After the last wet patch let the barrel sit for 15 min and start over.

 

[LRPV]

C4 is carbon remover.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I did a test similar to the one described a few years ago. Submerged bullets weighing before and after soaking. KG 12 was best but not a lot better than patch out and bore tech eliminator. I prefer the way copper shows on either of the latter as opposed to the KG 12 so I use the 0 at ch out mostly. There's a lot of snake oil out there but these 3 all work very well for copper.

 

[Martin52]

C4 is carbon remover.

+1.....C4 is for carbon, CU+2 (https://www.boretech.com/products/copperremover.shtml) is for copper.

 

[Barlow]

I talked to Butch on the phone years ago about his product BBS. I asked him how long you could leave it in the barrel, he said forever if you want to and it will not harm your barrel. But it is not as aggressive in removing copper as others. Last sentence not his quote, but my personal observations. Barlow