6.5 Swede barrel fouling

[chuck boyer]

I have got a 96 Swede that seems to foul more so than other rifles I have. Right now I am using Butch's and Kroil. It takes a long time to get the barrel clean. Accuracy does not suffer much even when the barrel is dirty. I would like someone to suggest a faster way to clean this 101 yr old barrel and not damage it. Also, what can I do to make the barrel not foul as bad and as fast.

 

[eggman]

Chuck,
I have had very good luck removing copper with KG-12 from KG Coatings. Most reloading supply houses carry it . It is water based non-ammonia copper remover. I bought an old Savage Mod. 99 that I'm pretty sure the barrel had never been cleaned with a copper solvent . The bore looked orange it had so much copper in it . After a few cleanings with KG-12 all the copper was gone.
As far as a way to keep a barrel from copper fouling I'm not sure of any one way but you might try using iosso paste a few times and see if the barrel smooths up some . Some barrels just naturally copper foul and there is not much you can do about it . There are some methods to fire-lap a barrel where you shoot progressively finer grit coated bullets through the bore cleaning in between firings. I'm not a fan of these products but they might work if all else fails. I think Tubbs sells these bullets with instructions on how to use them and Midway sells a kit where you can coat your own bullets with the fire-lapping grit .

Good luck,
Rodney

 

[acloco]

You need to get the crud out of the barrel.

Use an "outer's cleaning system" - uses a little bit of electricity to draw the garbage out of the grooves.

I built one - use a 1/8" diameter welding rod three feet long. Plug for the end of the barrel and to hold the welding rod centered in the bore. Silicone the plug to the end of the bore (with the welding rod sticking out the end of the plug). Mix a 50/50 solution of Hoppes with warm/hot water, mix it, hang the rifle from the butt (muzzle down), pour solution in the barrel with a funnel.

Connect the NEGATIVE side of a 9 volt battery to the cleaning rod. Connect the positive side of the battery to the barrel.

Let it sit for a couple hours. The rod will look like a fuzzy caterpillar when you remove it.

Tried it on my worst Mosin ...and then moved on to the Swedes. Believe it or not...THIS works.

 

[2506]

If the fouling does not affect the accuracy why do you want to clean the barrel squeaky clean? ??? More rifles are ruined by too much cleaning than are from not being cleaned.

 

[A7Dave]

My M96 had the same problem. Great accuracy, but horrible fouling. I loaded up Tubb's bullets and shot as directed. Didn't take down the fouling to nothing, but it dramatically reduced it. Accuracy afterwards was better. While the accuracy didn't seem to be affected before, considering the amount of fouling, it would have been a problem had I not used the Tubbs bullets on the barrel. Just buy a kit from Midway and load them up.

 

[chuck boyer]

Hey Dave. Did you do the whole program or did you cut a might short? Hate to overdo the abrasive bullet down the barrel polishing thing.

 

[A7Dave]

Been a while since I checked the boards, sorry for the late reply.

No, I did the whole set of bullets. It really improved the fouling and the accuracy is just as good or better. Haven't been able to get to the range lately, but last time I shot it I had nice .6" group.

 

[MarinePMI]

Have you tried using collodial graphite as a way to keep the fouling down?

 

[jonbearman]

I used moly coated bullets and lyman moly bore paste and that was the end of the heavy fouling and it cleaned up easy.I am not suggesting that you shoot 100 rounds and then clean it but you can shoot 50 comfortably.The 6.5 swede is a dlicate flower of a rifle in the 96 action but very accurate.I just picked up a mod 77 mark2 ruger in swede,anyone have a killer load for around the 139/140 class bullets?

 

[1000yardstare]

Jon,
Don`t know what the throat is like in a Ruger 77. Take a good look at the COAL in my Tikka T3 Swede and load accordingly. The Tikka has a ginormous throat for the 160s.

140 AMax, 48 gr IMR 4831, 2800 fps, COAL 3.160.

Anyone shooting an M96, DON`T USE THIS LOAD!!!