So i decided to give CLP foam bore cleaner a chance. I followed instructions and filled the bore from chamber to muzzle with this stuff and waited 20 minutes or so.
What happened next was just what the directions said. It states on the bottle that the foam will turn a blueish color which is due to copper residue. That is exactly what happened.
Next, i swabbed my factory muzzle break from the cuts on both the left and right side. I began pulling out massive amounts of black residue that i assume is carbon.
I haven’t fired my rifle in over 12 days or so. But i cleaned it right after i got home. I ran wet patches with hoppes 9 through the bore over and over until they came out some what clean. The hoppes will always pull out lots of green residue, which i assume is copper.
But every few days, i run a wet and dry patch through my barrel to see if any more dirt, copper and carbon has come loose. I do this every few days even if i’m not shooting. I always end up with more and more copper each time.
I always end up wiping tons of greenish residue off of my cleaning rod as well. It seems as if it will never end. There seems to be an infinite amount of green crap coming out of my barrel.
I have probably ran 50-75 wet/dry patches with hoppes,clp aerosol, and clp foam through my bore, and the green crap keeps on coming.
Now i have excessive amounts of black residue coming out of my factory compensator that is attached to my colt 6601c.
I bought this rifle used around 5-6 weeks ago and have fired about 500 rounds out of it. I’m guessing that whoever owned it before me must have never cleaned it. Because the amount of copper residue in my bore is truly insane.
What can i do to finally get rid of this excess copper, and now the insane amount of dark black residue.
Try M-Pro 7 or Hoppes Elite (notice ELITE) gun cleaner and also their Copper Remover (both brands have the copper remover).
(Hoppes Elite and M-Pro 7 are basically the same stuff and are both made by Pantheon Chemical. I believe the Copper Remover is exactly the same for both brands. The regular gun cleaner are slightly different but for normal use either is equivalent and can be used).
Hoppes Elite also has a foaming cleaner version and both brands have a gel version as well as normal liquid. Gel version is good to “soak” pieces that need it and won’t run off
I think you are over complicating things. Why go through all that trouble when you’ll be depositing more copper/carbon on the next range session? This is not a a precision rifle we are discussing, run a wet patch through, let the chemicals do its work, run a few dry patches through and call it a day. A little bit of copper on a chrome lined AR15 barrel is not going to kill you, your rifle, or its accuracy.
With regard to the green residue… it might not be copper. Unless you buy one of the nickle plated versions, the bore jag/ patch loop is likely brass… which will react to most copper solvents.
I’m with whomever made the comment about KIS cleaning for these tools. I have a number of rifles (including a benchrest rig) in which I try to maintain squeky clean bores. My AR is a tool… I keep the moving parts clean and lubricated and the bore “clean enough”.:happy:
My rifle does not have a Chrome lined bore/chamber. I do not think I’m over thinking anything. I asked about the excessive residue because i was worried about it being something else.
I just thought it was odd how i suddenly had tons of black residue a week after i gave it a good cleaning. But maybe it’s because clp foam is better than hoppes, and maybe it’s removing gunk that hoppes failed to remove it’s self.
Dump it for a coated rod ASAP. Any chemical capable of removing copper from your barrel will also attack the rod. That’s why it keeps turning green.
While you’re at it, ditch any bronze bore brushes you may have been using. Using a bronze bore brush with any kind of copper remover (even crappy Hoppe’s #9) will just smear copper all over the bore as the cleaner attacks the brush.
As for the extra carbon, foaming bore cleaner is really good at getting into places where regular patches don’t reach, like your gas port and the nooks and crannies of your muzzle device. Don’t worry about it! The carbon in those places is not such a big deal and the foam is helping to keep it under control
This is a fairly common thing if you ever clean old milsurps using the bore foam cleaners. It seems that the carbon and copper are deposited in layers.
Additionally, as cmb2474 mentioned, some of the green/blue you will get is the copper bristles reacting with the bore cleaner.
I meant to say that only the barrel was stainless. The chamber is chrome.
honestly, when i look down the bore with a flashlight, it looks like a very dark greyish metal. I’m not to sure as to what a used chrome barrel is supposed to look like.
I do have one of those red coated rods that are smooth and slippery. I guess i’ll start using that one instead. I was using a cheap winchester cleaning rod that was def made from copper. No wonder it kept turning green haha.
Don’t use stainless steel brushes as they are abrasive. Since a bore brush is supposed to be used to loosen fouling so it can be cleaned out with a patch, using a bronze brush isn’t a real problem. Just run a couple patches through until they come out clean enough for your satisfaction.
Hoppe’s #9 isn’t crappy. It’s made for those who clean their rifles as preventive maintenance rather than waiting until the barrel has enough copper build up to begin mining operations. It was also formulated many years ago when barrel steels were more susceptible to damage from chemical attack.
Jimston, it could be that the barrel has been shot a lot without cleaning. Or it could be the bore is still a bit rough which means it tends to collect copper fouling and will be reluctant to let it go. Also, a few days after the initial cleaning, some of the remaining fouling will have softened a bit from the trace remains of the chemicals and be easier to remove
Some of the Colts from that age had only chrome-lined chambers and regular bores. Then later they switched to doing the chamber and bore again in the Match Target series, I think around 2003 or 2004.
The most agressive copper solvent I have ever used is Montana Extreme .50 BFG formula. That stuff REALLY stinks ammonia, and it makes Hoppes #9 seem like a pansy. I use it periodically in my bolt guns…the 7 mm. Mag is the worst.
I don’t think it matters much on chrome-lined barrels, but any precision rifle should be treated with copper remover once in awhile. My experience has been that the groups will open up a bit if copper gets too heavy in the bore.
Several years ago, I was shown the difference between Hoppes #9 and the newer stuff available. I was shocked to find that rather than actually cleaning the bores, the Hoppes had been leaving layers upon layers of varnish-like residue in my barrels.
I switched to newer stuff, such as shooter’s choice, and now foaming bore cleaners (I’m currently using Outer’s) and at the time of the switchover, I noticed the same thing as the OP. Tons of gunk that came out of a supposedly clean barrel. My gunsmith friend (who’s been a successful gunsmith longer than I’ve been alive, and who was theone who showed me the Hoppe’s residue issue) was of the opinion that it was the crud that was left over from the Hoppe’s residue.
It eventually stopped, and now I actually find it MUCh easier to clean my guns. The brushes and patches are much easier to push through the bores and cleaning is much more productive.
Well i decided to stop using hoppes so i could see if it was the culprit in terms of massive amounts of residue.
I stopped using hoppes altogether now. It looks like i finally got rid of the copper residue after using CLP foam a second time. I think that the brass cleaning rod/hoppes combo was creating its own copper residue.
The CLP foam seems to have worked great, so that i can finally push wet/dry patches through my bore without getting green/blue residue.
When looking down the bore with a light, all i see is extremely smooth rifling that has a nice shine to it. There is no scratches or wear that i can see.
I don’t know a whole lot about the barrel on my rifle, except that it’s a 20" HBAR Match Target w/ 1 in 7 twist and has the markings “C MP 5.56 Nato 1/7” on the barrel behind the front site post and handguards. It has a factory compensator which has 3 vertical slots on both sides.
