Re: removing copper fouling questions
Savage barrels are accurate, but also have a reputation for fouling, at least for the first few hundred rounds. No special break-in is really needed, but products like Final Finish can speed the process. They may also have some bearing on bore life, but I am unsure about that.
If you go long periods between cleanings, more aggressive bore cleaners may have their place, but if you clean after each session, as I do, I find that simply using basic cleaners like Hoppe's #9 or Outer's Foaming Bore Cleaner according to their labelling are quite adequate. The key process is the soaking. When I do use brushes, it's to apply the solvent and get it well distributed within the bore. As a scrubbing agent, I think brushes lead to more harm than good, and really aren't that effective against glazed on fouling.
Bore guides are very important, and they should be matched to the rod diameter, so there's no slop or play that could allow rod friction with the bore and especially with the throat.
Brass rods and cleaning implements look good, but the brass/bronze give false indications of copper fouling when used in conjunction with copper solvents. I use stainless rods and steel or plastic implements, and don't use brushes very much at all any more. When I see copper, it's really copper.
Folks will recommend that cleaning need not be done much or even at all. To each their own. Their point that more barrels are lost to cleaning than fouling is probably a good point. My concern is less with getting the crud out, it's not all that harmful to accuracy, at least for awhile; and more about preventing pitting. Long periods where fouling and atmospheric moisture and oxygen can get to work on the bore interior can damage a bore's finish due to bimetallic corrosion, which is similar to electrolysis in nature. If you're not going to clean, fine, but if the rifle is going to lay around for a long time unused, I'd clean and oil that bore, or at least oil it, to create a barrier between the fouling and atmospheric moisture and oxygen. Better safe than sorry.
Greg
