ORIGINAL: Solitary Man
Let me get this straight, you spent several hours cleaning a brand new rifle bore? What a waste of time. If you're getting indications of copper fouling after using a bore brush, there's a very goodchance it's the brush that causing it. Here's what I do every 20 or 30 shots and it works well for me:I first clean for powder foulingwith Shooters Choice, MPro-7 or Butches Bore Shine. Either one seems to do a good job on powder. I first soak the bore and let it stand for 20 or 30 minutes. Then I wet a bronze brush and brush the bore about 10 or 12 strokes. Then I push all of that out with 3 or 4 wet patches. Then I dry patch that out. Next I clean for copper, but only if I think copper is a problem (i.e., if accuracy is starting to suffer). I use Montana Extreme 50 BMG if I want to get it done right then and there. Otherwise I use Wipeout foam and leave it in for several hours or overnight. Patch that out with 3 or 4 dry patches then follow up with a good oil. Then before I shoot again I make sure I patch out any excess oil. Thats it, it's pretty simple really.
I agree. You need to doa good intial cleaning to removethe packing lubeand some lightfouling from test firing but in no way should you be cleaning for 2 hours on a new bore. I pretty much follow solitary mans routine but do strip copper after every range session, only had a couple new rifles that didn't shoot well this way and even then a few fouling shots were all that is required to get me back to my desired POI. My thoughts are copper left unattended will do more harm then cleaning it out regularily, though proper tools and techniques are required.