Hey Guys,
I have a question about 30.06. I just bought a nice Savage Model 16FHSS chambered in 30.06 which I'm shooting Federal Vital-Shok 165 Gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip cartridges out of. I was just wondering will these cartridges tend to leave copper traces in the rifling of the barrel? What makes me question this is that my father shoots the same Federal Vital-Shok Ammo only 300 Win. Mag. 180 Grain Nosler Partitions and he just had to have his gun cleaned very well bc of the copper build up in the rifling. That was the first I ever heard of it. My whole family cleans our guns religiously. Before I bought the 30.06 in July I shot the same Savage Model 110 chambered in 243 Win. and have fired it hundreds of times and never had the problems my dad has had with his 300 Win Mag. If u can shed some light on the situation I would definitely appreciate any help and info u could give me!
Gunner Out

All copper bullets leave copper in the barrel.How much depends on how rough or smooth the bore is and the exact composition of the copper jacket of the bullet.

A premium barrel will fend fouling better than most, last I knew Savage wasn't into premium barrels.

If I were you I'd contact Doug Burche at Ultra Coatings.

http://www.ultracoatingsinc.com/

He has a product called Ultra Bore Coat, I have it in one of mine and have experienced a much lessened degree of copper fouling....even with TSX's.

Ultra Bore Coat won't make a bad barrel shoot better, IOW...it ain't a magic spell. But, it will reduce the amount of fouling you get which in turn allows the rifle to shoot better longer. Ultra Bore Coat also makes cleaning simply wicked easy.

Doug now sells it in DIY kits so you won't have to ship your rifle to him...like I had to do.

Doug's easy to talk to on the phone as well, and will answer questions, offer advice and give instructions even though he's currentlyprettybusy doing work for major arms manufacturers.

Kansas time...913-829-5572

Bigbull hit the nail on the head. Each individual bore is different and will collect different amts. of copper. I have a Bwng A-bolt in 325 that is terrible for leaving copper residue in the bore. It ususally takes me about an hour to clean it. And I have a Savage 30-06 that doesn't seem to collect any fouling. Usually 4 or 5 patches plus an oiled patch and the bore is clean and ready for storage.
Another thing is the bullets. Some brands will leave more residue than others.

"How much depends on how rough or smooth the bore is and the exact composition of the copper jacket of the bullet."

Velocity has a lot to do with it too.

Each rifle is an individual.

Inasmuch as kids eat different foods, and make different sized messes, and like different clothes and music, so, too, will different rifles like different ammo, and become fouled at different rates.

My .30-'06 gathers copper VERY quickly. Then again, it doesn't seem to really tighten its groups UNTIL it's been fouled. So, I don't worry about ultra cleaning 'til I'm storing it for a while.

BTW, I've found the Gunslick foaming bore cleaner to be a tremendous time-saver when it comes to cleaning a rifle. I'd highly recommend it if you're getting tired of the (powder solvent + bronze brush: repeat!) regimen.

FC

Depends on the bore, the bullet jacket material, bullet bearing surface area and the velocity. The rougher the bore the more copper fouling. Mass production barrels tend not to have the level of care and attention to detail the small custom barrel makers have, and generally have rougher bores.

The jacket material matters too. Some bullet jackets are made of pure copper, which is very soft and wipes off fairly easily compared to the more typical guilding metal (copper with about 5% zinc), which is much harder and usually fould less.

Bearing surface is another factor. Bullets with more bearing surface against the bore will have more opportunity to shed copper than a shorter bullet.

Lastly, and probably most influentially, is velocity. The faster the bullet moves down the bore, the more friction and heat is created, and the more copper tends to get soft and rub off.

Only way to know is to shoot it and observe for copper buildup. One word to the wise; just because you can see or detect (via copper solvent returning a blue/green patch), doesn't mean that there is something drastically wrong. If the gun shoot well with a little copper in it, don't sweat it. Some rifle like it that way since the copper smooths the bore out. if you get carried away with cleaning out every trace of copper, you might just scrub away your rifles accuracy with it. If you see a lot of copper buildup and/or accuracy starts to deteriorate, then it's time to break out the old Sweets 7.62 or Barnes CR-10 and get the copper out.

Just see how the rifle shoots. Also be aware that some guns won't tolerate much copper at all. My Ruger M77MkII V/T .22-250 liked being cleaned about every 10 shots or so and was a tack driver as long as it was moderately clean. My Remington VLS likes being dirty and if I clean it with more than just a light powder solvent and a couple patches, it'll shoot all over the place until it gets 10-15 shots through it to get it nice and dirty. My Savage doesn't care one way or the other. Rifles are all unique. You just have to find out what your rifle's quirks are.

Good luck,

Mike