06-26-2012, 11:33 PM
bwaites Wrote:I don't necessarily disagree with you on the copper issue, I'm just not sure its a problem. Copper and bronze make great bearing surfaces. Bronze last longer because its harder, but billions of bronze bushings have been made. I really am starting to believe that copper in the barrel is not a bad thing. It took about 10-20 shots for my 7mm WSM to settle down after a complete barrel cleaning with the whole copper out idea. That leads me to believe that the copper in there was a good thing. I shot it about 3-400 times between copper cleanings, and it stayed accurate until it had something like 1500+ rounds down the tube, which is more than I was told to expect. Now I clean it with some type of carbon remover, and move on. I have a brand new barrel on the WSM, so I'll see how that idea works pretty soon! No copper cleaning and we'll see.
The only reason that I stated copper welding as a bad thing is because of the lands and groves. Over time this can and will present a problem. Now I have heard of a process that can take care of that. IIRC it has to do with a certain type of powder that has small amounts of glass in it. I thought it took a min of 20 or so shots to fully coat your barrel though I can not be completely certain. I can ask my co worker who knows just what it is and get back to everyone if you all like.
A320