After receiving a .308 Crusader from GA Precision two months ago, they sent me a break in procedure, as shoot one, clean, shoot one, clean 10 times or until no copper is present on the patch, then shoot 3, clean, shoot 3, clean three times, then shoot 5, etc. BUT, during the shoot one, clean procedure, I only shot up to 6 rounds before no copper was present, so I did not need to use the shoot 10 times method,,,,as of this morning I did the same procedure for the new .300 Magnum with 180 Nosler Ballistic Tips pushed by VV165 as a mild load. After shooting the first round and cleaned with Bore Eliminator which turns blue on the patches if copper is present in the bore, same solvent I used for the .308

So after going through 5 rounds, there was still copper present, but I used like 15 or so patches through the bore after each shot and it was pissing me off because the copper would not just go away easily as on my .308. So I continued the procedure up to 10 rounds and still copper was present, so I cleaned real good and shot 3 rounds and cleaned, and two more 3 rounds / clean procedure. I used up the whole bag of damn patches and 2/3rds of a bottle of Bore Eliminator. Am I being too anal about the presence of copper during the break in procedure or should I just ignore it. Winds were howling 35 to 40 mph today, so I was not able to try the 212 ELD X / H1000 load work up yet.

Should I keep on with the break in procedure or should I just stop? on the other hand, the previous break in two months ago, the .308 had no presence of copper at all after the 6th round, even after the shoot 3 / clean three times and shoot 5 and clean twice, no traces of copper at all. Your opinions please.

Is the 300 WM a factory barrel or a custom one like your GA Precision?

Reason I ask, high quality barrel makers like Bartlein, etc. hand lap their barrels well, and break in pretty quickly. Factory barrels aren't treated so nicely and can be rougher when new, causing more copper fouling and a longer break in until the rough spots that grab copper get worn down a little. Just a thought!

It's a Bartlein barrel, custom 300

I agree with Tornracer

are you using a nylon bore brush along with patches?

I am having my best cleaning with all the Sharp-Shooter cleaning products. Wipe-out, patch-out and accelerator . I have a few more bottles of Bore Tech Eliminator you can have.

Yes, used nylon bore brush after wetting two patches.

I'm not an expert by any means but it should come copper free easier. I don't know anyone who has a bore scope to check.

if you shine a flashlight in the muzzle, can you see any copper?

dumb question but...you aren't using anything bronze are you? jags, brushes?

Maybe a good candidate for Tubbs Final Finish.

Your bore bore is rough I would call the manufacter for there suggestion .
The tubs is good solution but I would ask first .

a custom barrel should not be rough and copper much at all. I agree with BigDog, don't do anything drastic , you will void your warranty. Call the smith or barrel maker , discuss with them

I have accused a custom rifle maker of using a throw away barrel before. Tell him your process so far. they should make it right

I agree too. I find barrel break in to be a waste of time. I didn't even bother doing so on my last McWhorter rifle, any of my Tikkas, or HCR.

I also apply Dyna Tek Bore Coat to all of my rifle barrels.

Just used a plastic jag to make sure the brass jag is not the culprit, plastic jag, still, pushed out copper fouling patches. So I used a nylon brush 20 passes twice and several passes with wet patches, copper presence is still there, so I squirted some Wipe Out foam through the breech thru a bore guide and excess foam out the other end, letting it sit an hour,,,,

If your goal is to get all the copper out-and you have the time-you can make a home electrolysis system similar to this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDF7BJRn02o

I made a system like this and I can tell you that it will flat out remove EVERY bit of lead & copper fouling from the barrel without damaging the parent metal. I just stuff a foam ear plug into the chamber to seal it, and use a piece of tig welding rod for the anode. I have a rifle that has a 26" long heavy varmint contour barrel that shoots exceptionally well, but it also coppers up pretty badly. After 20 rounds you can look in the muzzle and see copper colored streaks that resemble a barber pole. With the electrolytic cleaner, I can get the barrel back to bare steel without any real work on my part. After that just push a couple patches through the bore, and you are ready to go. It takes less than an hour to get a really badly coppered barrel clean, and maybe 20 minutes on a barrel that is lightly coppered.

There was a company manufacturing and selling a kit to do this exact process at home, but you can easily replicate it without buying the kit. I can't remember the name.. Foulers, or Outers.. or something like that.

Oh my goodness! You guys are over the top. You want to contact the mfg barrel maker b/c it's copper fouling up in a few shots and won't patch out? You want to put a Tubbs final finish sand paper bullet down a freakin' custom Bartlein barrel. Did I just read that above!? For a custom GAP rifle. Seriously.

First- how does it shoot? Second, How does it shoot? Third- How does it shoot? You may not know how it shoots because it doesn't have enough fouling (i.e. copper fouling) to start getting broke in. I personally shot one of my custom rifles with zero break in (because I forgot my cleaning rod) and it ended up being one of the best shooting rifles I ever owned (1 3/8" group at 600 yards). Just shoot the dang thing! Sure, in the beginning put a few rounds down it and patch it out a few times for some barrel break in. Any more than about 10 rounds is obsessive and a waste. Then saying you want to contact the mfg because it copper fouls up or put a sand paper bullet down a custom GAP rifle? That makes as much sense as a football bat. Now, if it won't shoot, then worry. For now, just shoot the thing.

^^What Chad said^^

How does it shoot?

If it's shooting well, but you have to clean it reminds me of the guy that mows the yard on Thursday because that's mowing day. But it's January, and the yard hasn't grown at all since last Thursday.

Chad / FM, It's not a GAP rifle, yes its a Bartlein barrel. I would not put any Tubbs or any finish down a barrel like those guys said, lol. I just cleaned it with Bore Eliminator real well last night, now I will just shoot it when the wind dies down. I'll just see how it does.

I have a couple of 'fancy' barrel rifles. I used to want to remove all copper, but I've backed away from that somewhat. The good barrels don't really collect a lot of copper anyway, and a little copper isn't necessarily a bad thing, but fouling will open up the groups noticeably eventually. These days I just clean the bore with Shooter's Choice and go back to shooting. If I need to remove copper, or just want to remove it, I use Boretech.

An exception is my old 220 Swift. It will pick up copper, even though has an after market Douglas barrel (that's been on the gun since the 1990's). When the groups open up, I just go straight to the Boretech.

As for barrel break-in, I only did it on one barrel, and I can't say it did or did not help.

Sorry to post so harsh (was drinking a few drinks!). But new barrels will copper foul up some. I'm just stunned at the amount of "the sky is falling" comments about a brand new barrel. Just shoot the rifle until groups open up. My old 300 WM would open up after about 60-70 rounds. I shot the same 190 SMK load for years, so I knew when it would open up and I needed to find a cleaning rod. But generally speaking, a target rifle/barrel needs some fouling to get a real consistent group, often about rounds 8-25 or so will be most accurate. I do not like shooting a rifle with a clean barrel that is not fouled in. The round often does not go where I want it to go on a clean barrel. The main thing is to know your rifle and it's personality. It will have one, and all rifles do. Once you find a load it likes, stick with it so you will know when things begin to change (all same components,especially the same powder lot).

When my 0 check opens up from original 0 group I clean (assuming no changes since original 0) I clean till dry patch has just a hint of copper on it then stop leaving some in the barrel then back to shooting. Went from writing it all down and plotting to using orange sticky targets for 0, when done peel off and put in log book for quick visual reference and record in the future. Yesterdays 0 check was exactly where it should have been after 105 rounds since last cleaning. As Chad said your rifle will tell you when it is time to clean.

I'm a skeptic that your 308 has zero copper after firing a shot or 3 as stated. Pretty sure it would be impossible to get the bullet down the chamber with zero fouling.

I'm with chad and FM JG. I clean when it wont shoot good and when fouled in again life goes back to normal. Have never broke in any rifle I have other than shooting it.

I am surprised that folks thought or think that Bore-tech removes copper so well? I tried a bottle to see what it was all about and was not impressed with its ability to remove copper any better than the foam stuff.
I tried it on a 7 SAUM that had a little copper and after cleaning a couple of times could not see it removed much if any copper looking thru a Bore scope.

Well, Boretech works fine for me. I've tried a bunch of bore cleaners over the decades (sweets, butch's, shooter's choice, and a long list of names I can't remember). The Boretech has, so far, been the most effective. There're still cleaners I haven't tried, so I can't say one is the overall best.

Just for general cleaning, I have finally settled on Shooter's Choice. Maybe not the best, surely far from being the worst, but it's what I prefer to use for basic fouling.

In my experience, BT Eliminator will get every bit of the metal fouling out when used with a nylon brush and plenty of patches. Some rifles just don't clean as easily as others, though.

Called my gunsmith and barrel is a button barrel. He said not to be anal about it, just clean it good and shoot it. I will just leave my Dewey rod and patches at home when I go to the range. Just a force of habit.

If it's a button barrel, then it's not a Bartlein.

I use BT Eliminator when I'm pressed for time, Wipe Out foam when I'm not. I always run a few patches soaked with Kroil down the tube first though.