So recently I shot my M1icon Carbine in a match, and afterwards began load development for it. I'm quite a fan of Wipe-Out foaming bore cleaner, and am well aware of what it does to brass and copper after accidentally dropping some on a spent case and letting it sit.

So after shooting a fair amount of rounds through it in a match, and wishing to get it really clean before working on hand loads, I went to shoot some in the barrel, which didn't go as planned as I was about out so rather than foaming it just shot a nice wet stream down the bore, soaking and go right through the paper towel I had stuffed in the chamber and closed the bolt on. Wiped the mess up, let it do it's thing in the bore and thought nothing of it.

So when shooting it today I noticed my mag release was a bit sticky and I was having a heck of a time getting magazines in and out. When I got home from the range and was cleaning it, I took it down to see what was up.

Unfortunately, in a horrible moment of non-thinking I forgot that a type-IV trigger housing is braised together with copper. A remover like wipe out doesn't discriminate, and had run onto and in my trigger housing. Now not only had the copper brazing turned an ugly black/green, it had also formed a gummy residue.

At this point it's apart and being cleaned. It really only affected one side of the exterior, but the previously clean braze is now tarnished and ugly. In addition it was quite difficult to clean as the reside is sticky and persistent, though it doesn't appear to have actually eaten it too badly, if at all.

So while I'm sure experienced shooters of these guns think about that, I didn't think and paid the price. It's not something you normally think about on a gun but I felt it was worth posting as a reminder or precaution for anyone else thinking of using a heavy duty bore cleaner, as a spill can wind up doing a nice job on copper in places other than your bore.
Information
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.