357 Mag steel

[jimbo510]

I shot some handloads today and I am loving this Henry. 158 grn xtp's with Lil Gun at 50 yards. I am noticing a lot of copper fouling in the barrel. At first I thought it was due to cheap ammo but there is noticeable fouling at the end of the muzzle again today. IS that common for Henry's to foul up with copper more than other rifles or do I have other issues going on?

IMG_0562.jpg

[jimbo510]

IMG_0562.jpg (117.6 KiB) Viewed 3638 times

[JEBar]

over time I've had several rifles to experience a copper build up .... in none of them, has it ever influenced the rifle's performance .... with our Henry rifles, we have noticed that the more you shoot'um, there is a reduction in buildup

[Omegaspeedy]

Is it like this? I had issues with my .357 and in the end traded it back with store credit. Bought a .44 BBS and it's barrel is screwed too. I give up.

[ESquared]

What happens when you take a bore brush and your favourite solvent to that condition? Seems sorta normal to me, and, would lead me to experiment with different bullets/projectiles, rather than disposing of the baby with the bathwater. What "158 gr XTPs" exactly are you loading with?

[GFK]

Welcome. Looks like some nice shooting! And, I can understand. I had a similar situation when I got my Henry. So much so, it was sent back for cleaning. But, it came back the same way. I went to a LGS and was told to try a copper cleaner (listed in the attached link). The owner also stated that he had not seem anything like that and wanted me to send him pictures. So, he could pass them on to the owner of Henry, if he was at the gun show (2108). Now, I just use the cleaner after shooting, not as much as I did at first though. Below is a link about that experience.

https://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3916

[Rifletom]

Wow! Looks like that Tetra solvent worked rather well. Glad you got it sorted out. I had a little bit of copper fouling in my .357 Henry[plated bullets, no more of those!], but, was able to remove with a 50/50 mix of Hoppe's #9 and Kroil.

[GFK]

I have read about Kroil. But, I have not tried it yet. From what I have read, it helps to loosen the copper fouling. I hope I will not to deal with such a bore. But, who knows what firearm I may acquire that requires such attention.
https://www.range365.com/dirty-little-s ... -cleaning/

[BigAl52]

Ive used Kroil for years. Its not really a copper remover more for lead. Get some copper remover if you want to get that out of there that bad. But as Jim said I have not ever had issues with accuracy with any of my Henrys. The more you shoot them with those copper bullets the less they will have issues with more copper in the barrel.

[Rifletom]

Ive used Kroil for years. Its not really a copper remover more for lead. Get some copper remover if you want to get that out of there that bad. But as Jim said I have not ever had issues with accuracy with any of my Henrys. The more you shoot them with those copper bullets the less they will have issues with more copper in the barrel.

Yeah, that seems to be the case. Barrel wear-in I suppose. In my .357, I seem to go back and forth between coated and jacketed. In my .45 Colt rifle, it's strictly lead or coated. No jacketed.

[jimbo510]

Is it like this? I had issues with my .357 and in the end traded it back with store credit. Bought a .44 BBS and it's barrel is screwed too. I give up.

My fouling is no where near that much. It is just more than I have had in other rifles, including an AK after shooting all kinds of foreign ammo. That group i posted was the last group I shot for the day and it was the best so the copper did not affect anything. I will continue to clean as normal and get most of the copper out and enjoy. I really like this rifle and it shoots like a dream. I have a Tikka 308 that will not group tightly on a super clean bore. I takes about 2-3 fouling shots then it shoots really good, so if this Henry shoots good with some copper fouling I am good with it.

Esquared, I am loading and shooting Hornady 158 grn XTP/FP and regular XTP's with Lil Gun. I plan on using the FP on a few deer hunts this season.

Thanks for all the replies this forum is great!

[BigAl52]

Jimbo
Take a look at Roze Distribution and get some Zero bullets. There cheap and are great for range work.
https://www.rozedist.com/

[jimbo510]

Welcome. Looks like some nice shooting! And, I can understand. I had a similar situation when I got my Henry. So much so, it was sent back for cleaning. But, it came back the same way. I went to a LGS and was told to try a copper cleaner (listed in the attached link). The owner also stated that he had not seem anything like that and wanted me to send him pictures. So, he could pass them on to the owner of Henry, if he was at the gun show (2108). Now, I just use the cleaner after shooting, not as much as I did at first though. Below is a link about that experience.

https://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3916

Thanks for the info on Tetra. I have used tetra regular bore cleaner on my duty carry at our department range and it worked good. I am going to try the Tetra copper solvent to see if it is better than Butches or Hoppes Elite copper solvent.

[jimbo510]

I will order from Roze later in the year when I start making rounds for spring shooting. They seem to be the best priced I have seen

[BigAl52]

I have some on the bench right now. They were working great in my Henry Single shot 357. But I have used them before as have other members here.

[jimbo510]

Just for the fun of it I did not clean the barrel on the Henry just to see if accuracy would be off after copper fouling left in it. I did some shooting today and it I had better groups than last time out. I was more relaxed and having a better shooting session than last time out so that could explain the better groups. But the little bit of copper fouling certainly did not hurt anything. I also settled in on a good hunting load with 158 grn XTP/FP and lil gun. Next I will start playing with some A2400.

[BigAl52]

Never used LIl gun in 357. I have some but have only used it in other rifle calibers. Wish you luck with the 2400 it has been great for me