john16443

I put 250 flawless rounds through my SR9 yesterday. Ammo used was FMJ round nose. Since the cleaning of the SR9 is so easy I cleaned it when I got home from the range. My cleaning process for the barrel includes dipping a brass bore brush in Hoppe's #9 and pushing it through a few times. I then leave the inside of the barrel wet with the Hoppe's for about 10 minutes before swabbing dry with cotton patches.

The first drying patch I run down the barrel comes out with GREEN colored spots on it. I've not seen this on my other guns, so I'm wondering what's going on here? Anyone else seen this and can tell me why it's happening? Should I be concerned?

Thanks

newtmaker

My guess is that you are seeing flakes of copper jacket material that has reacted with the Hoppes. Brass/Copper turns green when it tarnishes.
I don't normally shoot 250 rounds at an outing so when I clean my guns after shooting I usually get by with a few wet patches and then the dry ones. I seldom use a brush unless I have shot some lead bullets.
I just got an SR9 a couple days ago and have put only 50 rounds through so far. It performed flawlessly and I am very happy with how well it shoots and how easy it is to break down and clean. I wish my Buckmark was as easy!

Walt

bigweatherby

Green is dissolved copper. You should keep scrubbing and dry patching until it goes away. Just be aware that your bore brush, if soaked in solvent, with dissolve some and color the patch a bit too!

john16443

I was thinking that it was cooper, but didn't want to make that pronouncement just in case it may be something else. Could come from the brush or the bullets. It doesn't appear anymore after the first drying patch, so there isn't anything left in the barrel. It is spotless when I'm done.

I'll have to repeat this next week after my range visit. I'll put another 200 or so rounds through it and use CLP on a patch this time. If it shows green, that pretty much tells me the copper is in the barrel from the bullets.

Just glad there doesn't appear to be anything to worry about.

John

TMD

Its copper and thats normal after that many rounds.

BronxBoy

The “green” is definitely normal and is copper compounds formed from a chemical reaction with the copper residues and the chlorides in the Hoppe’s solvent. Hoppe’s is a pretty good copper cleaner, for the casual shooter, considering it is not too aggressive. If you leave the Hoppe’s in your barrel for a while, as you did, then the copper/chlorine compounds form and these come out more easily than the copper residues.

Bear in mind, Hoppe’s will attack copper, bronze and brass cleaning tools, including brass jags and patch holders. All you have to do to keep them intact is to remove the Hoppe’s as soon as possible. I use WD40 as a quick spray to clean brushes and jags immediately after using them but there are many other techniques that also work well.

kiwihunter

"Green" fouling on your patches is quite normal...just copper fouling reacting with your solvent.cheers.