Frontier CMJ 9mm Copper Fouling after only 50 rounds?

Para_au · April 12, 2010, 12:09 AM

I am new to the forum and I have just started reloading 9mm rounds to shoot in my Para P18. I have always shot winchester Winclean before this which is TMJ.
On the weekend I went and shot 50 rounds of Frontier 124gr RN CMJ Copper plated projectiles loaded with 4.3gr of ADI AP70N (Similar to Universal) which is the recommended starting load for a 124gr jacketed projectile (1030fps), oal 1.14", cci small pistol primer. But I found on returning home that there was quite a bit of copper fouling towards the muzzle end of the barrel. Is this normal as I have shot 500 rounds+ of Winclean with no noticeable copper fouling whatsoever. Could this be caused by pushing the bullet too fast, should I back off the powder a bit? Or increase OAL? Or is this normal? Also just bought some copper solvent today and it has taken some time to remove all the fouling. When should i clean the fouling, all I had was copper fouling on the very edges of the raised bits of the rifling.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Loader9 · April 12, 2010, 10:50 AM

Well, it's gonna be hard to determine if it's normal or not as you didn't post any pics of the fouling. Ideally, a bullet is not going to leave much copper in the barrel. I would think that most any bullet, plated or jacketed, wouldn't be fouling at all at speeds of just over 1000' per second. The website at Marstar leaves a lot to be desired with almost zero information about their products or their loaded ammo. It's mostly just advertising hype. They have a phone number 1-888- 744-0066. You probably need to call them and ask. It's not totally impossible for the plating to be bad. Hopefully you still have the original box and it has a run number on it. While I'd hate to slam a good vendor, it's been my experience to avoid any manufacturer that leaves you zero information about their product but attempts to baffle you with mounds of BS. This is what I see on their website. Hope this turns out great for you.

April 12, 2010, 12:09 AM	#1
Para_au Junior Member Join Date: April 12, 2010 Posts: 6	Frontier CMJ 9mm Copper Fouling after only 50 rounds? I am new to the forum and I have just started reloading 9mm rounds to shoot in my Para P18. I have always shot winchester Winclean before this which is TMJ. On the weekend I went and shot 50 rounds of Frontier 124gr RN CMJ Copper plated projectiles loaded with 4.3gr of ADI AP70N (Similar to Universal) which is the recommended starting load for a 124gr jacketed projectile (1030fps), oal 1.14", cci small pistol primer. But I found on returning home that there was quite a bit of copper fouling towards the muzzle end of the barrel. Is this normal as I have shot 500 rounds+ of Winclean with no noticeable copper fouling whatsoever. Could this be caused by pushing the bullet too fast, should I back off the powder a bit? Or increase OAL? Or is this normal? Also just bought some copper solvent today and it has taken some time to remove all the fouling. When should i clean the fouling, all I had was copper fouling on the very edges of the raised bits of the rifling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

April 12, 2010, 10:50 AM	#2
Loader9 Senior Member Join Date: July 29, 2008 Posts: 949	Well, it's gonna be hard to determine if it's normal or not as you didn't post any pics of the fouling. Ideally, a bullet is not going to leave much copper in the barrel. I would think that most any bullet, plated or jacketed, wouldn't be fouling at all at speeds of just over 1000' per second. The website at Marstar leaves a lot to be desired with almost zero information about their products or their loaded ammo. It's mostly just advertising hype. They have a phone number 1-888- 744-0066. You probably need to call them and ask. It's not totally impossible for the plating to be bad. Hopefully you still have the original box and it has a run number on it. While I'd hate to slam a good vendor, it's been my experience to avoid any manufacturer that leaves you zero information about their product but attempts to baffle you with mounds of BS. This is what I see on their website. Hope this turns out great for you.