Here's a photo of what my 458 looks like after a shooting session:

...and my 375 is worse - it is virtually copper plated, grooves and lands.

Now you guys have me confused, I've only ever tried Sweets 7.62 and now Tetra. How bad does everyone elses fouling compare to mine? The use of Tetra still requires patch and reapplication over night every couple of days for a week and a half.

I've used the JBs non-embedding paste once to get the bore as clean as I could before I Cerakoted it. I understand that JBs is an abrasive and will try and minimise the use of it.

Now the Cerakote-ing - anyone else done this?

I came across it after finding out that one guy at our club had had it done to his 458Lott, so I found the NIC Industries website (manufacturers of Cerakote) and emailed them which of their productes to use for the bore, as this wasn't specifically mentioned on their website. They didn't reply to me direct but to SLR Coatings here in Brisbane who are agents for Cerakote, and they contacted me (I think the guy's name is Geoff?).

He sent through info on how to do it and what it will and won't do. Anyway, I bought a bottle and went through the procedure on both the 375 and 458. It's easy enough to do but the bores need to be absolutely clean for it to work properly. It took weeks to get the copper out (soaking overnight etc) and then I used the JB nonembedding to get the last of any other fouling out.

Apparantly it takes a few sessions of shooting before it starts to work effectively - the heat and pressure from shooting "sets" the Cerakote.

The results of my coating are a bit mixed, but I've only shot each a couple of times since I did them. The 458 still fouls badly but does clean up a little easier, but the 375 is still as bad as ever. I concede that I may not have prepared the bores adequately in the first place.

I know of two guys that got SLR Coatings to do the bores on their rifles (and the PITA cleaning too) and they are very happy with the results. At least I have plenty of Cerakote left to be able to try again and/or other rifles. Best that those interested contact SLR Coatings direct as he will email out the info direct.