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I'm conscious of the all the guidance not to leave cleaners like Sweets in a barrel but also those that say that cleaning solvents shouldn't be mixed. My present regime is a good scrub with a nylon brush and Sweets; then dry patches to clean out the gunk until nothing shows and finally a swab of Ballistol for storage. Is this a safe way to look after a barrel?

Sounds ok

What do the instructions on the Sweets say to do?

Copper solvents like Sweets leave behind a sticky coating. Clean this out with your normal bore cleaner, dry the barrel and put it away. No further treatment needed if you store your arms in a warm dry house.

Is Sweets water soluble?

It's mainly ammonia and detergent so it should be.

So it could be patched out with water dampened patches to remove the residue of the Sweets.

I sometimes wipe out with a water wetted patch when I use ammonia as a copper cleaner, Ed's Red worked just as well and that is oil based.