Carb cleaner

[ballpowder]

I was just lighting strings of gun powder on the concrete shop floor and then scraping up the residue left behind seeing how much biproduct each left behind and if it was crisp or gooey.

When I went to clean up the best thing I had handy was carb cleaner. One powder needed just a squirt and a wipe. The other two needed a squirt and a couple good rubs to get rid of. I have used Sea Foam fuel treatment in the past to clean Benchrest rifle barrels and I'm not sure how well it really works. It feels really dry in the bore.

Has anyone tried carb or brake cleaner on a patch to clean their barrels?


Tim

 

[Willie]

I often use brake cleaner as a last step when super cleaning a barrel to prep for nitriding or prior to treating bore with HBN, but never for cleaning carbon. I doubt that powder burned on concrete could be compared to carbon fouling in a barrel. I trust BoreTech products to clean both carbon and copper from barrels. For carbon rings I use
iosso.

 

[Barlow]

I use it as a last step, and then apply Eezox. Barlow

 

[chkunz]

Hmmmm, lighting strings of powder on the shop floor, It sounds like it is time for an intervention.

 

[2506]

Never used it to clean a bore after shooting but have used many a can of it cleaning the cosmoline grease off many a military surplus rifle. Best stuff I have ever found for that.

 

[M-61]

I use SeaFoam as the first product to go thru the bore. It certainly comes out black. My thoughts are it is relatively inexpensive to use in the intial cleaning and then I finish with that Bore Tech C4 that does a great job on my barrels.
I have tried a whole bunch of carb cleaners (some are/were good, some are no longer available, most changed their formula to a version that does nothing) but for now as long as the SeaFoam keeps its current formula it works well for me in getting the barrel clean enough to use C4 which I find is great.

 

[Rsadams]

I use SeaFoam as the first product to go thru the bore. It certainly comes out black. My thoughts are it is relatively inexpensive to use in the intial cleaning and then I finish with that Bore Tech C4 that does a great job on my barrels.
I have tried a whole bunch of carb cleaners (some are/were good, some are no longer available, most changed their formula to a version that does nothing) but for now as long as the SeaFoam keeps its current formula it works well for me in getting the barrel clean enough to use C4 which I find is great.

Yup most have changed their formulas.. From a motor cleanup standpoint which is removing oil , grease and carbon the cheapest stuff used to be the best.. The cheap yellow can AutoZone or O'Reilly used to sell worked ALOT better than the name brand..
It would remove baked on carbon like hot butter , grease , oil and paint... I'm sure they have changed it by now or stopped selling it do to some banned chemical...

 

[Fotheringill]

"... The lady at Walmart that checks my ID says its because kids are sniffing it to get high. Talk about brain damage...."

Jeeeeeez

 

[fguffey]

I have had a few barrels that were almost impossible to clean. I offered to purchased an 03 Rock Island if the dealer would convince me the rifle has rifling's, he worked on it for 2 hours. After all that work I could see a hint of rifling's. The barrel was carboned to the point the diameter of the bore was less than 298", forget .308/300"/

I have also removed carbon from pistons that were carboned on the top and in the ring groves, I have used carburetor cleaner to clean the pistons. it did take a lot of time. I have not had that kind of success with de-greasers like the fluid used on drums, shoes and disc. There are a few individuals that use degreaser to clean engines while the engine is running, for that I suggest lots of ventilation.

F. Guffey

 

[timeout]

I tried some brake cleaner on the end of a barrel that has a muzzle brake. I rubbed and rubbed with a cloth and made zero progress. I grabbed a bottle of Bore tech and it melted that carbon with very little effort. I use Iosso for carbon in the chamber neck area.

 

[Depart123]

I use it quite a bit. Actually, just about every time I clean. I spray an initial stream down the barrel and then run a wet patch a minute or two later. If I'm leaving copper in, then it leaves me with a more consistent and repeatable barrel condition for the cold bore shot of a hunting or tactical rifle.

If I am removing copper, then it gets the powder out of the way so the copper remover can do its work. If you are leaving the bore condition as is, then it can be used on a damp patch to clean just the chamber.

 

[Gabe22BR]

nothing like super tec brake cleaner..cheap @ Wal Mart

 

[bulwaagh]

I use it to blast the crud from my plastic pistols and ruger MKII's. Works great, just protect the finish afterwards, it gets stripped of all oil.

 

[chkunz]

nothing like super tec brake cleaner..cheap @ Wal Mart

That is what I use.

 

[ballpowder]

Sounds like opinions range from works well to not much better than water. As long as there is no negative consequences. I can't remember where I came up with the sea foam idea but it SEEMS to work.

For me, with all the high dollar guns I have BR or Varmint, you you think I would have a bore scope camera but I do not. A bore scope should be my next investment.

I bought a 17-222 mag (17 Mag) built by Ackley a while ago for a good deal because it supposedly had a washed out barrel. The barrel was really tight for the first 8" so I figured washed out was more like fouled out.

I scrubbed and scrubbed. I used sea foam, Butch's bore shine, sweets copper remover and JB bore paste. Eventually I cleared the tight spot but without a scope could not totally verify that the gun shop was wrong about the barrel.

When I decided to let it go I did so at a low price for an Ackley rifle. My friends were ticked off. Anyway, it was a prime example of how a bore scope is handy.

 

[dedogs]

without a scope could not totally verify that the gun shop was wrong about the barrel.

I know of no bore scope that will fit a 17 cal. barrel. If there is one I would surely love hearing about it. dedogs

 

[hunter686]

I'm currently running fuel injector for cleaning. Stuff is super cheap. Has knocked off all the carbon I need it too so far.

 

[chop house]

I know of no bore scope that will fit a 17 cal. barrel. If there is one I would surely love hearing about it. dedogs

i have similar issue with .204. I am retired safe tech, and still have my 0.215" optical borescope from that endeavor. i can see the leade and maybe 2" more. At the muzzle i can see perhaps 4". I would not imagine the inexpensive digital ones have the resolution to see even that much.

 

[fguffey]

"It don't take me long to look at it": That was the response of the reloaders when he picked up a hot horse shoe whole watching a black smith.. When the reloader picked up the shoe he burnt his hand. The old black smith said to the reloader "Hot anin't it".

I purchased an 03 Rock Island from a pawn shop in Victoria, Tx. The rifle was cheap because there was no evidence of rifling so I suggested to the dealer I would purchase the rifle if he could convince me the rifle had rifling. (again) he scrubbed and cleaned for 2 hours and then finally a hint of rifling appeared.

I should not have to explain to a bunch of reloaders the 03 had problems, with a carbon-ed up barrel the diameter is reduced, basically the rifle was a smooth barrel. I should not have to explain the diameter of the barrel was reduced from .308/.300" to less than .298". 'WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?' That old rifle was feed a steady dies of 308 bullets for years and years without coming apart.

Like you I have left over tools, 2 of my left over tools are grinders that were used to make pilots, grind pilots to length and they grind angles on the end of the pilots or the grinders could be used to make a beveled/ tapered pilot.

So I made a few straight pilots that were smaller in diameter than the bore. If I wanted to know if there was a restriction I simply dropped the pilot down the barrel. If the pilot was long enough it would stick in a slightly bent barrel.

And then the story of cleaning difficult to clean barrels. Some were more difficult than others to clean. And then there are all of those horror stories about warring out the barrel with the cleaning rod, I fixed that.

F. Guffey

 

[Toejoe12]

"It don't take me long to look at it": That was the response of the reloaders when he picked up a hot horse shoe whole watching a black smith.. When the reloader picked up the shoe he burnt his hand. The old black smith said to the reloader "Hot anin't it".

I purchased an 03 Rock Island from a pawn shop in Victoria, Tx. The rifle was cheap because there was no evidence of rifling so I suggested to the dealer I would purchase the rifle if he could convince me the rifle had rifling. (again) he scrubbed and cleaned for 2 hours and then finally a hint of rifling appeared.

I should not have to explain to a bunch of reloaders the 03 had problems, with a carbon-ed up barrel the diameter is reduced, basically the rifle was a smooth barrel. I should not have to explain the diameter of the barrel was reduced from .308/.300" to less than .298". 'WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?' That old rifle was feed a steady dies of 308 bullets for years and years without coming apart.

Like you I have left over tools, 2 of my left over tools are grinders that were used to make pilots, grind pilots to length and they grind angles on the end of the pilots or the grinders could be used to make a beveled/ tapered pilot.

So I made a few straight pilots that were smaller in diameter than the bore. If I wanted to know if there was a restriction I simply dropped the pilot down the barrel. If the pilot was long enough it would stick in a slightly bent barrel.

And then the story of cleaning difficult to clean barrels. Some were more difficult than others to clean. And then there are all of those horror stories about warring out the barrel with the cleaning rod, I fixed that.

F. Guffey

Not sure I see anywhere in this reply where you gave the OP any feedback on his question. Which, by the way, I'm too interested in the responses that are coming in.

"Has anyone tried carb or brake cleaner on a patch to clean their barrels?"

I will give you credit though, I just learned it's not smart to pick up a hot horse shoe while standing in a blacksmith's shop