Carbon ring cure...

[searcher]

That is a pretty low round count to run into a carbon ring. Regardless - after each shoot, I use Boretech solvent and an appropriate-sized bronze pistol brush on a pistol cleaning rod which has a loop on the hand-held side to allow you to twist the brush. I try not to run it into the bore - just up against the beginning of the throat. A dozen twists after each shoot and I have never encountered carbon ring build-up since using this method. You can also wrap a patch around the brush and coat with JB paste, but not normally necessary. On yours - might be a good idea. Repeat till no black comes out on the brush. Might take two or three patches with JB to verify all gone. Very important to get all that paste out each time. I first use solvent and normal rifle brush, then hold action vertically and blast out with spray cleaner shot into the chamber with a tube, then followed again with patches.

 

[Nemsis]

If you have time to let the barrel soak I’ve had very good results with using Free All penetrating oil that has an ingredient to breakdown cellulose. I shoot mostly PRS and NRL22 and after a match I put 2 or 3 wet patches with Free All to get the loose fouling out then soak the barrel and let it sit for 2 days then clean like normal. Bore tech carbon/copper cleaner CLR for stubborn hard carbon and Iosso paste to polish up the fire cracking.

Free All is cheap $7 a can and available at every auto parts store

 

[rebs]

If you have time to let the barrel soak I’ve had very good results with using Free All penetrating oil that has an ingredient to breakdown cellulose. I shoot mostly PRS and NRL22 and after a match I put 2 or 3 wet patches with Free All to get the loose fouling out then soak the barrel and let it sit for 2 days then clean like normal. Bore tech carbon/copper cleaner CLR for stubborn hard carbon and Iosso paste to polish up the fire cracking.

Free All is cheap $7 a can and available at every auto parts store
View attachment 1466800

what do you mean by iosso paste to polish up the fire cracking?

 

[Ned Ludd]

If you have time to let the barrel soak I’ve had very good results with using Free All penetrating oil that has an ingredient to breakdown cellulose. I shoot mostly PRS and NRL22 and after a match I put 2 or 3 wet patches with Free All to get the loose fouling out then soak the barrel and let it sit for 2 days then clean like normal. Bore tech carbon/copper cleaner CLR for stubborn hard carbon and Iosso paste to polish up the fire cracking.

Free All is cheap $7 a can and available at every auto parts store
View attachment 1466800

Which is the ingredient in Free all that "breaks down cellulose"?

 

[BoydAllen]

About a minute using Google, the excerpt is from Wikkipedia.
"Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is the common name for the organic compound 4-methylpentan-2-one, condensed chemical formula (CH3)2CHCH2C(O)CH3. This colourless liquid, a ketone, is used as a solvent for gums, resins, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and nitrocellulose.[2]"

 

[Ned Ludd]

About a minute using Google, the excerpt is from Wikkipedia.
"Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is the common name for the organic compound 4-methylpentan-2-one, condensed chemical formula (CH3)2CHCH2C(O)CH3. This colourless liquid, a ketone, is used as a solvent for gums, resins, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and nitrocellulose.[2]"

To dissolve something does not mean it has been "broken down", which implies chemical degredation. I acknowledge that dissolution is probably what was meant.

 

[358WCF]

I did some experimenting a few years ago after getting a Teslong. This rifle came to me used in the previous century with ?? rounds fired & I've put maybe 2000 rounds through it. It was the worst carbon build-up in my collection. Sharp Shoot R's Carb-out was used. I brushed & brushed & next size brushed in a vigorous circular motion with the liquid & it just didn't fully dissolve the chunky stuff. I gave up & put the bottle on the back of the shelf.

1st pic is brass chambered & original carbon ring. Red arrows show approx. same spot.


2nd pic is bolt lifted & case being unchambered.


3rd pic is after 3 or 4 days of brushing with Carb-out.


4th pic is later, after firing approx. 100 rounds.


The last pic shows the sharp edge at the end of the chamber & start of the leade is fairly crisp in comparison to earlier pics. No chunks of carbon are visible. It appears that the Carb-out either softened the carbon & blew it out when firing, or chemically altered it enough to burn away, or...?

Only one barrel & not any real data other than the before & after pics. Waiting for another nasty barrel to appear & will try Free All.

 

[BoydAllen]

As most probably know, nitrocellulose is the main ingredient in smokeless gunpowder, and while there is a difference between unburned powder and powder fouling, there may be enough residual nitrocellulose for free all to have a beneficial effect for its removal. I have corresponded with a very active shooter who has used it for that, and between us we have worked on the best way to use it, in his case, to remove what we call hard carbon, but that is another story, for another thread.

 

[Ccrider]

A nylon brush with jb and about 30 strokes. Works for me every time.

 

[Nemsis]

F

what do you mean by iosso paste to polish up the fire cracking?

Fire cracking or alligator skin as you can see in the borescope photos above are actually damage to your barrel and ruff up your bore. If you don’t polish it and smooth it out your barrel will collect more fouling faster.

 

[Nemsis]

Which is the ingredient in Free all that "breaks down cellulose"?

View attachment 1466820

I did not discover this I got it from an F-class YouTuber

 

[Bottom Fodder]

How many barrels have been switch out because of poor performance that could have been saved for longer life with a little elbow cleaning with the right cleaner

 

[Ccrider]

I did not discover this I got it from an F-class YouTuber

I bought a case of Free All more than 5 years ago. Down to my last can. It works better than anything liquid I have tried. Still, it does not work as good as jb and a little elbow grease.

 

[searcher]

F

Fire cracking or alligator skin as you can see in the borescope photos above are actually damage to your barrel and ruff up your bore. If you don’t polish it and smooth it out your barrel will collect more fouling faster.

Yes - and the sharp edges "pull" at your bullet jacket and scratch it. When in the military, I saw my first experience with how much those fire cracks will hold carbon in rifles which saw a lot of full-auto use. When we would re-clean the rifles when we had down time (seems like that was all we ever did), the first patch would come out black, despite the bore being "clean" the last time we finished cleaning. Impossible to get all the carbon completely out of those deep fissures.

 

[Nemsis]

You definitely can’t get away from elbow grease

 

[Nemsis]

I did some experimenting a few years ago after getting a Teslong. This rifle came to me used in the previous century with ?? rounds fired & I've put maybe 2000 rounds through it. It was the worst carbon build-up in my collection. Sharp Shoot R's Carb-out was used. I brushed & brushed & next size brushed in a vigorous circular motion with the liquid & it just didn't fully dissolve the chunky stuff. I gave up & put the bottle on the back of the shelf.

1st pic is brass chambered & original carbon ring. Red arrows show approx. same spot.
View attachment 1466828

2nd pic is bolt lifted & case being unchambered.
View attachment 1466829

3rd pic is after 3 or 4 days of brushing with Carb-out.
View attachment 1466831

4th pic is later, after firing approx. 100 rounds.
View attachment 1466832

The last pic shows the sharp edge at the end of the chamber & start of the leade is fairly crisp in comparison to earlier pics. No chunks of carbon are visible. It appears that the Carb-out either softened the carbon & blew it out when firing, or chemically altered it enough to burn away, or...?

Only one barrel & not any real data other than the before & after pics. Waiting for another nasty barrel to appear & will try Free All.

Those pictures are amazing what boresope are you using?

 

[Ned Ludd]

I did not discover this I got it from an F-class YouTuber

I see. Don"t get me wrong, I use Free All as part of my cleaning regimen, and it works better than anything else I've tried on stubborn [hard] carbon. The caveat is that Free All doesn't do much of anything by itself, it also requires mechanical action such as a bronze brush for best results. But when combined with a bronze brush (i.e. elbow grease, as you noted above), it helps get out really baked-in carbon that is resistant to most any other barrel cleaning agents short of those containing abrasives. Regardless, I was curious what you meant by breaking down cellulose. The MIK may be able to dissolve cellulose, but I wouldn't say it's even a really "good" solvent for that. There are likely several other reasons it was chosen for use as an ingredient in Free All, including its ability to solubilize the other components, a relatively low vapor pressure as compared to some other organic solvents, and some of its opther physical properties.

 

[358WCF]

Those pictures are amazing what boresope are you using?

A $50 Teslong.

 

[Nemsis]

Ned I wish I could give you a more technical answer but I’m not a chemical engineer I’m just a guy that likes to shoot regularly lol!

I don’t use free all for hard carbon I use it first to get as much stuff out as possible. I’ve found that if I let it sit in the barrel for 2 days it loosens up everything. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s a penetrating oil and it’s getting in behind the carbon and copper or it’s the MIBK doing it because I didn’t get these results with Kroil. But after soaking I use a blue Iosso nylon brush to scrub the barrel about 10-15 strokes and then start patching and most of the carbon and copper comes out easily. I breakout the bore scope to see what’s left if it’s hard carbon I put 3 wet patches of CLR and let them sit 10 minutes then dry patch then liberally flush it out with denatured alcohol then I hit it with the felt pellets covered in Iosso paste to polish it up.

 

[Nemsis]

A $50 Teslong.

That’s what I’m using maybe I need to play with the mirror adjustment to get it clearer.