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DIRTY BARREL HELP

I have just finished my 6br project and I'm currently working up a load shooting 107g smk's with a 30" barrel.
I'm using RL15 and CCI 450 and achieving good velocity,31g = 2930 fps) with no pressure signs at all but.....it seams like my barrel is full of powder residue, i mean overly dirty only after a few shots?
So my question is this,
do i need to load hotter to get a cleaner burn?
or less powder because I'm using to much?
Any ideas?

Many thanks
 
Montana Extreme, Montana Extreme, Montana Extreme, need I say it again. The best stuff for cleaning a barrel since Hoppes #9 was the only choice.
Rustystud
 
Who made the barrel and what is the land/groove configuration?

Are you running moly?

Are you seeing copper or just powder fouling. Some people complain about RL15 being sooty. Other guys swear it burns VERY clean when you get the pressure up near max.
 
I'm using a Krieger barrel 1-8 twist with naked bullets.
I use wipe out/accelerator for cleaning.
That's correct chief I'm having a very sooty barrel which i have never seen to this extent in any other caliber, maybe i should up the charge a little as I'm not seeing any pressure signs or copper fouling at all.

Many thanks

Mike
 
Duck
You need to monitor powder residue collecting in your barrel. Powder residue in a barrel creates an abrasive material that each successive bullet travels over and also buries copper in your barrel. One way of controlling this would be to use a cleaner like Birchwood Casey Black Powder solvent, this a gel that works well. This in addition to your normal cleaning should remove the powdwer fouling. Brush it in the same way you do your other solvent. Patch it out after say 10 minutes with wet rubbing alcohol patches. Even wet alcohol patches by themself will remove powder fouling. Your other choice if you are getting heavy powder fouling is change powders, all powders leave some residue and should be dealt with.
Stephen Perry
 
Wipe-out w Accelerator is a great cleaner,it's what I use), but it is more suitable for an end-of-day extended soak. Sounds like you'll want to run some wet patches through there every 15-20 rounds.

Brushing can help--but I,and John Krieger) like to keep that to a minimum. I think I'd just try the wet patches 'til the barrel burnishes in a little. And yes, you could try uping the charge. Just do that in very small increments--.01 or .02 grains. When you're near max, pressures rise very quickly. Chron your loads if possible. If you see the speed start to flatten OR spike really quickly then you're too hot. Typically, we see a velocity increase of 10-13 fps per tenth of a grain when operating in the upper ranges of a load.
 
Thanks very much for some great advice...
i shot my normal load of 31g RL15 with good accuracy, i had some 105 VLD left over so i loaded three of each at 31.5 31.7 31.9 with very impressive accuracy about .5" at 300 yards with again absolutely no signs of pressure? which is kind of concerning me as i was expecting signs at 31.9g.
the 105 were jammed .020" into the lands.
I'm not sure to push the load any further but i would like to know my max load..or yes the 105 VLD were moly coated and these were the first moly coated bullets down this barrel.
I have ordered some more to test out the hot load to see if it burns clean.
I will keep you posted on the results.

Again many thanks

Mike
 
Mike, it's common for some powders to burn cleaner,less powder residue) as pressures increase. However, I've never found that to be the case with RL-15 in any of the chamberings I've worked with. It's always behaved much as H414 does..lots of 'blacky carbon' in the barrel.

A couple of powders with similar burn rates that you could try are N140 and IMR4320. Both have been much cleaner than RL15 in my tinkering. -Al

P.S. One of the reasons that you're not seeing a big increase in pressure signs is that when the chamber is throated correctly for the 105-107-ish bullets in the 6BR, there is a pretty generous amount of freebore length. This freebore length is a big 'moderator' of chamber pressures, normally allowing both larger charges of powder and delayed pressure 'signs' than with a shorter freebore that would be used with a 65-68 gr. bullet. Add to this the 6BR's moderate case capacity, and big doses of powder become the norm. Freebore diameter also plays a big part in this.

With a well matched combo of chamber/brass/dies in a competition rifle, increased pressures are your friend, not the Boogey Man as most would have us believe. This is proven every weekend in competitive rifle shooting,BR, Palma, etc.).
 
Another item; don't use Wipe Out to clean the carbon fouling out. It's designed more for copper. Use some other cleaner for the carbon, first. I use Mpro-7 but almost any of the new cleaners will do the job. Save the Wipe Out for after the carbon removal.
 
Hipshot said:
Another item; don't use Wipe Out to clean the carbon fouling out. It's designed more for copper. Use some other cleaner for the carbon, first. I use Mpro-7 but almost any of the new cleaners will do the job. Save the Wipe Out for after the carbon removal.

Wipe-out is effective on carbon and the loose black stuff in barrels, but because of the dwell time requirement, it is much more effective if you use three or four wet patches first to get most of the loose carbon out. As Hipshot notes, any number of cleaners can do that. I've used MPro7, Butches, Shooters Choice and Eliminator, all with good results. Where Wipe-Out shines is the foaming action that gets in the nooks and crannies. I've also found it is most effective if you re-apply the foam after 45 minutes or so. Don't patch out then--just add another blast of foam. That effectively increases the concentration of active ingredients. I've found, with the double application of Wipe-Out, a dwell time of about 4 hours does the job. Rough barrels may need to soak overnight, however.
 
theduck:

I have fund barrels must be conditioned before Molly takes effectand this has been substantiated. After about 10 rounds of molly coated bullets down a well cleaned barrel then you begin seeing a velocity stablization. I have found mollied bullets shoot both with less presure and less velocity with the same loads than with naked bullets. I find barrels after conditioned can go longer stretchs between cleaning. Some swear by molly and some swear at molly. It is a personal choice. If you shoot molly then decide to go back to naked it will take you several cleanings and shooting sessions to get your bore back to a premolly state. In fact you may never get all the molly out.
Rustystud
 
I think he knows how to remove the fouling.
I thought the question was why is he getting this powder fouling. All i can suggest is if you have no pressure signs try a little hotter load may make the powder burn cleaner or change the powder try one that others have said burns clean and see how that goes. I haven`t encounted this problem with my limited experience of loading i load 5 different cals but all seem to burn clean, maybe thats because i use good Aussie powder ADI.
 

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