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Hard carbon removing, help!

Frank is definitely not in favor of using abrasive with brushes. Patches only.
That makes sense if you have a premium barrel. I learned the value of a borescope so I can stay ahead of those issues. The AR barrel I was given, I did not think it was possible to get a barrel that black with carbon and not know it. When I got all the carbon out, there was no fire cracking. I guess with a 2 moa $60 barrel maybe the carbon protected the barrel.
 
I cleaned most of guns that came into the family pawn shop, unbelievable what some looked like.
I start with soaking ( insert your favorite flavor here) then use a new bronze brush and hoppes oil to break up as much carbon as I can before hitting it with abrasives on a patch wrapped around a soft nylon brush.
Most of the time I can get them real clean but never to bare steel on a used hunting rifle.
 
I cleaned most of guns that came into the family pawn shop, unbelievable what some looked like.
I start with soaking ( insert your favorite flavor here) then use a new bronze brush and hoppes oil to break up as much carbon as I can before hitting it with abrasives on a patch wrapped around a soft nylon brush.
Most of the time I can get them real clean but never to bare steel on a used hunting rifle.
JB Bore Paste has been my friend along with a borescope to monitor progress.
 
You bring up an interesting point. So good on their final day.....why take them off?
You bring up a good point, why take them off? Generally, the throats are pretty ragged around 2500 and they build up copper quite easily. Do they shoot, yes, but the cleaning regime to keep them in tune gets more frequent and laborious. My current barrel is at 1700 and is still competitively accurate. I have been using Tungsten Disulphide (WS2) coated bullets to see if I can extend the barrel’s life. Juries still out in that one for a bit longer. In the past once accuracy starts to go that dispersion will continue to grow and will never return to sub 1/2 MOA consistency. So, if it was a hunting rifle or recreationally banging steel, I’m sure it would go longer, but for F Class or other precision use, it would probably start to falter.
 
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It can be daunting for someone that's never done it before....I remember my uneasiness the first time I used JB to get rid of the hard carbon in my 220 Swift barrel :eek: Fortunately, I had a good mentor that walked me through the process. That process is what I use to this day.

Just last week, I JB'd the bore of a used 308W. Via the Hawkeye bore scope, it had been cleaned well of the powder fouling but had plenty of carbon in there. JB corrected the situation easily.

Good shootin' :) -Al

Hi, you're right, it's actually quite daunting. Doing a difficult job without a guide, knowing you can ruin everything, is daunting.
What I've learned, which goes beyond the classic skills of preparing cases, reloading, cleaning a rifle, etc., I learned by reading the two most important online forums.
Other than that, the basics were taught to me by friends who frequent the shooting range. But only one of them has competed in a few competitions, the range director, but most of the time he's busy managing the range and keeping an eye on what we do...
It's been a few years, exactly three years this October, since I got into this discipline. I started directly with long-range shooting and precision reloading. I still make a lot of mistakes in practice, but I'm happy that I can figure out where I'm going wrong, and when I can't, I come and ask you. I hope to be able to restore this rod to bare steel.
Even in this condition, it has no accuracy issues.
However, fussiness is a quality/weakness that has accompanied me since I was a child, and I always have been, when fishing, on Ham Radio, and in my other hobbies and jobs. There's a saying that "the best is the enemy of the good." In many cases, it's true, but if one manages to do better than the good, one also elevates oneself culturally.
This is just my opinion, of course.

Thanks every one!
 
You bring up an interesting point. So good on their final day.....why take them off? So I have been saving good barrels for years until I get old. So now at 78 the last two years I have shot old barrels on my ppc. Both sill shooting great, I have won with both of them. I have a 6BRX barrel with 4000 rounds laying here. I have been told in the past its a hummer. I might get it out next year. So much to learn and do forgetting conventional wisdom...or is it?
You also raised an excellent point.
I read about people who change the barrel after only 1,500 or 2,000 rounds; perhaps they compete with heavy loads, so there's a valid reason.
But another reason is that in the US, it's cheap and easy to change it. In my country, there's a lengthy legal procedure for changing the barrel; it must be tested at a national proving ground and the same serial number must be affixed to the gun.
Then the gun must be shipped via a special courier, which costs a fee.
So, in my country, changing the barrel on a rifle costs around €2,000 on average; with that money, you can buy a great new gun. In our country, we don't change the barrel on a non-competition rifle after only 2,000 rounds ;)
 
Sounds like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

But abrasive are bad.

OK then.

We're launching a copper projectile down a rifled bore propelled by a combustible that leaves a residue and expecting it to be exactly the same every time.

Huh.
You're right, but the same example applies to some people, even if you don't raise chickens in your car, you commit to cleaning it at least once a year... ;)
 
Here a video from the barrel:


Also some shoots...
 

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I've used this JB for years:

Working the JB into a patch and then wrapping it around the brush gives more contact area with the bore.

With the guide in the action, a lot of the JB on the patch ends up inside the bore guide.

Good shootin' :) -Al
But if you put the guide on rod first, all that JB ends up in the chamber as you squeeze that patch wrapped brush into the bore. I'd think it would be easier to get it all out of the guide vs the chamber
 
When you guys put JB or Iosso on a patch wrapped brush, do you exit the muzzle and pull back across the crown?
I start at the neck/leade area and go a few inches in, pull back and increase the depth into the barrel a couple inches with each stroke, finally stopping just short of the crown (I have my cleaning rod marked so it's not a guess) then take 4-5 full length strokes and then finally all the way out. Wet and dry patch, look with the bore scope, repeat if necessary. Also, patch on jag, not on brush with abrasives for me. I will use patch on brush for higher solvent retention, though (Boresmith jag brush).
 
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But if you put the guide on rod first, all that JB ends up in the chamber as you squeeze that patch wrapped brush into the bore. I'd think it would be easier to get it all out of the guide vs the chamber
No, it doesn't.

Work the JB into the patch with your fingers....the JB isn't all blobbed up on the patch like it was dipped into the jar. Wrap the patch tightly around the brush...a worn brush works well. Push the brush into the first part of the barrel and slide the bore guide forward.
 
Concentrated nitric acid will dissolve carbon (I'm a chemist by the way), but it will dissolve the bore as well; we're limited by what barrel steel will tolerate.
Will it passivate above approx 90% concentration like copper does?
Im not a chemist but have used Nitric in this concentration and done the 70% vs 90 + % test on copper
not saying its a fun idea in any way with that high concentration to use for a barrel
----
I personally would not use it for this from the fumes alone
just asking the facts not the feelings
 
JB does the job along with Patch-out. Patch-out first. The trick to get the carbon out of the corner of the lands is to use a patch with JB rolled on a nylon brush. No special concoction is needed or magic trick. Yep - use a guide. Use a clean patch on another brush to remove JB. Then elbow grease.
JB do not wear a barrel - barrel will die of shooting it, not cleaning with it.
 
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You also raised an excellent point.
I read about people who change the barrel after only 1,500 or 2,000 rounds; perhaps they compete with heavy loads, so there's a valid reason.
But another reason is that in the US, it's cheap and easy to change it. In my country, there's a lengthy legal procedure for changing the barrel; it must be tested at a national proving ground and the same serial number must be affixed to the gun.
Then the gun must be shipped via a special courier, which costs a fee.
So, in my country, changing the barrel on a rifle costs around €2,000 on average; with that money, you can buy a great new gun. In our country, we don't change the barrel on a non-competition rifle after only 2,000 rounds ;)
It's great to hear from you and hear how lucky we are here in the US. Kind of scary how other people deal with their situation. I remember I was on R&R in Paris and I took my shirt off in a public park to get some sun light on my body and a policeman game over and hit my on my knee with his stick and told me "NO BON" and I was not happy about being woke up by some guy with a baton hitting me. While women could go down the Seine river and strip down to their underwear to get some sun on them with no problem. So, I guess when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It's a crazy world. Seems like we are the only country that is allowed so many freedoms. GOD BLESS AMERICA
 
I start at the neck/leade area and go a few inches in, pull back and increase the depth into the barrel a couple inches with each stroke, finally stopping just short of the crown (I have my cleaning rod marked so it's not a guess) then take 4-5 full length strokes and then finally all the way out. Wet and dry patch, look with the bore scope, repeat if necessary. Also, patch on jag, not on brush with abrasives for me. I will use patch on brush for higher solvent retention, though (Boresmith jag brush).
I have to force the brush out of the muzzle because even using a lot of force it doesn't come back if it's still in the barrel, I use the blue brush from Iosso.
 
I have to force the brush out of the muzzle because even using a lot of force it doesn't come back if it's still in the barrel, I use the blue brush from Iosso.
That's why I don't use a wire brush with the paste abrasives, just a patch on a jag; you can reverse direction.
 

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