Kroil, really?

[Brians356]

Not exactly. You can do a little more looking and get a better feel for what it is. In any case, I have not seen any indication that it will hurt anything.

Key phrase:

"Oleic acid as its sodium salt is a major component of soap as an emulsifying agent."

I've had soap in my mouth several times (thanks, Mom) and I'm still here six decades later (and so is Mom!)
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[BP1]

Wipeout followed by some ThorroClean and that baby will sparkle.

 

[M-61]

I have a bare steel work bench top. Bare meaning just that...bare steel.
I keep a can of Kroil on it.
It successfully weeps through the bottom of the can.
I guess it's a type of self lubricating oil for steel bench tops. Quick wipe with a rag and the bench is always rust free.
Not sure if I ever opened the can. Been a few years so I guess it will one day be empty.

 

[KMart]

Sounds like good old fat.

And you have a lot of it in your diet daily.

 

[jelenko]

This is not about removing the bit of carbon from one session through a previously clean barrel - for that you could use a carbon solvent or one of the pastes applied with patches. I'm talking about carbon that is allowed to build up over hundreds of rounds without proper cleaning.

The key ingredient to removing that carbon is not the solvent.

I've proven his to my satisfaction using at least six commercial products with a nylon brush.

Nylon has great polishing properties. It polishes carbon to a mirror finish as well.

The key ingredient is the bronze brush.

Any penetrating solvent with a bronze brush will remove carbon buildup. Pick the one you fancy, apply elbow grease and a bronze brush. When the barrel is clean, patch it with whatever makes you feel good - plain AFT, Ballistol, Butch's, etc.

For copper, the copper solvents applied with a patch work very well. I prefer to apply the copper solvent with a nylon brush and a few strokes, let is sit for some time, then patch out. Repeat if necessary.

To this point, over the past couple months I have been using bronze wool wrapped around a very well worn bronze brush.
After a hundred rounds, there is always a bunch of carbon left in the grooves and bottom of the throat after 30 passes with BoreTech C4 and a new bronze brush.
90+% of that remaining carbon comes out with a bunch strokes of the bronze wool/brush and C4. Enough comes out that the only carbon left is in the very corners of the lands/grooves and just a trace on the bottom of the throat.
By 'a bunch' of strokes I mean 30+ two way cycles. So far, I've been doing 20 2-way cycles in the first few inches, then 10-15 2-way cycles through the length of the barrel. It allows me to clean the barrel in one session.
Net: No abrasives, no pulling the brush back through the muzzle.

I've also come to the conclusion that it's the mechanical action not the specific solvent.

 

[jonbearman]

I use Montana Extreme 50 bmg solvent and a stiff nylon brush and clean often when at the range like every 15 shots or so. Then if I have a carbon ring I use Iosso or JB but I think the Iosso works a bit better.

 

[Liven The Dream]

I want to buy some Kroil and I've read how others say it works to get under carbon and copper fouling but does it really?

If I wet the bore and let it sit does make cleaning out the carbon and copper easier?

I'm looking for something new as I'm running out of my current solvent so looking at Kroil plus something else maybe the Bore Tech products.

I also saw Kroil with graphite, worth a try?

Thanks for looking.

Kroil and Sea Foam upper engine cleaner cuts Carbon.
50/50 on a jag and patch .

 

[HTSmith]

I've also come to the conclusion that it's the mechanical action not the specific solvent.

I’m right there with you. I’ve tried a bunch of solvents over the years. None of them are magic.

 

[AckleymanII]

What kind of barrels are you guys using that need 8 months of soaking or motorized systems to clean?!? Lol

I mentioned that the barrel was on a Rem 7400 in 30/06 and it had never been cleaned over it's life time. The soaking is not harmful while the use of serious abrasives could change the bore.

While the vast majority of us on this site use some kind of regular cleaning method to greater/lesser degrees. There are a World full of people that never clean their rifles, not to mention those that prescribe to "NEVER" cleaning the rifle barrel, Ignorance is Bliss.

Lots of ways to skin a cat when it comes to bore cleaning, and the more tools in the tool box, the better off you are.

 

[mikeinct]

Is that what's in Marvel Mystery Oil?
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It has been a while since I used Marvel oil. That said If I had no "Kroil" it seems/smells similar enough to use for cleaning barrels. mike in ct

 

[Brians356]

It has been a while since I used Marvel oil. That said If I had no "Kroil" it seems/smells similar enough to use for cleaning barrels. mike in ct

Marvel also makes Marvel Air Tool Oil. It, too, has the wintergreen smell, but slightly different, something else added. I use it as an after-run oil in small nitro glow engines.
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[Rob01]

Back when I was in high school my buddies and I used to put marvel mystery oil in our windshield washer reservoir in our cars and run the line into our carburetors and when driving and pumping it in there it would give the car a smoke screen behind it. Lol. Used to drive down main street in Niantic CT and smoke it up. Back when that wouldn’t get you thrown in jail for some silly law. Lol

 

[Brians356]

Back when I was in high school my buddies and I used to put marvel mystery oil in our windshield washer reservoir in our cars and run the line into our carburetors and when driving and pumping it in there it would give the car a smoke screen behind it. Lol. Used to drive down main street in Niantic CT and smoke it up. Back when that wouldn’t get you thrown in jail for some silly law. Lol

Neat idea!

Shade tree treatment for carbon deposits in cylinder heads: Dribble a quart of diesel fuel down the carburetor throat while goosing the throttle to keep it from stalling. Smoke ain't the word for it. Just hope someone doesn't call the fire department.
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[m1jeff]

Neat idea!

Shade tree treatment for carbon deposits in cylinder heads: Dribble a quart of diesel fuel down the carburetor throat while goosing the throttle to keep it from stalling. Smoke ain't the word for it. Just hope someone doesn't call the fire department.
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We used brake fluid for that.

 

[Coonman300]

Back when I was in high school my buddies and I used to put marvel mystery oil in our windshield washer reservoir in our cars and run the line into our carburetors and when driving and pumping it in there it would give the car a smoke screen behind it. Lol. Used to drive down main street in Niantic CT and smoke it up. Back when that wouldn’t get you thrown in jail for some silly law. Lol

Had a buddy who’s car burned/leaked so much oil he filled windshield reservoir with oil and ran line thru hole he drilled in the oil fill cap. We joked about him never having to change the oil since it was constantly being replenished. That was in the late 70’s….The good old days!!

 

[Rob01]

Mine was early 80s so same time frame. The good old days.

 

[HTSmith]

Ditch the kroil, purchase Free All with the spray attachment on the can, 14 oz. Free All has a chemical that will actually dissolve carbon, but it takes time.

Free All will shock the heck out of you on getting old rusted bolts off a front ends, or rusted on bolts on a tractor/horse trailer.

Free All® Deep Penetrating Oil

fedpro.com

Use the arrow and drop down to the 14 oz pump sprayer

Very inexpensive postage from the company.

Free All works to work through the carbon, and the carbon is in layers. Nothing beats a high quality bronze bristle brush, with a max of 100 strokes on it, 60 strokes does a better job.

If carbon persists, then to to an Iosso or Montana extreme plastic brush, brush with one of several products, JB, Montana Extreme Copper Cream, or Flitz rifle bore cleaner.

Different calibers, different powders, shot strings, Barrel quality, barrel erosion, frequency in-between cleanings, will all demand a very different approach in each.

The approach of one method fixes all is very incorrect thinking. A bore scope will give you a PHD in gun cleaning, but ignorance is Bliss....till it is not.

Ordered some Free All with the pump sprayer based on your recommendation. Pump sprayer works much better than aerosol. Price with shipping was very reasonable. Thanks much.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I can remember back about 60 years ago my older brother was rebuilding a Chevy 265 V-8. The back side of the valves were caked with hard carbon deposits.

He bought a couple of cans of Bardahl top end treatment, poured it into a can and let he valves soak.

The carbon was easy to wipe right off after a day.

 

[RegionRat]

The study of what solvent or cleaners to use in any given setting is always complicated in the real world.

TLDR: sometimes when we are disappointed our favorite solvent doesn't work, it is because the "dirt" isn't compatible with the solvent. Lots of different "dirt" can look the same, but it isn't all the same.

I will suggest a little food for thought that explains some of the controversy as someone who had the benefits of a powerful team of chemists and labs to solve problems.

Sometimes, looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to peeking down a chamber. This is because mother nature is cruel and makes all sorts of "dirt and stains" that look the same especially when it comes near combustion... black. Not all deposits in guns, cars, near combustion, etc., are the same just because they are dark or black in color.

Very often with guns, the difference in outcome when we try our favorite cleaners or solvents comes from the idea that stuff that combustion can produce is a wide range of "dirt". Some of that stuff looks black while it can be dissolved, but some stuff that looks black is very inert.

There are parts of fuels and propellants that can become polymerized into something like a varnish, and other parts that will turn into ash or carbon. Even forms of metal oxides have a range of colors that include many shades of black, and they are inert to our cleaners and solvents.

To make things more complicated, we are in the habit of introducing various "lubricants" into the mix. Even trace amounts of lubricants or things like sizing lube or bullet wax can change when exposed to combustion temperatures. Depending on the luck of where those condense and deposit, we can be in for a chore to remove them.

Sometimes, the "dirt" is a complex mix of things that are both soluble and insoluble. Sometimes it is the ratio of soluble to insoluble, or the form of the combustion product that can be bonded like an epoxy that gives us the trouble.

So, it is not a surprise that one man's observations of a given cleaner/solvent are good when the "dirt" was something that particular cleaner/solvent can dissolve, and bad when the "dirt" was mostly inert. It is also why some examples will not dissolve at all and require mechanical abrasion to remove. YMMV.

 

[mikeinct]

I'm cheap. I make my own solvent, Ammonia, distilled water & dawn soap. works fine ..