Mucky Sludge in Muzzle Brake Expansion Chamber

[ricco1949]

Learned something yesterday....

Gonna re-barrel my LRBR from Wildcat 6x47L .100 short to 6BR after running home with my tail between my legs from my first LRBR match in 15 years.

500 rounds on barrel and brake.

Had to remove the Harrel's tuner/brake to slide on aluminum split ring for barrel vise.

Whoa....small expansion chamber on brake is full of slimy, mucky sludge. It appears to be a combo of cleaning fluid residue and carbon with hard carbon underneath. Certainly enough to cause bullet strikes.

Ran brake in sonic cleaner for couple hours to remove it.

Built this gun in 2014 and last fired in 2018 before this year so I don't recall if I've ever removed and cleaned the brake before.

Another competitor commented on my rifle smoking a lot but I discounted it based on the the very humid conditions and all rifles appeared to be smoking.

Wonder if sighter rounds would blow this sludge out or if it could cause the flyers and two missing bullets I experienced at the match??

Definitely gonna be sonic cleaning the brake regularly in the future.

 

[JMayo]

Pushing allot of cleaning fluid out of the barrel !

I've never understood using costly fluids as a flush. I try to balance the amount i put on the patch vs. what spits out the bore.

Also many take the brake off to clean the barrel and Clean the brake with a spray cleaner like gun scrubber.

 

[280ai]

I always remove my Harrels brakes when I clean the bbl and clean it seperatly

 

[Mark W]

Gene Davis, a well known rimfire gunsmith warned me about this years ago. The way he explained it, as the carbon builds up, it’s like slowly adjusting a tuner without knowing it. Ever since, I have cleaned mine periodically.

 

[ebb]

Maybe with a clean break a new barrel will not be needed?????

 

[ricco1949]

Maybe with a clean break a new barrel will not be needed?????

I'm certainly gonna give that a try at the practice range.

 

[ricco1949]

Gene Davis, a well known rimfire gunsmith warned me about this years ago. The way he explained it, as the carbon builds up, it’s like slowly adjusting a tuner without knowing it. Ever since, I have cleaned mine periodically.

Kinda like "Death by a thousand cuts".

 

[jpx2rk]

I usually take the brake off before I clean my varmint rifles, check to make sure it's not gummed up too bad, and also clean the muzzle while it's off. I also check the threads on both the barrel and brake to ensure they are clean as well.

 

[SKWERLZ]

I also remove the brake when cleaning.