I must give kudos to Bore Tech, simply because they saw a market and worked to address the need. Admittedly, this product is outside of my budget, but for those with many suppressors and the wherewithal to get one, it looks like the right answer.
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Bore Tech Suppressor cleaner
- Thread starter Lunchbox27
- Start date
Looking forward to the review. Been following debating on buying the whole kit
What I’ve been doing is taking two or three coffee filters, placing them in a decent size funnel and dumping the used can juice through that and into a clear water bottle. The filters catch the big stuff obviously. I wait a few days for the sediment to settle on the bottom of the bottle and then pull out the clean solution with a syringe. I’m sure you could also use some kind of container with a sump to get the sediment out from the bottom via gravity, but the water bottle was just what I had sitting around at the time.
I keep meaning to try and sketch up a 3D printable wand that can connect to a hose and has radial holes to do something similar. Obviously wouldn't be as good as a pressure washer, but if the solvent really does turn build up into goop, it might help loosen up and wash out some of the goop between cycles.
My solution to suppressor carbon buildup is to have suppressors that are 100% titanium and then to soak them in CLR for days. Rinse out and almost all of the carbon comes out. I leave a big mason jar full of CLR and just drop the suppressor in about once every thousand rounds. I have used the same jar of CLR for awhile and it just keeps working. The carbon settles to the bottom of the jar. Very easy to do, but don't do this unless you have titanium suppressors.
I have read conflicting reports on CLR vs stainless. I use CLR to clean stainless barrels but I don't let it soak and I always clean it out with another protective solution. I would have worries about soaking stainless for days, but I would probably try it if I had an all stainless suppressor. It probably wouldn't do much more than very minor pitting.
Hats off to @Lunchbox27 Thanks for putting in the time and money...for science. Interested to see how the pressure washer works.
If it does, I'm just south of you in VA, interested in renting that thing out??
If it does, I'm just south of you in VA, interested in renting that thing out??
Just bring your pressure washer into the bathroom, it will be fine! Science does not wait on the weather!
Damn right and we are below the Mason-Dixon line...isn't that supposed to guarantee us mild winters? hahaha
Aright… been a while. I almost forgot I had all this shit. Last night I was trying to screw on my brake mount onto my Omega can, after running the Area419 system for 1,000 plus rounds. Since I couldn’t screw down the ASR adapter onto the can, I figured this would be a great time to clean it, and test the BoreTech system.
Let me say again, this was paid for by me. BoreTech has not been in contact with me for this. Purely purchased for my own use, and giving an honest review. Also, I am not a chemist or an engineer and this is just my opinion. I own enough suppressors now, and shoot a lot where cleaning them at least once a year, is beneficial.
First, the 2 chemicals “A” and “B”
A: If this isn’t CLR rebottled into BoreTech Part A, I’ll be surprised. I smells identical to CLR. It looks like CLR. Carbon reacts to it the same way it does to CLR. Is it CLR?? Maybe. BoreTech said this is safe for ALL suppressors, even Aluminum. That said, before using this on your Aluminum cans, I would test it against something first, or stick with BoreTech C4.
B: This smells nothing like A, and is pretty close to C4 in terms of smell, appearance and carbon reaction to it.
With regards to both chemicals, they did their job in breaking down the caked carbon in my can.
The suppressor holder. This I really like. Simple, effective, the can doesn’t move. If you mess up with sealing the can, it simply flows into the tin bucket. They do supply various sized plastic corks, which worked fine. I did end up using some plumbers tape to seal the end adaptor (Omega 300 flat end cap) on the can, then plugged it, which lead to zero leaks in both 24 hour soaks.
The Lance: This thing is very nice. I bought a $30 pressure washer handle, and a Craftsman 1700 PSi pressure washer from Amazon. Set everything up, read the fucking manual, and off I went. The 1700 PSi seems to be just fine for flushing this can out. Now, part A I was stupid and didn’t flush it into a bucket to collect all that came out, (so no Part A flush photos) but it was a lot. Part B, I did collect into a Home Depot bucket.
Plenty of carbon chunks, dirty bong water and left over clumps in the HD bucket.
Now, is it worth it?? Well, that depends. Do you have a bunch of cans and do they get a lot of use? Maybe the $250 is worth it for the system, esp if you already own a pressure washer.
Personally, using C4 as a cleaning solution, or CLR ( if your can’s materials allow it) is the cheapest route and find someone willing to make you a flushing lance. IMO, the lance is where this kit shines.
Let me say again, this was paid for by me. BoreTech has not been in contact with me for this. Purely purchased for my own use, and giving an honest review. Also, I am not a chemist or an engineer and this is just my opinion. I own enough suppressors now, and shoot a lot where cleaning them at least once a year, is beneficial.
First, the 2 chemicals “A” and “B”
A: If this isn’t CLR rebottled into BoreTech Part A, I’ll be surprised. I smells identical to CLR. It looks like CLR. Carbon reacts to it the same way it does to CLR. Is it CLR?? Maybe. BoreTech said this is safe for ALL suppressors, even Aluminum. That said, before using this on your Aluminum cans, I would test it against something first, or stick with BoreTech C4.
B: This smells nothing like A, and is pretty close to C4 in terms of smell, appearance and carbon reaction to it.
With regards to both chemicals, they did their job in breaking down the caked carbon in my can.
The suppressor holder. This I really like. Simple, effective, the can doesn’t move. If you mess up with sealing the can, it simply flows into the tin bucket. They do supply various sized plastic corks, which worked fine. I did end up using some plumbers tape to seal the end adaptor (Omega 300 flat end cap) on the can, then plugged it, which lead to zero leaks in both 24 hour soaks.
The Lance: This thing is very nice. I bought a $30 pressure washer handle, and a Craftsman 1700 PSi pressure washer from Amazon. Set everything up, read the fucking manual, and off I went. The 1700 PSi seems to be just fine for flushing this can out. Now, part A I was stupid and didn’t flush it into a bucket to collect all that came out, (so no Part A flush photos) but it was a lot. Part B, I did collect into a Home Depot bucket.
Plenty of carbon chunks, dirty bong water and left over clumps in the HD bucket.
Now, is it worth it?? Well, that depends. Do you have a bunch of cans and do they get a lot of use? Maybe the $250 is worth it for the system, esp if you already own a pressure washer.
Personally, using C4 as a cleaning solution, or CLR ( if your can’s materials allow it) is the cheapest route and find someone willing to make you a flushing lance. IMO, the lance is where this kit shines.
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Good info and solid review. It helps to cement in my mind the technique I’ve ended up adopting after a few early non-scientific experiments. I soak in CLR first, rinse, then submerged can in a solution of Simple Green for a few cycles of heated ultrasonic. Seems to work really well so far and sort of mimics the method of the Boretech system minus the Lance/pressure wand.
I’ve no doubt that the pressure wand works, as it makes sense after the carbon has been weakened and there are chunks to dislodge.
Bear in mind that simple green is not recommended for use on aluminum.
I’ve no doubt that the pressure wand works, as it makes sense after the carbon has been weakened and there are chunks to dislodge.
Bear in mind that simple green is not recommended for use on aluminum.
Anybody know of anyone with just a flushing lance for pressure washer? I’d like to get one before dropping $250 on the kit
I imagine that it wouldn’t be too hard to make one up yourself. You just need a pressure washer quick connector attached to a small tube that is closed on one end and a few holes drilled in it.
And yes, that’s a simplification, but you get the idea. If I owned a pressure washer to begin with, I’d do it myself.
And yes, that’s a simplification, but you get the idea. If I owned a pressure washer to begin with, I’d do it myself.
The cone on the end, with the spring (moves/compresses as you go down the bore) is absolutely needed, as well. Without, you’re getting splashed.
I’ll post a video on here tomorrow of the lance in action, with just my 1700 psi pressure washer
I’ll post a video on here tomorrow of the lance in action, with just my 1700 psi pressure washer
God damn! Definitely a win!I borrowed the wand from a buddy. My Ultra 7 weighed 21oz. I soaked it in CLR for 3 days. Flushed it. Dried it. Removed the CB. Soaked it for another day. Then flushed it out with the wand. What a difference! The wand absolutely blasts the junk out. I soaked the can for another 12 hours. Blasted it again. After a week of soaking and two sessions with the wand, I could only get the can down to 13oz. I think it should probably be 10 or 11 oz without the CB(Gen 1).I'll take it. Everywhere I can see by eye is silvery, shiny. With a borescope I can tell there are carbon deposits in the crannys of the baffles. Oh well. I got 8 oz of carbon out. I'll call that a win.
I battled for months with my Omega. The most I got removed was around 3-4oz. This was using all different types of solvents (granted, not CLR), ultra-sonic cleaner, scrubbing, waiting, bitching, crying.
Finally sent it to SilencerCo and they re-cored it. But, I'd rather not send my cans back every year/every other year and just do it myself.
If BoreTech is smart, they will eventually sell just the flushing lance.
Out of curiosity how many rounds are you guys seeing on the can to warrant such additional weight in the can? (I know rate of fire, ammo, powder, etc might have a different effect on carbon build up)
I have a SF can that’s lived on SBR’s with probably around 4000rounds on it and it’s still the advertised weight within an ounce.
I have a SF can that’s lived on SBR’s with probably around 4000rounds on it and it’s still the advertised weight within an ounce.
That’s what she said.
But I agree. I’d buy just the wand if it was available that way.
As to how often to clean, as suggested it is highly dependent upon a number of variables. Such as, caliber, barrel length, powder used, powder burn rate and probably baffle design too, just to name some that make sense. In the case of my .260, I’ve found that cleaning like I mentioned above about every 1000 rounds or so is a good maintenance schedule and only requires about 6-8 hours CLR soak followed by three or four 4-minute heated cycles in the ultrasonic Simple Green solution to get it pretty darn clean.
Like anything else, if you let it go too long it’s going to be much more of a chore to get it clean.
I use the cheap, dangerous method (the one we're not supposed to talk about). I do wear gloves and act like I'm handling radioactive material. I just drain the liquid into Pyrex beaker when I'm done, and allow the lead acetate/carbon slurry to evaporate completely down to a blue crust rather than deal with the poisonous liquid. It usually takes a week to evaporate completely.
Once the can has dried a couple of hours in the sonic bath with purple degreaser and it's literally like brand new. I know people like to freak out about it, but as long as you're careful I don't consider it too dangerous.
Once the can has dried a couple of hours in the sonic bath with purple degreaser and it's literally like brand new. I know people like to freak out about it, but as long as you're careful I don't consider it too dangerous.
I’ve used that unspeakable method also, and did same as you to dispose of it afterwards with the exception that I poured it into a cheap aluminum baking pan before evaporating it.
However, it doesn’t seem to work nearly as well on cans used on centerfire rounds, as they tend to be copper skinned as opposed to the exposed lead of rimfire. At least in my experience. It seems to me that the CLR, then US/Simple Green treatment works much better for that.
I assume you speaketh of the Dip. Sounds like it works good on centerfire cans too?
Even dried out, I take it that the “crust” is easily transformed back into lead acetate with water, so I would be leery of tossing it. I have read tips on precipitating the lead out of the solution with a type of salt. This way you’re left with regular lead, and the crust that one has tossed into the landfill does not reassume its evil self after it’s first rainstorm.
Cleaning cans is getting old, and I have take-apart cans! I am tempted to give the dip a go.
But do also wear a respirator as well (with the correct filter cartridge) and the correct gloves (I haven’t done the research on the gloves…yet. Not all gloves stop all chem). I guess you can get poisoned from the lead acetate fumes too.
Real friendly stuff, that lead acetate.
Does the UltraSonic SimpleGeen method mess the finish up on cans? Been wanting to get a US for rimfire and handgun baffles. I think the CLR soak, Wand treatment, and a US bath would be superb…. Just don’t want to strip the pretty little paint on my cans
I cannot say how it will affect paint. My cans are all Ti and blue/black. There has been some but not extreme discoloration in truth, but since I use a cover 99% of the time, it doesn’t matter to me.
IMO it's not just purely a matter of round count. The caliber matters a lot. I have a 5.56 can that I owned for 5-6 years and also a 30 cal can owned for about a year or two less. The 5.56 can hardly gained any weight albeit I did get some out when I cleaned it. The 30 cal can was shot primarily on 300 BLK and substantially less rounds than the 5.56 but I got 4 or 5 times as much stuff out of it when I cleaned them both.
You both might like my recent post on the subject after helping a shooting friend neutralize a bunch of that
I think he means this link:
Suppressors - Disposing of the DIP Solution
For anyone who uses the DIP solution (50/50 mix of peroxide and vinegar), how do you dispose it? The reason that I ask is that everything I've read puts it almost off the charts for toxicity after the suppressor is cleaned. That's especially true when a rimfire suppressor is cleaned with it.
www.snipershide.com
I’ve been advocating against the dip for years. The second I barely consider it you come in and crush my dreams forever. Bastage. Lol
In other news, attached is a glove reference I found. @WindstormSCR correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe lead acetate = acetic acid (at least in terms of this PDF).
Also, some light reading: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Lead_II_-acetate
I mean, if you know sufficient chemistry, and have the proper equipment and knowledge, its not as bad as some other things. Definitly not on the list of what I would recommend to people who don’t know exactly what they are doing.
What that’s telling you is that acetic acid is both the parent compound and a component of the listed compound. those have implications for how the material is prepared, and how it is likely to be found (in this case in a solution of aqueous acetic acid)
if you were to do a full and proper chemical workup it would be possible to precipitate the lead out with no surplus sulfuric acid then mechanically separate it out of the acetic acid for re+use of the acid solution, but that isn’t something most people have any business doing.
surplus sulfuric acid in the mix creates its own hazards, as stuff likes to react very vigorously and violently with sulfuric acid even in small aqueous quantities
the point of the instructons are just to make it safer to handle, and be re-homed into a larger plastic container if neutralizing multiple batches prior to proper disposal at a hazardous waste facility.
I mean, if someone wanted to get a suppressor really extra squeaky shiny clean there is always pirahna solution. (search NileRed on youtube for an explanation/example)
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Got the kit. Prior to using it, did 4 x 1 HR sessions carbon destroyer in an ultrasonic cleaner. My brothers can is supposed to be 450 g new. Was >500g (can’t remember exactly). The US cleaning only got it to 491g. With the BoreTech A+Wand+B+Wand got it to 481g, but that also included using a brush on the first baffle surface, which had some seriously hard carbon baked on to it. FYI, 481g is as light as this can has ever been, because the place where my brother bought it obviously shot through it during the 11 month stamp wait.
Boroscoped it and it’s shiny throughout except for a couple spots (same location in each baffle), where the carbon has built a “lump”. No way to get to it.
Boroscoped it and it’s shiny throughout except for a couple spots (same location in each baffle), where the carbon has built a “lump”. No way to get to it.
The best thing you can do for cleaning any can is to treat it when it's clean. Use silicone oil or dot5 brake fluid and get it on every square millimeter inside the can. Your carbon will wipe off when you clean it next time or you can easily remove the carbon by about any cleaning method for welded cans, just make sure you treat it again after you clean it. Once you take the time and trouble to clean one really well, treat it and you won't have to go through that ever again. It smokes like crazy the first few shots but after that there is no effect from the silicone oil. Works great
I have pondered this as well. In the grand scheme of things (for a .22 can) I'll stick with CLR, an ultra-sonic, and a SS pin tumbler (And gloves! Lots of gloves!). Worst case I have to use something hard to scrape off a bit of metallic lead. It might take 2 days but I can get my Masks back down to new weight everytime.
That's basically of zero concern to me frankly. It smokes a few times and then it's done. I shoot a few rounds and the smoke blows down range and I'm fine. It works extremely well too. I'd much rather this than do anything with lead accitate.
I asked TBAC about cleaning when I bought my cans. I was told not to worry about it. In short, the folks at TBAC found little performance degradation when their cans are "dirty". Perhaps things have changed. This was a few years ago.
I get that and let mine go for well over 1000 rounds, all H4350. After a while, there was definitely a degradation in sound suppression. Noticeable by ear, no fancy equipment required.
Many soaks, sonic cleaning cycles, and flushes later, I decided that easiest was to do a quick disk and sonic cycle after 500 rounds.
My experience. Yours may vary.
So this has been an interesting discussion! It begs a few questions regarding my, and many others, use of CLR...
1) Are any lead compound formed? I would tend to say no as I have had a suppressor that had carbon free baffles but there was still metallic lead attached to them but I am guessing. There are still acids in play and lead compounds (especially the +2 type) scare the shit outta me!
2) What is the make up of the gas being released? Again, I am guessing, but it seems almost like a simple lead-acid battery so hydrogen gas?
Any chemist types want to weigh in? I am genuinely curious!
1) Are any lead compound formed? I would tend to say no as I have had a suppressor that had carbon free baffles but there was still metallic lead attached to them but I am guessing. There are still acids in play and lead compounds (especially the +2 type) scare the shit outta me!
2) What is the make up of the gas being released? Again, I am guessing, but it seems almost like a simple lead-acid battery so hydrogen gas?
Any chemist types want to weigh in? I am genuinely curious!
But, but, but... Centerfire cans are self cleaning! I kid of course but even the LGS feeds their customers that bullshit! My Hybrid 46 was heavy as shit after 200 rounds of .338LM! Oddly, it gained when fast shooting my reloads (105.9gr of Ramshot Magnum) but much more slowly shooting factory Hornady ammo. Damn the manufacturers and their magic fuckin' powders!
Ultimately, the powder used does make a difference. How much or which ones don’t matter to me as much as knowing what I need to deal with.But, but, but... Centerfire cans are self cleaning! I kid of course but even the LGS feeds their customers that bullshit! My Hybrid 46 was heavy as shit after 200 rounds of .338LM! Oddly, it gained when fast shooting my reloads (105.9gr of Ramshot Magnum) but much more slowly shooting factory Hornady ammo. Damn the manufacturers and their magic fuckin' powders!
Have you noticed any change on SS if use the CLR?
One guy told, that hi would damaged his barrel by using CLR, barrel was stainless, but i dont see how it could damage it, if use it as a barrel cleaner, wet patch, push thu, second etc and then clean, and use patch of alcohol or similar on the end.
For alloy they do not recommend CLR.
I have cans that has alloy body, but titanium or ss baffles.
One guy told, that hi would damaged his barrel by using CLR, barrel was stainless, but i dont see how it could damage it, if use it as a barrel cleaner, wet patch, push thu, second etc and then clean, and use patch of alcohol or similar on the end.
For alloy they do not recommend CLR.
I have cans that has alloy body, but titanium or ss baffles.
