Gunsmithing Removing Carbon. Whats your go to cleaner?

[TommyD11730]

Have a few older rifles I'm trying to get the carbon out of.
Currently using patch-out with the accelerator (and some without) and letting it sit overnight. While it does a terrific job removing copper, it's not getting all the carbon out.
Any suggestions (other then CLR) would be welcomed.

Thank you!

 

[JMGlasgow]

I like Montana Extreme powder solvent.

 

[Nik H]

KG Industries KG-1

 

[hlee]

Boretech c4.

 

[pmclaine]

Carbon killer

Carbon Killer

Carbon Killer removes carbon, grease, and lead on contact. I also makes plastic fouling easy to remove by breaking down the bond between the plastic and metal. It is an aggressive cleaner designed to make cleaning easy for even extremely dirty and neglected parts. • Cuts through baked on carbon...

slip2000.com

 

[hafejd30]

I use Boretech Eliminator

 

[Baron23]

I'm BoreTech C4 carbon remover. Soaked a filthy 5 port muzzle brake with 2k rounds thru it (without prior cleaning) and it came out pristine.

 

[stello1001]

If you don't want clr, try the bore tech products.

 

[ALShooter]

If it’s stubborn hard carbon vfg pellets and JB bore paste with kroil.

 

[AirgunnerPCP]

Another vote for Boretech C4. Always worked for me and isn't some nasty chemical concoction.

 

[Jmkjr87]

I run staball and I get carbon fouling and a carbon ring in the throat. I start with CLR and I let it soak then run a 25 cal bronze brush through my 6.5 bore and then patch it all out. Then I soak the bore with boretech elimnator and let it sit. I use VFG pellets and I soak with elimnator and isso paste and I keep working it untill all the carbon is out and it will get most of the copper also. From there if you want to get rid of the little bit of copper you can but your pretty much left with a clean bore. And I have confirmed this with a bore scope and not by trying to judge how clean the patchs that come out

 

[Average guy]

Bore tech c4 for normal cleaning. CLR for heavy carbon removal.

 

[Wannashootit]

Same company you're using, Carb-Out is my go-to for stubborn carbon.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

The Birchwood bore scrubber foaming gel works well, and will stay at the bore to soak a bit too but it's a pain to deal with. If I really want to clean carbon, soaking in clr is the best I've found. Everything I've used of boretech works great but I typically only use the Cu+2 for copper after I deal with carbon, then make sure all that crap is out with good old hoppes no9, then patch out and a light oil patch

 

[White Death]

M Pro 7

 

[BreisV]

Tactical Advantage will solve your problem.

 

[TommyD11730]

Thanks for all the replys.
I ended picking up some C4 from bore tech locally.

If the guys from sharp shooters would return calls (or emails) I would have given their product a shot. Yes, Midway carries their stuff but lately their shipping is bad.
I see some of the mixed products used and you guys are braver then me!

 

[Mk16.5]

Boretech!

 

[northshorelumber]

One more vote for Boretech products

 

[huntnh]

Bore tech c4

 

[B-P-UU]

A few patches of CLR then thorroclean.

ThorroClean Bore Cleaning System - 118ml Bottles - Bullet Central

ThorroClean Bore Cleaning System – 118ml Bottles

www.bulletcentral.com

 

[Lunchbox27]

Plug one end of the barrel. Pour Boretech C4 down the other. Let it sit for an hour or Two.

Empty the barrel, run a brush down for a few passes, the spin the brush in the throat for a good minute. Run a few patches until dry/clean. Chamber mop for the chamber.

I do this for every barrel. Always come out looking carbon free.

 

[kthomas]

I use M Pro 7 for normal barrel cleaning. Regular cleaning (every ~200-250 rounds) will prevent any issues.

For crowns/muzzles that sometimes get neglected (which has happened), I use CLR. Depending on how much carbon is baked on, may require many cycles of soaking + brushing. Careful with different coatings though, as CLR can eat through some coatings.

I wouldn't be afraid of using CLR inside a barrel if I had to. Just take certain precautions if you have a coating on the barrel. Probably best to completely remove the barrel if easy/possible to do so, plug the muzzle (foam ear plug would likely work) and fill with some CLR, plug the chamber end and let it soak.

 

[Lucreau]

Butchs bore shine

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

I use M Pro 7 for normal barrel cleaning. Regular cleaning (every ~200-250 rounds) will prevent any issues.

For crowns/muzzles that sometimes get neglected (which has happened), I use CLR. Depending on how much carbon is baked on, may require many cycles of soaking + brushing. Careful with different coatings though, as CLR can eat through some coatings.

I wouldn't be afraid of using CLR inside a barrel if I had to. Just take certain precautions if you have a coating on the barrel. Probably best to completely remove the barrel if easy/possible to do so, plug the muzzle (foam ear plug would likely work) and fill with some CLR, plug the chamber end and let it soak.

This is basically what I do every say 2nd or 3rd cleaning time now. I have a qc barrel so I take it off and plug the end with a foam ear plug then put a thread protector cap on it and fill it up with clr and let it soak for about 45 min. (I have a qd muzzle break on all of my barrels so it's not easy to plug from the muzzle end). I have a little tube I rigged to fit a powder funnel and use that to fill it up.


After soaking, I dump it out of the muzzle end (which usually gets my brake covered well and will clean most of the carbon off with paper towels), and then use a nylon brush for about 5 or 6 strokes to get everything nice and broken up and loose. Then I use a piece of rag to wrapped around a brass cleaning rod section and wipe out the chamber well. Then I patch it a few times to remove most of the gunk and clr, then use hoppes or similar on a very wet patch and do that a few times. (If i am copper removing beyond this, i would use thr boretech cu+2 at this point). Then I start to use clean patches, which usually is 4 or 5. Then do a few light oil patches and a few dry ones and I'm done. It takes me about 20 min not counting soak time, and it gets the barrel very clean without risk of damage, and it cleans my break, which gets super nasty from the suppressor.

 

[pineoak]

I like Wipeout/Patchout (same one, right?); for older guns, it might take a deeper/more cleaning. I cleaned out a friend's AR15 that had a few thousands rounds through it without a cleaning (he just kept lubricating it). That took 4x my normal cleaning regimen to get it to decently clean... there was still blue after 30 patches and 4x hour+ soaks!

Boretech Eliminator & Wipeout- both have worked well for me.

I use MP7 for non bore/barrel area and pistol stuff, because the spray bottle is easy to use.

 

[obx22]

Yamaha Combustion Chamber Cleaner for bore cleaning. It has a very low evaporation rate, and does the job without scrubbing.
Not safe for painted surfaces, stock finishes or some plastics.

 

[JAS-SH]

I use the Bore Tech products and I'm very happy with the results. Just this week I cleaned my .22 magnum trainer after shooting 200 rounds. Now, .22 Mag. has the same cleaning requirements as centerfire rifles because it uses copper jacketed bullets at 2200 FPS.

In order to get the copper out of the barrel you have to clean out the carbon first. I use Bore Tech Carbon Remover -15- passes with a nylon brush then let it sit for 5-10 minutes. That's followed by wet patches until they come out clean then a couple of dry patches.

While the Carbon Remover is sitting, I use a short rod with a .243/6mm nylon brush inserted into the barrel throat about a quarter of an inch or so and twist it about 15 times to remove the carbon ring.

I then use the Copper Remover, again, as per the instructions on the bottle. Five or six passes with nylon brush, sit 5-10 minutes, then wet patches, etc.

Finally, one pass with a very lightly oiled mop, then another pass with the oil removed from the mop and I'm done.

Below is a picture following the copper removing process with the patches I used. The sequence is left right with the top row being the wet patches and the bottom the dry ones.

Look at the patches and the mop. Not a hint of carbon anywhere. The Carbon Remover took care of that. The Copper Remover obviously works great as well .

 

[spamassassin]

40% hydrogen peroxide works really great at getting hard caked carbon off of stuff but you have to be careful what you use it on and it's not always super easy to get hold of super strong H2O2.

 

[screaminweasil]

Boretech C4 Carbon Remover. Try the other shit, then run a few patches/brushes with Boretech and tell me you won't find more......I dare you

 

[FuhQ]

If I need to deep-scrub a neglected barrel, I reach for the Pro-Shot Copper Solvent IV.

For normal cleaning, I opt for RemOil…

 

[BTap]

There is alot of good products now but I like Lucas extreme gun oil & for cleaning and kg cleaning products there’s a few other ones that supposed to great I haven’t tried

 

[LRI]

Have a few older rifles I'm trying to get the carbon out of.
Currently using patch-out with the accelerator (and some without) and letting it sit overnight. While it does a terrific job removing copper, it's not getting all the carbon out.
Any suggestions (other then CLR) would be welcomed.

Thank you!

Maybe try this:

Go find an old soup pot. Fill it with Prestone (or whatever so long as it's full strength) antifreeze and throw it on a hot plate. Bring it to Ludicrous temp. -basically as hot as you can get it.

Throw your parts in there and walk away. After a few minutes, they'll sparkle.

I used to fart around with Formula One Pylon Racing RC planes. (till I discovered there are cheaper ways to dig holes in the ground) These things run on typical nitro glow motor fuel so it's slimy shit as castor/bean oil is a critical part of how everything works. The stuff cokes onto the exhaust and turns jet black. It's horrible to have to look at and try to clean off.

-Until I was told to try the antifreeze trick. It made everything so easy. I would just literally pull the motor off the plane and throw the whole thing in the pot. Once done, blow it off with an air hose, bolt it back onto the firewall, and send it. No issues and no worries about corrosion or chemicals tearing stuff up.

It's probably a little eccentric for a typical rifle-length barrel, but for small parts, it is the golden ticket.

Good luck

 

[pineoak]

I used to fart around with Formula One Pylon Racing RC planes. (till I discovered there are cheaper ways to dig holes in the ground)

That is hilarious!!!

 

[TommyD11730]

LMAO... used to fly Hotliners... I concur with that comment!

 

[spamassassin]

Maybe try this:

Go find an old soup pot. Fill it with Prestone (or whatever so long as it's full strength) antifreeze and throw it on a hot plate. Bring it to Ludicrous temp. -basically as hot as you can get it.

Throw your parts in there and walk away. After a few minutes, they'll sparkle.

I used to fart around with Formula One Pylon Racing RC planes. (till I discovered there are cheaper ways to dig holes in the ground) These things run on typical nitro glow motor fuel so it's slimy shit as castor/bean oil is a critical part of how everything works. The stuff cokes onto the exhaust and turns jet black. It's horrible to have to look at and try to clean off.

-Until I was told to try the antifreeze trick. It made everything so easy. I would just literally pull the motor off the plane and throw the whole thing in the pot. Once done, blow it off with an air hose, bolt it back onto the firewall, and send it. No issues and no worries about corrosion or chemicals tearing stuff up.

It's probably a little eccentric for a typical rifle-length barrel, but for small parts, it is the golden ticket.

Good luck

A good friend and I recently found this solution and it's brilliantly effective. He had a .338LM AI with a suppressor on it. He'd shot hundreds of rounds through it without cleaning the suppressor and then an o-ring failed so he needed to take it apart to replace the o-ring. Couldn't get it apart, too carbon'd up. We tried all kinds of stuff and then someone said, antifreeze boiling is the magic sauce. It is. Boiled it in antifreeze for a while and it was no trick then to pull it apart.