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Soaking A Carbon Ring?

Brux

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 12, 2013
828
102
GA
So what's the best way to soak or get your cleaning solutions on a carbon ring? If you have a method or suggestions please post and what you use.
 
I use a nylon brush that’s one caliber smaller, wrap it in a cotton patch, soak it in your carbon solvent of choice, and gently push/twist it into the throat area. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and clean the barrel like normal.

I generally do this as part of my normal 2-300 round cleaning so I can stay on top of any carbon. I prefer Bore Tech solvents. If it gets really bad CLR is the ticket, but make sure to follow with alcohol patches and oil. Don’t let the CLR sit for a long period of time.
 
I soak a patch in boretech and insert it until you first feel resistance of the throat and let it sit. Maybe give an extra small squirt of boretech down the boreguide to make sure it stays soaked, tilt the muzzle down so it doesn’t run out of the chamber. Then I’ll spin a brush on it for a bit, nylon or brass doesn’t mat
 
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I wrap a patch soaked with fuel injector cleaner around a jag or brush and let it sit in the bore against the ring for 10-15 minutes. Then I scrub it with the brush. If you keep a good cleaning regiment, especially with a 6mm, you wont have much trouble going forward.
 
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Do you need a bore scope to see a carbon ring?

Unless you can take off your eye and squeeze it though the bore in order to get a clear view haha.

Yeah you definitely need one in order to be able to positively confirm what is in there. There are signs that can help diagnose whether you have a carbon ring, but with the borescope you'll be certain.

I had some pressure issues a while back. Blowing and piercing primers as well as very erratic fliers and groups. I gave my throat a very good cleaning and things got better but I'll never know if it was really a carbon ring because I don't have a bore scope.

Still on my list to purchase soon.
 
Unless you can take off your eye and squeeze it though the bore in order to get a clear view haha.

Yeah you definitely need one in order to be able to positively confirm what is in there. There are signs that can help diagnose whether you have a carbon ring, but with the borescope you'll be certain.

I had some pressure issues a while back. Blowing and piercing primers as well as very erratic fliers and groups. I gave my throat a very good cleaning and things got better but I'll never know if it was really a carbon ring because I don't have a bore scope.

Still on my list to purchase soon.


The teslong on Amazon is pretty legit for $50.
 
Thanks for all the reply's. I got the teslong the other day and that's when I relized that I not only had a carbon ring buy the rifling in the barrel had a heavy deposit of carbon in them as well. I have been using KG products for a while now and they seemed to be doing a good job. I used the KG1 on this project and it removed a lot of the carbon but would not remove all the carbon ring or the carbon in the barrel so I tried some sweet's and it removed some more but not all of it. I had a bottle of Remington 40x cleaner sitting there and have never used it. Got on the internet and did some research on it to see if it was safe for barrel's and found a lot of good reviews on it and read where Frank Bartlein use's it also. So I went for it and it cleaned the carbon ring out and the barrel up great. I will be looking for a different cleaner now so this won't happen again. The 40x did a great job but I probably won't use it as a maintenance cleaner.
I bought the teslong with the stainless rod not the flexible one.
 
not that its uber fast but have had pretty good luck soaking my muzzel break in an old coffee cup with slip 2000 carbon killer a couple of hours and a lot of rubbing with wooden dows and cleaning brushes and it comes off semi quick not sure how large this ring is or how much build up you got . Good luck on what ever product you use .
 
I use a nylon brush that’s one caliber smaller, wrap it in a cotton patch, soak it in your carbon solvent of choice, and gently push/twist it into the throat area. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and clean the barrel like normal.

I generally do this as part of my normal 2-300 round cleaning so I can stay on top of any carbon. I prefer Bore Tech solvents. If it gets really bad CLR is the ticket, but make sure to follow with alcohol patches and oil. Don’t let the CLR sit for a long period of time.

After trying various methods and cleaners and using a bore scope to check progress, I have determined this is probably the best method to get a ring out. I have the best success by soaking the patch with brake cleaner. Also, "cotton patch" doesn't mean the little cotton squares from Hoppes, it means break out the old t-shirt and start cutting strips.
 
Hopefully it doesn't sound too stupid and if it is let me know lol. I play with older engines. I used to keep a long tub and would will with diesel fuel and let piston/connecting rod soak for a bit. Im not talking a massive amount less than a gallon or so.
I've done it with a few garands I've gotten from the CMP to help get rid of the cosmoline. Pop all the wood off and let the barreled action sit for a day or so and the cosmoline melted off. Might make it easier if the carbon ring is submerged and soaking for a bit. I've probably had the problem before and was too inexperienced to notice.
 
Getting bores totally clean can actually add to bore wear; because getting it all out requires the barrel to be fired repeatedly to get it properly fouled again before accuracy returns to an ideal state.

The main idea is to stay ahead of excessive carbon and copper fouling.

I use rods, but stick with Carbon fiber. Suggestions that carbon fiber can have embedded grit could well be true.

But metallic rods will eventually ALWAYS acquire a bend, which is guaranteed to do bore wear bigtime. I minimize the rod/gunk accumulation by always religiously wiping down my CF rods with an absorbent cloth every time they come out of the bore. That's been my practice since long before I switched to carbon; but using metal rods made that sorta pointless. Any rod needs a rod guide; and that guide must be matched to the rod diameter.

Greg
 
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So what's the best way to soak or get your cleaning solutions on a carbon ring? If you have a method or suggestions please post and what you use.

Run two wet patches down the bore, followed by 10 one way strokes of a bronze brush. Do 5 cycles. Your carbon ring will be gone.
 
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I use "old version" GM top end engine cleaner.....put some on a mop, push mop into hole then put a little extra in the window of the bore guide to let it sit overnight....I have no idea if this really works as I do not own a borescope but I am now over 2000 rounds on my Dasher barrel and it still shoots lights out.....those lights may be a couple inches apart though
 
I used to use patch out wipe out with the accelerator, but had a carbon ring on a barrel that the patches were coming out white. Used some CLR and the first patch was black. Switched to Bore Tech elimonator, C4, nylon brushes, and their proof positive jags, and I haven't had to use CLR since. Picked up the Teslong, so I can really see what is going on too.
 
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Here’s what’s left of a carbon ring in the freebore of my 6gt. I brushed a lot of it out and still have some work to do to get the barrel back to like new shape.

For comparison, the other pic is a .22br with 173rnds in it. Notice the freebore is much cleaner.
 

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Generous amount of KG1 on a patch on an undersized nylon brush pushed through and let it soak for 20-30 minutes. Push a bronze brush wet with KG1 through 3-4 times. Carbon, including the ring will be gone.
 
Here’s what’s left of a carbon ring in the freebore of my 6gt. I brushed a lot of it out and still have some work to do to get the barrel back to like new shape.

For comparison, the other pic is a .22br with 173rnds in it. Notice the freebore is much cleaner.
I would use some Remington 40x on that barrel and then finish it up with BTE Carbon remover
 
I’ve soaked wipe out plus patch out for a couple 12 hour sessions and it got rid of my carbon ring or whatever was giving me high pressure signs
Never needed to do it, but talking to others that have, this is probably the best first step. Plug the muzzle, fill 'er up w/ wipeout, let sit for 12-24 hours, scrub and see where that gets you. CLR seems to always work, but its much harsher and can damage the bore, so better served as a last resort.
 
How many rounds through the 6GT Dthomas?

Was around 525 when small problems started showing at a match and 650 when I stopped shooting due to heavy bolt lift. I’ll be changing my cleaning (from basically never, to after every match). But from other barrels I have scoped, this one is noticeably dirtier.
 
Interesting, cut rifled?

Yep, bartlein.

My theory is I may have turned necks a little too much. I usually go for .005-.006” clearance.

If I have something like .007 or .008, maybe the necks open a little more on ignition and more carbon is built up around the throat instead of being pushed further and being distributed further down the barrel.

That’s just a half ass theory. I won’t be testing to see if true as I’ll be cleaning more often now and using Borescope to verify.
 
I've found that minimal trimming and leaving the case length at max (or a couple thousandths more if you check it in YOUR chamber) will reduce or eliminate carbon ring buildup.