Re: Stubborn muzzle brake carbon
The coolant solution is interesting.
Chad, could you do that to an AR bolt without changing the hardness? Seems like a quick, effective method of carbon removal.
Also, GM either makes, or used to make, a Top Engine Cleaner for carbon removal. I use it for bores infrequently, but I can't tell if it works since I can't see the throat, but it seems to.
OP, beat on the brake with a hammer, or squeeze it in a vice until the shape changes. Or drop it in boiling water just out of a deep freeze. Or ignore it and keep shooting the rifle, or tumble it in stainless media (you'll create the newest in tactical rifle fashion and all the cool kids will have to have a stainless brake and a painted barrel), or when the carbon builds up sufficiently to slough off fleaks will blast off towards unwelcome bystanders, and friends on the firing line at a match like so much shrapnel from a mini-dirty bomb. Either of these methods are effective in varying degrees of completeness.