Carbon remover for baked in carbon

TackDriver284

Handloader
Feb 13, 2016
2,285
1,475
What are your best carbon remover for tough baked carbon in your rifle bores?
 
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I've always had to use a bronze brush . I read a lot of guys have gotten away from using a bronze brush when cleaning , I use them just for this reason . for my stubborn carbon , I use slip 2000 carbon killer . I read JB's paste works well too . I did use GM's top engine cleaner . it was for cleaning carbon from engine valves , and pistons . it seemed to work ok , it's been discontinued . I'd be very careful with CLR , I've read some bad stuff from guys that have used it , causing pitted barrels .

something that might help you on the carbon ring , is brass trim length . sinclair makes a cheap, simple tool to measure your chamber length , you'll be surprised how long most chambers are . I measure my chamber . let my brass grow , and keep it a .010 short of max chamber length . my thoughts are , there is way less room for the carbon to build up . you have to trim a brass case way short for the tool , I use a piece of brass that's near it's end of life .

my 338 Lapua chamber measures 2.750" . I try to keep my brass trimmed to 2.740" . the book spec is ; 2.724" max , trim to 2.714" . this is a custom chamber , some of my factory chambers are much longer than this .


 
I've always had to use a bronze brush . I read a lot of guys have gotten away from using a bronze brush when cleaning , I use them just for this reason . for my stubborn carbon , I use slip 2000 carbon killer . I read JB's paste works well too . I did use GM's top engine cleaner . it was for cleaning carbon from engine valves , and pistons . it seemed to work ok , it's been discontinued . I'd be very careful with CLR , I've read some bad stuff from guys that have used it , causing pitted barrels .

something that might help you on the carbon ring , is brass trim length . sinclair makes a cheap, simple tool to measure your chamber length , you'll be surprised how long most chambers are . I measure my chamber . let my brass grow , and keep it a .010 short of max chamber length . my thoughts are , there is way less room for the carbon to build up . you have to trim a brass case way short for the tool , I use a piece of brass that's near it's end of life .

my 338 Lapua chamber measures 2.750" . I try to keep my brass trimmed to 2.740" . the book spec is ; 2.724" max , trim to 2.714" . this is a custom chamber , some of my factory chambers are much longer than this .


This is why I love this forum. There are always things to learn. I never heard of this solution before. Thank you for bringing this up. Dan
 
I had a Tikka that had a carbon ring and KG-1 did really good. Giving what I've found with their other products, I'd bet that Bore Tech C4 would also perform admirably. I gave up on nylon and used bronze to get it out.
 
I'm killin a little time this morning .

when I brush my barrels on a normal cleaning , I push all the way through , then I pull the brush back through completely . I never change directions mid way . when I'm working on a problem spot , such as the carbon ring , I use a worn brush and scrub with it . yes , I go back and forth in that small area . I took a couple pics of the chamber length gauge . I forgot to mention these are NOT for a tight neck chamber . be sure to drill out the primer pocket , so you can push the tool out of the case after use .

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I've always had to use a bronze brush . I read a lot of guys have gotten away from using a bronze brush when cleaning , I use them just for this reason . for my stubborn carbon , I use slip 2000 carbon killer . I read JB's paste works well too . I did use GM's top engine cleaner . it was for cleaning carbon from engine valves , and pistons . it seemed to work ok , it's been discontinued . I'd be very careful with CLR , I've read some bad stuff from guys that have used it , causing pitted barrels .

something that might help you on the carbon ring , is brass trim length . sinclair makes a cheap, simple tool to measure your chamber length , you'll be surprised how long most chambers are . I measure my chamber . let my brass grow , and keep it a .010 short of max chamber length . my thoughts are , there is way less room for the carbon to build up . you have to trim a brass case way short for the tool , I use a piece of brass that's near it's end of life .

my 338 Lapua chamber measures 2.750" . I try to keep my brass trimmed to 2.740" . the book spec is ; 2.724" max , trim to 2.714" . this is a custom chamber , some of my factory chambers are much longer than this .


I tried to get Slip 2000 to work but it only cleaned the corbon fouling (powder residue) .

Can you tell me how you use it? Maybe I should be using it on a patch and bronze brush?
Thanks.
 
I’ve often pondered about that spray stuff restaurants use to remove burnt on carbon from their pots/ pans. I think it’s called carbon off
 
I sure don't think it's a miracle or anything super great , it's probably more me scrubbing . I use slip 2000 on a soggy patch a few times and let it soak for a while . I then push a couple more soggy patches through , and start brushing . I'll wrap a wet patch on a worn brush . I'll use a new brush . pretty much whatever it takes . letting my case length get longer sure seems to help .

I've often wondered about the brass steel wool wrapped on a worn brush . I don't think it would be rough enough to cause any problems , but I haven't been brave enough to try it . anybody try this ?
 
I sure don't think it's a miracle or anything super great , it's probably more me scrubbing . I use slip 2000 on a soggy patch a few times and let it soak for a while . I then push a couple more soggy patches through , and start brushing . I'll wrap a wet patch on a worn brush . I'll use a new brush . pretty much whatever it takes . letting my case length get longer sure seems to help .

I've often wondered about the brass steel wool wrapped on a worn brush . I don't think it would be rough enough to cause any problems , but I haven't been brave enough to try it . anybody try this ?
The Brass wool is good for cleaning built up plastic in shot gun barrels from plastic wads not sure about carbon in a rifle barrel.
 
I’ve often pondered about that spray stuff restaurants use to remove burnt on carbon from their pots/ pans. I think it’s called carbon off
Back in the day when I worked in the kitchen, circa 1982, we used easyoff, but I don't think it was the same strength as the one marketed in retailed. Pans, pots, ovens, vents and filters, cleaned easy if applied when warm, let soak and then synthitc abrasive pad.
 
Back in the day when I worked in the kitchen, circa 1982, we used easyoff, but I don't think it was the same strength as the one marketed in retailed. Pans, pots, ovens, vents and filters, cleaned easy if applied when warm, let soak and then synthitc abrasive pad.
Yeah, easy off is the old stand by that’s worked for years. A friend has/had a bbq joint and they used carbon off,” on pots pans and grill grates. it’s pretty spendy, about $28 for a can, but supposedly it does wonders on baked on carbon. There’s also a jel.
 
I ordered some c4 Bore Tech Carbon remover and Cu+2 Copper remover yesterday, whilst I was rummaging around in my garage, I found a old big bottle of Hoppes #9. So I wet two patches of Hoppes and pushed it thru the bore and it came out clean since I cleaned it previously with Bore Tech Eliminator, and then dipped a 7mm bronze brush in the Hoppes and ran it through the bore, unscrewed the brush at the muzzle and ran the brush through the bore about 8 times, then wet a patch and gosh sakes, the patch was black. So I ran two more wet patches, until it was clean. I ran the brush again 6 times, and wet patch again, and it was black still. Third time I ran the brush again 6 times and let the Hoppes sit in the barrel for an hour and I'll go back and run the brush a few more times and patch it out. I'll try to find an old worn copper brush and wrap a patch around it and work it back and forth at the carbon ring and throat area and deeper and wet patch and dry patch. Then I'll run the bore scope in it and see what it looks like. I just scoped my .308 and see some copper midway up the barrel and some carbon from the throat area and up midway. That will wait. I don't want to mess with the .308 since it shoots so good, but I'll try to keep my barrels maintained. The baked carbon in the bore is nasty stuff.
 
After 1 hour of Hoppes sitting in the bore, cleaned up the bore, and rechecked with borescope, I would say about 10-15% of the carbon is out, but its still a mess in there. Rebrushed 15 more times, going to let it sit overnight and see tomorrow.
 
JB bore paste/kroil is the fastest and most painless way that I've cleaned a barrel. I suppose that is subjective but running patch after patch after patch of solvent and never really getting a clean patch drove me nuts before I tried JB/Kroil.
 
JB bore paste/kroil is the fastest and most painless way that I've cleaned a barrel. I suppose that is subjective but running patch after patch after patch of solvent and never really getting a clean patch drove me nuts before I tried JB/Kroil.
I had a different perspective when I cleaned my barrels and thinking they were clean because they shot very well, I always ran Bore Tech Eliminator through the tubes before a shooting session, just a few wet patches and then dry patches and then a few more wet patches and then more dry patches until the patch was clean, unknowingly the bore was still baked in with carbon until I got the borescope. When I saw the inside, I was like " what the fudge ". o_O I will have to change my approach and methods of cleaning my barrels from now on.

Do you guys clean your barrels after the shooting sessions and store them until the next shooting session?
 
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I’ve had great luck using Kroil with a bronze brush. It makes quick work of it.
 
I’ve had great luck using Kroil with a bronze brush. It makes quick work of it.
Roughly how many passes with a bronze brush did you use? I did about 2 hours of scrubbing and brushing, the first several passes with a bronze brush did loosen carbon, and the patches came out black, and gets whiter with each few passes of the bronze brush, then stops showing the carbon on the patches even though there are still some baked in carbon in the first half of the bore, but the carbon ring is gone. I used Butch, Hoppes, Bore Tech Eliminator Carbon remover, the the Copper remover, and it won't loosen anymore carbon. There was little copper streaks and used Copper remover for this. I know you guys mentioned JB , and those pastes but I I would refrain from using abrasives at the moment since they are shooting so well. I was working on the 7mm Mag, 6.5 Creed and the .308. The 7mm Mag is the worst of them all.
Time to take those 3 to the range for some shooting.
 
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