Carbon ring

[barretcreek]

Occasionally there are references to a very hard carbon formation in the leade or just forward of it. What factors contribute to it, such as neck length, overbore powder charge, light bullet for the cartridge, etc? How is it detected and found? Is abrasive the only way to remove one?

[Bill K]

A basic and simple answer is the powder fouling from a fired cartridge, is under high pressure and temperature and builds up and bakes or forms into a, sort of ceramic layer, which can build up just forward of the neck and up the barrel, even a few inches.
Cleaning compounds and brush and jags with solvents will loosen and aid in removal.
Regular cleaning of your bore will aid in it not building up badly.

[L.Sherm]

Best way to find it and know you have it removed is a borescope

[Daryl]

I read years ago, in PS magazine, that water based solvents actually dissolved it and that regular solvents did not touch it.
Old gun smith's .22BR quit shooting and the throat looked smooth, so he sectioned the chamber. He said the throat's rifling was packed full of hard carbon that he could barely 'scratch' with a carbide scribe.
That seems extreme to me. makes me thing of shot-out .220 Swifts and .264's that were likely never cleaned properly.

[17VLD]

Has a lot of great videos on YouTube, one of which outlines the use of CLR to remove carbon.I tried it on my Dasher and it works very well.I highly recommend watching his videos.
Matt

[jimreed1948]

I use a muzzle brake on my 20 VT. I was looking at it in the bright sunlight at the range last week and I could easily see the carbon building up inside the brake. After I was done and just started packing up my gear, I gave the barrel a shot of Hoppes foaming bore cleaner. I also shot some in all the ports on the brake. I put all my stuff away and then used an old bore brush on the brake. All of the carbon had turned to a black looking mud. After I got through cleaning the brake and barrel, the brake looked brand new. No signs of carbon anywhere.

This link, Clean Your Brake, show a method where he uses equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar to easily clean his brake. Theres no reason a good soaking of this wouldn't clean out a carbon ring either. You need a well vented area however.

I've used CLR as well, but you have to be careful using it as not to damage whatever you're using it on.

The foaming bore cleaner worked so well and I always have it with me while on the range or PD field, I'll continue to use it.

[Daryl]

The carbon that gets ironed into & builds thickness in the throat is the bad stuff.

[JIMinTN]

A borescope will help in evaluating your cleaning process, you may be surprised or really disappointed in yourself/cleaning process.

I just watched a video on the vinegar & peroxide method, and the combo works but makes a dangerous (?) solution, so do some research on it first. I have not tried this method.

IMO, most solvents will soften the carbon buildup enough to remove IF you do it on a regular basis, but if left too long, it's a difficult job to get out.

google Teslong bore scope, they are fairly inexpensive and work well for the $$.

CLR works well on SS, but be careful about using it on other types of metals.

[DAA]

Carbon...



The above wasn't really the classic ring, it was a badly carboned up barrel for essentially the whole length. And that picture is after over an hour of vigorous scrubbing with C4.

I think the biggest contributing factor to the carbon ring is over bore. Suppressed barrels definitely get more carbon too. Cleaning routine can let the ring build up.

I think I can detect the ring easier on a tight dry patch than with a borescope. Have had them starting to form where I could clearly feel them on the tight dry patch, but couldn't see anything in the scope.

Best way I have found to deal with them is JB or in really bad cases Remclean. CLR didn't do diddly squat for that barrel above but JB had it clean as a whistle in no time. Here's a write up I did on that cleaning job with borescope pics of how poorly the other products worked compared to JB:

Carbon Fouling Removal

And the after pic, when I finally gave up on theC4 and CLR and went back to my old stand by JB.



- DAA

[Daryl]

Good article, thanks. DAA.