Fouling/carbon build up

J

jeremydallen

Inactive
I have a Mossberg 835 pump that I bought when I was 18. Unfortunately, I didn't always clean it like I should when I was younger. There is quite a bit of hardened, residual build up in the barrel. I've used the gun/bore scrubber sprays, let it sit in there for quite some time but it seems to be pretty adhered to the barrel. Any thoughts on removing the build up? It's literally had years to solidify in there.
 
I have hears about a product called "Ed's Red" that is supposed to be good for deep cleaning a shotgun barrel and can be made inexpensively from ATF, Kerosene, motor oil, and a fourth item. It will remove plastic wad fouling. Google it or buy it.
 
Ed's Red will clean and MELT just about anything out of a barrel.

Only problem with Ed's Red, is that it is 25% ACETONE and will eat the finish off the stock and eat the skin off you :eek:. Be sure to remove the wood before using. You're not a problem, you'll grow back:)....
 
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Carbon

I have found (as probably many others as well) that carbon fouling is the hardest of all to remove. It is as hard as concrete and extremely tenacious.

You have to get very aggressive to remove a badly carbon fouled barrel and it takes time.

I have a Marlin M1893 that has a 0.381" bore and is very badly carbon fouled. I have been working off and on for 2 months to get the carbon out. It is slowly getting better, but more soaking and scrubbing is in the works.

My Dad inherited a 1911 Remington Rand circa 1943 that is badly carbon fouled and am having that as a work in progress as well.

Good luck with your efforts.
 
What in the world are you shooting to get carbon fouling? In well over 55 years of shooting, I have yet to find anything that either Hoppes, Shooter's Choice, or WD-40 and a bronze brush wouldn't remove.
 
IF it is indeed plastic or carbon buildup, ANY good solvent will work, especially when you take an old cleaning rod chucked into a cordless drill with a bronze brush and run it back and forth a few times.
 
Carbon

What in the world are you shooting to get carbon fouling?
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Any time you pull the trigger on ANY firearm and it goes "bang", you are leaving a layer of carbon fouling in the bore. The M1893 that I mentioned was made in 1906, so estimate how many ill fitting bullets have been poked thru it and it would explain the dilemma.

IF it is indeed plastic or carbon buildup, ANY good solvent will work
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Not so. Carbon is a completely different animal. As the black powder shooters already know, the best carbon remover is very hot soapy water.

The commercial products on the market that work are water based and have what they call super surfactants (soap) as the carbon removing agents.

Regular bore solvents that are made for powder and copper fouling will not touch carbon.

Virginian-in-LA: I do not want to enter into an argument in any manner, but I would bet that if those are all the solvents that you use, then a good bore scope would show you enough to change your mind.
 
I suspect his "carbon fouling" is either unburned powder or some plastic buildup from the wad - just my guess based on what I see in MY guns from time to time.
 
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Carbon

Per jeremydallen's description of the fouling and the history of the shotgun, I would think carbon. As I said before, carbon build up in a bore can be as hard as concrete.

Most anytime that organic matter (in this case the cellulose in powder) is burned, a byproduct of that combustion is carbon. I might note that some are using the basic oven cleaner with great results.

Here is a short article written by Dan Lilja.

http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making/barrel_fouling.htm

And another from LRH.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/rifle-barrel-break-in-3.php

And last, a very good article from 6mmBR.

http://www.6mmbr.com/borecleaning.html
 
Ed's Red will clean and MELT just about anything out of a barrel.

Only problem with Ed's Red, is that it is 25% ACETONE and will eat the finish off the stock and eat the skin off you . Be sure to remove the wood before using. You're not a problem, you'll grow back.
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I used to wash my hands in acetone for years and had no problems, just like every body else who worked in the plant. Also used to practically bathe in a banned wood preservative and I am still alive 45 years later. Most of the risks are figments of somebodies imagination. And also statistics are probably the least reliable method of determining things. They are so easily manipulated to fit the thesis. One of the most useful bits of information I got attending college, even learned the method.
 
I used to wash my hands in acetone for years and had no problems, just like every body else who worked in the plant. Also used to practically bathe in a banned wood preservative and I am still alive 45 years later. Most of the risks are figments of somebodies imagination. And also statistics are probably the least reliable method of determining things. They are so easily manipulated to fit the thesis. One of the most useful bits of information I got attending college, even learned the method.
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Yep, and I know folks who used to use gas or ZEP and died from cancer

As to statistics, how well versed are you in doing the math?
 
I suspect his "carbon fouling" is either unburned powder or some plastic buildup from the wad - just my guess
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You are absolutely right....just a guess. Unburned powder is just that...unburned powder, nothing else.

Brake cleaner, even WD-40 will clean a shotgun barrel.
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I whole heartedly invite you to try either or both with carbon fouling. Have you ever done a valve job on a motor that used leaded gasoline? If so, you know what I am talking about. Otherwise, you don't.

But, to each his own. There are millions of opinions on the correct way to remove fouling and clean a barrel. I can only reflect on my own experiences for the past 50 years or so.
 
Sorry, any solvent will clean crap in a shotgun barrel after a little soaking and some scrubbing with a brush as mentioned. No, I don't do engines, but I hqve done shotgun barrels for well over 3 decades
 
Sorry, any solvent will clean crap in a shotgun barrel after a little soaking and some scrubbing with a brush as mentioned. No, I don't do engines, but I have done shotgun barrels for well over 3 decades.
 
As far as I know, nothing "dissolves" carbon, it has to be removed mechanically by scraping and scrubbing.

I used to clean the exhaust baffles of my old two stroke motorcycle mufflers by building a charcoal fire and letting the carbon covered baffles sit in the fire. When the charcoal had burned up, I dug the baffles out and knocked the ashes off of them and they were clean as brand new. I don't think you want to clean your barrel this way though.
 
As far as I know, the next shot takes out the unburned powder and residue from the previous shot. Not only will nothing but acid dissolve carbon, but it is quite difficult to get it to bond to metal at normal shooting temperatures. I would bet on lead or wad residue.
 
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