Muzzle carbon build up

T

tangolima

New member
We put muzzle device on threaded barrel. But do we regularly undo the muzzle device to clean the muzzle of carbon build up? I just did. Thick layer of carbon residue has built up around the crown rather unevenly. I'm afraid it affects accuracy. What think you?

-TL

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It's a good idea to clean off the carbon build up. I shoot almost everything suppressed, and the carbon will really build up on the muzzle end of the barrel's.
I usually just use a Scotchbrite pad on the end of the barrel's to clean it off while I'm cleaning the barrel's.
 
Yes, carbon build up can affect accuracy, as Txhillbilly stated, best to clean it regularly to keep that from happening.
 
I have only one muzzle device that I consider "permanently attached". (Not by ATF definition - it just *never* gets removed.)

Everything else gets cleaned whenever I notice a lot of fouling. That, of course, is rapidly accelerated by shooting suppressed.

I use whatever makes sense at the time. Though I expect plenty of people to scream at their keyboards when they read the end of this sentence, I often just grab a brass or bronze wire brush and give the muzzle a dozen or so strokes.
 
For muzzle device with small exit hole it is harder to do. I plan to push in small ball of cotton or paper towel and soak it with carbon dissolving solvent. Let it stay for some time to soften up the residue on the muzzle. Then pick out the ball and clean up with q tips.

The gun I was cleaning last night had carbon baked in and hardened on the muzzle end. The solvent couldn't budge it enough. I ended up "chiseling" it off with old credit card.

-TL

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not to disappoint FrankenMauser; /me screems at his keyboard!

but yes i do remove and clean.

that being said; i have one m4 that i used a lot over a 4 year period, without cleaning the barrel end. it completely filled the void between the barrel end and flash hider. i did notice that groups opened up a little for a while then closed back up when it was "full" of carbon. i guess you can scream at your key board now. :)
 
Did more reading on the topic. More reports on flyers caused by part of the baked in "carbon pie" around the crown broke off. It makes sense to me. It is going to be my routine to keep the muzzle clean.

Ammo is expensive. Need to make each round count more.

-TL

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Cleaned muzzle faces of 3 guns last night. It took some serious doing. The carbon residue had been baked on hard like fish scales. Took them to range this afternoon. Oh yeah it definitely made difference. Groups became more consistent and flyers were reduced. Before I always thought it was all me pulling the shots.

When I went home, I wiped the muzzles with q tips soaked with boretech eliminator. The carbon residue came right off. Now it will be routine. I still don't clean the guns till I have to. But I will wipe the muzzle every time.

-TL

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On centerfire rifles, I don't remove the brake or flash hider for cleaning because I don't have a vise. I'd expect centerfire carbon to be pretty tough stuff and i could see more harm being done in crown damage by rough cleaning than in just leaving it alone.

For rimfire barrels I remove any flash hider and clean each time. Rimfire generates a lot of crud, but it is typically soft enough to clean with solvent and cotton patch. I also don't use crush washers, so I can remove them by hand.

My better answer in rimfire has been to just use a thread protector that allows access to the crown without removal.

I'm thinking about doing this for centerfire as well.
 
If you clean after each range trip, it is pretty easy. Q tip with solvent will do. No need to remove muzzle device.

Even with hard build up, enough time soaking in solvent will remove it without physical "struggling". Google the topic and you will see different methods.

-TL

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I wouldn't worry about it. When I cleaned the bore before, there was always some solvent left in the muzzle device. It got air dried by itself. Never has had problem. Wiping with q tip I actually try to dry it with clean q tip. If you still concern about it, use clp instead. No way it will cause corrosion.

However I do try not to let the solvent / clp flow in the bore to unintentionally clean the riflings. Or I will have to spend rounds to foul the bore again. That's the reason I don't want to clean the bore after each trip to range. Ammo is expensive.

-TL

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