A Million Dollar Opportunity!! Carbon Rings

[SDPlinker]

 

[DoneNOut]

Common knowledge to some:

The carbon ring acts like a "crimp" on the bullet at some point. Then again, ignorance is Bliss!

Op, the key is to clean the carbon ring out on a regular basis to avoid the nightmare you have just gone through. The fix, determine what size your neck is, and use a pistol or rifle brush very close to that size if not slightly larger. The brush does the work, and when soaking with free all or other penetrating oil, the carbon will loosen up over a couple of days...followed by the brush.

Usually, half a dozen turns with the appropriate size brush will get the carbon ring out or reduce it to a minimum dia.

Examine a Heat Index chart and determine how hot your powder burns, which may help you understand why the Cooked on Carbon is so hard. At some point, you can not get the carbon out without using 600-800 grit Silicone Carbide paste from Brownells, applied with a brush and drill.

I stick a Borescope down the bore from the muzzle and watch the progress.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Sell your borescope, problem gone! How were carbon rings cleaned before borescopes were imported?

This is actually true. A real carbon ring is built up enough that its actually pinching the end of the neck. 99% of "carbon rings" I see on the internet are just stains. Not hurting a thing. If you use a bronze brush every time you clean, I would be very surprised if a carbon ring ever got to the point it hurt a thing. In every rifle I have ever owned, I have never specifically went after the carbon ring.

 

[SWHandldr]

Sell your borescope, problem gone!

Not so. My Rem 788 in .308 was punishing my shoulder and flattening primers on Federal factory 150gr spire points. Only a few hundred shots through it since new & I had cleaned the bore meticulously - using my Teslong to check the bore but ignoring the carbon ring at the end of the chamber.

Enough that cases weren't releasing the bullet easily. Bolt lift was 'OK' but 20 rounds at the range was enough to bruise my shoulder a little & primers were much flatter than I expected from a moderate weight bullet in a factory load. Cleaned it out with Wipe-Out foam as per The Oregonian & Boomstickin's methods.

Rifle weighs 9lbs+ with a fore end full of glass & has a Pachmayr Decelerator pad. Should have been a pussycat with those rounds. It is - again - after cleaning.

Makes me wonder how many non-magnum rifles have earned a reputation for recoil cos over decades of use they built up a similar ring.

 

[Window]

I've spent all weekend getting carbon rings out of two rifles that had less than 50 rounds ran through them since the last carbon ring removal. One has 460 rounds through it and the other has 290. Can someone/anyone come up with a simple way to make this easy? I know that there are many of you who are 10X smarter than I am although I've been at this for over thirty years. I've gone through hundreds of patch of Bore Tech, used Iosso, CLR and finally made progress with Flitz. There has to be a better way! Here's the a before and after of the one with 460 rounds total and less than 50 rounds since its last carbon ring removal. Please note that it's 30-378 that's never been pushed hard. Any good advice from the great mins out there?

Thank you all for the responses and the great advice. I'm an old salt to this and the frustration to have an easy solution to this still baffles me. The carbon into the lands isn't the frustrating part, it's the junction inbetween that always gets me. I've used gauges that seem to work, however, using a bore scope may be the answer.

 

[SargeantE5]

Forming " Improved" cases from the basic "parent" cartridge case usually leaves a shorter "improved" case. Wouldn't this by logic, cause a carbon ring in any (Ackley) Improved chamber??? Just asking.?????

 

[SDPlinker]

Not so. My Rem 788 in .308 was punishing my shoulder and flattening primers on Federal factory 150gr spire points. Only a few hundred shots through it since new & I had cleaned the bore meticulously - using my Teslong to check the bore but ignoring the carbon ring at the end of the chamber.

Enough that cases weren't releasing the bullet easily. Bolt lift was 'OK' but 20 rounds at the range was enough to bruise my shoulder a little & primers were much flatter than I expected from a moderate weight bullet in a factory load. Cleaned it out with Wipe-Out foam as per The Oregonian & Boomstickin's methods.

Rifle weighs 9lbs+ with a fore end full of glass & has a Pachmayr Decelerator pad. Should have been a pussycat with those rounds. It is - again - after cleaning.

Makes me wonder how many non-magnum rifles have earned a reputation for recoil cos over decades of use they built up a similar ring.

Maybe your cleaning procedure is lacking? Never felt many magnum calibers that were out of line maybe the .416 a bit stout, but nothing to mention.

 

[DJ Fergus]

Carbon eaters don't eat ear plugs?

I use the foam earplugs. It doesn't eat them. I've used this method several times and posted it here several times but I guess no one has ever caught on to it. It will cut scrubbing time down by about 95%

 

[DoneNOut]

I use the foam earplugs. It doesn't eat them. I've used this method several times and posted it here several times but I guess no one has ever caught on to it. It will cut scrubbing time down by about 95%

I use a chamber plug or a barrel plug. Both aluminum with rubber o rings for soaking. Patriot Valley Arms The Plug and Muzzle Jimmy.

 

[SWHandldr]

Maybe your cleaning procedure is lacking? Never felt many magnum calibers that were out of line maybe the .416 a bit stout, but nothing to mention.

Absolutely.

I've had a Teslong several years. Paid more attention to the bore than chamber til this rifle told me "Look at the chamber, dummy."

This one has a tight chamber (for a factory rifle). Don't know abt other 788's; maybe it's part of why they have a reputation for accuracy. It's sufficiently so that not paying attention to a carbon ring over time caused bullet release & pressure issues. Didn't chrony these loads; I was confirming re-bedding & a new scope.

 

[VinceMule]

If a guy is not watching the length of his cases, they "grow" into the carbon ring. Years of no maintenance create an issue.

 

[bamban]

This one has a tight chamber (for a factory rifle). Don't know abt other 788's; maybe it's part of why they have a reputation for accuracy.

The NOS 788 in 7-08 I just started messing with, the fired brass necks are still tight that the ones with 0.016 neck wall I have to exert effort to push bullet into them after firing.

 

[Muddyboots]

Stick an earplug in the muzzle, fill up to the chamber up with boretech carbon remover and let it soak for around 7 days. It will brush out easily after that.

I also have done this for close to 40+ years. A bench guy was in my basement watching me clean rifle, stopped me, brought several corks, picked one, plugged bore and poured Hoppes 9 down chamber until top of chamber. Told me leave for week, pull plug, and then couple brushes down bore to finish. Finish with clean patch. Presto! He told me rather reload than waste time cleaning. I often wonder why only us old geezers still do this?

Prob we have bad shoulders?

 

[Buzzsaw]

a simple brush wrapped with a patch soaked with J&B and oil turn it chk then turn again until clean, will remove the carbon ring easily, Thorroclean from Bullet Central is a new cleaner made from Isso in liquid form is a great cleaner, has oil and Isso all blended in a bottle, will last a long time and get the barrel clean

THIS