THICK Fouling removal

[Badger Arms]

Bought a used Remington Marine Magnum. I was under the impression that since the outside looked great, the bore must be good to. I looked down it and saw what looked like a just fired, roughened bore. When I began to clean it, it became apparent that somebody had shot the heck out of it and never cleaned the bore. They cleaned the outside, but not the bore. After soaking, cleaning, soaking, cleaning, etc. I managed to get all but a ring of fouling maybe three inches long halfway down the barrel. It was so bad that CHUNKS of plastic, powder, and lead were piling up... PILING UP under the muzzle.

So, I left the gun with a thick coating of Break-Free and will brush it and reapply twice a day till it's gone.

Any other ideas? The gun is in great condition otherwise.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

That's gnarly.

Have you tried MPro7 or Blue Wonder's gun cleaner? Those two products seem to do the trick for my plastic/lead fouling needs. Then again, I've never had to remove enough plastic out of my barrel that could be recycled into a Glock.

Jim

 

[BigG]

Blow a couple of shots of Gun Scrubber down the bore and the fouling will strip off like magic. One patch should do it. HTH

 

[sm]

Soaking is good as is the Gunscrubber / Brakleen idea.

Wisps of 0000 steel wool or finest grit of Scotchbrite pad on bronze brush , old cleaning rod , cordless drill is how I do it.

A burn ring like that I have seen / heard Gunscrubber .... runnning and screaming like a little girl away from it. I use lighter fluid on the 0000 steel wool/ Scotchbrite myself.

I was told Kroil works too. I haven't tried it. myself. Then again the fellow that did- don't smoke....I doubt my Zippo would work with Kroil .

I have always used Zippo lighter fluid to clean guns. Degreases firing pins in winter too. We didn't have all the fancy spray stuff growing up , and I kinda like not having to be dependent on it. Plus I use the cans when empty. UV rays don't deteritoate the cans - cans hold up better. I tranfer Hoppe's 9, Gun oi, machine oil....etc into them. I can't contaminate the contents....I can sqirt what I need ,wherever I want.

If really bad - use 000 steel wool.

 

[halvey]

Blow a couple of shots of Gun Scrubber down the bore and the fouling will strip off like magic.

I used Gun Scrubber on a .45 barrel a few days back to get out some tough leading. Took it right off.

That said, is that safe to use over and over? GS seems real harsh.

 

[Badger Arms]

Yeah, you can use gunscrubber, just keep it away from most plastics. Works great to clean out the actions. Here's what I did.

Disassembled gun and ran a Brake-Free soaked swab down the bore. Swab came out BLACK! Let the gun set for 20 minutes while I detail stripped and cleaned the rest of the gun.

Ran a 'tornado brush' down the bore. OOPS? What's that crap coming out of there? I looked down the bore and it looked, well, sorta like the scales on the back fo a lizard. Hmmm.

Let it soak another hour. Started to scrub again with the Tornado Brush. More chunks fall out. I look down the bore and can see shiny spots where it's chipped off. I swore. I swore again. Looking closely, it looked like the nickel plating was coming off. I swore once more questioning the parentage of the previous owner.

So, I tried EEZOX, Brake Free, Gun Scrubber, the tornado brush, steel wool, and even Tetra Bore Cleaner. Eventually most of it was gone, but this sure wasn't fun. Yes, the gun Scrubber failed to cut this one patch. I tried to take a picture, but my CompactFlash card went TU! Not a good evening. Will try it again tonight.

 

[BigG]

I knew Remingtons were getting awful cheap built but I didn't know they had plastic bores!

 

[sm]

Go to Schumann web site , I don't have link handy - sorry.

He and others have concerns about the chemicals and these chemicals in GS and similar causing hygrogen embrittlemnt of bbls. In other words many NEVER use the GS in bbls with rifleing. Other parts of gun perhaps....never the bbl.

Shotguns with smooth bbl are a bit different. I'm not one to clean bbls . I focus on chamber and extraction. With shotguns I add screw in chokes. If I get one wet or somesuch I take care of it. I don't get crazy with it though.

I know what Badger is facing. A lot of shooting, heating up and cooling down and the plastic, carbon, leading.

Competition Clay shooters use the cordless drill with the bronze brush and 0000 steel wool I mentioned. Especially those whom shoot tubed bbls [tube sets], and those changing chokes often.

Then run a Borerunner, or Tico tool through and get back out there. Me - I shot a 3 bbl set so I used the drill trick and the Otis pull through with Lighter fluid. I treat my bores with RIG as I always have all these years when I do a 'thorough cleaning".

When I was "running and gunning" in all sorts of weather - rain , snow, hot, humid...I did the drill trick , Otis with Kleenbore Formula 3 [ displaces moisture] until I arrived home. The OLD original BF was good too, G96 worked well. G96 still makes a great Nitro solvent which is great on plastic and the fouling Badger is facing. Spray and soak it with this - hit it with the drill trick.

I just have not veered too much in all my years. GS is used to clean my toothbrushes more from cleaning - if in a hurry .- than most anything else.

HTH

 

[sm]

Badger

I wonder , did this gun get shot with copper- plated shot? How about Nickle- plated shot?

What I'm thnking is - you are going to have to remove the copper/ nickle first - then the other stuff will come out. The Tetra Solvent should have done this - I would think.

Humm...how about Sweets or Shooter's? Do you have the Foul out system - the Outers electric dealie?

I may have shot 1k rds or so before cleaning my SX1 and other guns....see Dave....I wasn't such a bad boy afterall.

My concerns are , the previous owner used copper / nickle shot . [ I doubt bismuth , steel or tungstuon]. He exposed this to temp extremes, humidy and moisture. Squirted turpentine, kerosence or even the old WD40 or 3 in One to "displace moisture". When this stuff dries - it can leave a hardned varnished mess. Basically a "shell" over the real problem fouling and all.

I'd be prone to shoot it to get bbl warmed up....then use the strong copper solvents. Just target type loads ...

 

[Dave McCracken]

Once again, been beaten to the punch, but....

One suggestion besides the ones listed. Take your cleaning gear to the range, shoot a few rounds just to make sure your new/old shotgun works, and hit the barrel with gun scrubber and power tools while still hot.

 

[Denny Hansen]

Taking Dave's idea a step further, and on a couple that have been real bad...

"Honey, you've been workin' so hard lately that you should treat yourself to a day of shopping."

OK, now that the easy part is over, open the windows, turn on the fans and remove the barrel. Heat it in the oven for half an hour or so on low heat, about 150 or so, and then hit it with the cleaners. Smells the way only a shooter could love, but works pretty well.

Denny

 

[Badger Arms]

What I'm thnking is - you are going to have to remove the copper/ nickle first - then the other stuff will come out. The Tetra Solvent should have done this - I would think.

I left the Tetra Solvent in for about half an hour and there wasn't a trace of green on it. That ruled out copper. As for nickel, the chunks seemed awfully soft for nickel. It's a Marine Magnum, so all of this talk about hydrogen embrittlement is interesting, but I don't think it applies to the Nickel Plating. I don't want to get too harsh with the chemicals... especially ammonia based ones like the Tetra... for fear that they might damage the nickel plating.

Denny: I went into the Garage to do most of this. With the door open, it's not so bad.

 

[pauli]

my question is, does it affect how it shoots?

 

[Badger Arms]

You'd have to look at it to understand, this stuff is THICK. It's deposited in a ring halfway down the bore. Even if it didn't effect how it shot, I'm certainly not going to leave it there.

 

[sm]

Aside -
Denny - has it dawned on you yet why the wife finds great deals for you on used grungy guns...think about it.
------

Badger , This sounds like the "bore from hell" Mad Dog had back on TFL ....

Humm...I agree , I don't think the chemical stuff is gonna work - I too have used the oven ....but I was single at the time. I have used a chest freezer to loosen chokes and "unstick stuff' .

I forgot for a second this has that spl finsh ...I'm leery of ammonia and such as well.

[For new folks nickle has a copper base, if ammonia solvents are used, they will get under the nickle and cause it to flake off]

Okay, try the heat [ shoot or oven] and use mechanical means , 0000 steel wool/ drill...forget the cordless- get the electric one. Then I'd freeze it. [ I dunno - we've tried everything else]

Next up [ looks both ways]
Get a bucket with AV gas stick the bbl in it, use a bore mop and like cleaning a muzzleloader suction into bbl ....let sit ....and let the soaking and sitting work .

Sounds like Badger found a shotgun that belonged the owner that had Mad Dog's rifle.

Anyone ever tried sandblasting inside a smoothbore? Just wonderin'

 

[chevrofreak]

Carburetor cleaner, but KEEP IT AWAY FROM PLASTIC! I melted the grips on my Ruger MKII with it, but, it removed the carbon better than anything else ever has.

 

[FedGunner]

At work we use some Hoppes and a piece of copper screen that is cut to fit over an old bore brush... knocks the lead right out of there.

 

[mikey357]

...doesn't SOUND like lead fouling to me...sounds like PLASTIC buildup, as from wads...the "Tornado" brush usually does a good job, but for REALLY stubborn buildup of plastic, I usually soak several hours with Hoppes' #9 OR "Shooter's Choice" solvent, THEN hit it again with the "Tornado" brush OR the drill motor with steel wool wrapped around the brush...DEFINITELY NOT a pleasant aftrnoon project....mikey357

 

[pauli]

is the inside of the mm barrel plated as well, or just the outside?

 

[Badger Arms]

The multi-day soakaing did NOTHING! I finally chucked up a copper brush in my Makita and went to town. I had to stop FIVE TIMES because the barrel was getting hot! I finished off with some rubbing compound on a patch and polished the bore pretty well. My guess is lead, not plastic. The Carb Cleaner would have melted the plastic when I used it, but it didn't touch it. At any rate, it's gone. Thanks for all the help, guys.

 

[chevrofreak]

Carb cleaner wont melt some types of plastic. The grips on my MKII were made from ABS which is made from some something or other that melts easy from petrochemicals.