Carbon removal

[Guest carbonarcher]

Hello all of you Sage's! I need your advice on the best way to remove carbon from a revolver. Is there a cleaner that works better then others? I have used shooters choice, the foam cleaners, butches bore shine, hoppes 9. Any advice would be greatly helpful!

Thanks all!

[bigwakes]

I have a Ruger GP100 .357 that I only shot .38s through. I didn't clean my guns very often (I'm better now) and the carbon in the cylinder got so bad I couldn't put a .357 shell in the chamber. The only thing that worked was putting Hoppe's solvent in a small metal bowl and soak the cylinder over night. It was still some work to get it out, but was much easier. I started with a styrafoam cup, but it was no match for Hoppe's. Be sure to use metal, glass or line anything plasic with aluminum foil.

[Guest carbonarcher]

Thanks for the tip bigwakes! Any luck with other solvents?

[bigwakes]

I tried two or three others and only Hoppe's was strong enough. I can't even recall what the others were. I had them for years before trying to clean the GP100, they might have lost some strength or something. I went to a gun shop and asked for the strongest solvent they had and that's what they gave me. My pistol is stainless, you may check the solvent website to see if it will affect blueing if left for long periods.

[Reservoir Dog]

Slip2000 Carbon Killer is awesome. I highly recommend it.

It is a water based cleaner, so be sure and use a moisture displacing lubricant/protectant after cleaning.

[Guest truthsayer]

I use Break-free CLP, a copper brush, time, and elbow grease.

[Guest TnRebel]

By accident I found this to work great .. I bought it for my black powder arms and ran out of Hoppes #9 and tried it .. and it worked better then Hoppes

[Guest 1817ak47]

I have stainless guns including 10-22, colt 22 pistol aka cadet, and I notice all hte black residue since they are gray in color.l hoppes works great. remoil won't break that stuff though.

[trblmkr13]

We used Carburetor Cleaner for inspections in the USMC but it can remove bluing

[I_Like_Pie]

A good soak in Kerosene works well...is main ingredient in most of the gun cleaners anyway.

[East_TN_Patriot]

It depends on where the carbon buildup is. If it's inside the cylinder chambers, I use a stainless steel cylinder brush that cuts right through the carbon ring. If it's particularly stubborn, I will soak a patch in Hoppes solvent, push it into each chamber, and let it soak overnight. If it's carbon on the face of the cylinder, I use a stainless brush to scrub it away, but this isn't such a good idea for a blued gun since it will take the finish off.

[Guest carbonarcher]

Thanks East_TN_Patriot! Big help!

[glockster157]

I still use Hoppes but if there is a lot of cleaning I break out the Ed's Red. Look it up, really good on carbon and a lot cheaper. I will go after the cylinders with the next size up brush. If it is a 35 caliber I use a 40. If it is a 44 I will use a 45 and in 45's I have some 50 caliber brushes. Oh, BTW, if you make up some Ed's Red, I leave out the acetone as it is only for plastic for shotgun fouling and I don't want acetone near my wood stocks or wood grips. I think the detergents in the ATF help a lot. Just a guess.

[luvmyberetta]

Ballistol is the best I've ever used. I had a solid brass, black powder pistol that the previous owner abused and the thick layer of carbon just liquified when the Ballistol hit it. I use it on all my guns...stainless, brass, iron, polymer, including the wood stocks.

[DaveTN]

I soak my stainless guns overnight within a couple of days of shooting them. The next day I can just wipe the carbon off the face of the cylinder. I’ve used Hoppes #9 for years. A few months ago the wife decided she didn’t like the smell of it so I ordered a gallon of M-Pro 7 from Midway; it works fine also.

I use to use a toothbrush and Semi-Chrome or Mothers Mag Polish, but this way is much easier.

[bigwakes]

We used to put a copper barrel brush in a drill to clean some nasty carbon on M16s in the military. After a long day on the range we didn't have much elbow greese left. We were National Guard though.