Barrel carboned up - thoughts on Gumout Regane?

[Muddyboots]

OK, shoulder was completely shredded last year so even though I shot some, my cleaning was just get the crud out since the back and forth motion was not gonna happen. I had surgery in Dec so getting better but I was at range and noticed some slack off in accuracy in a 700 300WSM. Shoulder is fine now so trying to get bore back. I looked into bore with borelight and said %^#*@%^%*. Nice shiny black coating, no copper, no powder fouling just beautiful black shiny coated bore. I have C4 ordered but won't be here for couple days.

So good friend of mine had similar problem and told me to use Gumout Regane with PEA (polyether-amine). Plug the muzzle and pour into barrel overnight and carbon comes out easy.

OK, has anyone heard of doing that? It sounds too easy without any harm to steel. He claims the PEA is a strong "detergent" that can penetrate the carbon layers causing it to dissolve. So before I try this, I was hoping someone else has tried it?

I was also shooting a lot of RL-16 which I now know can contribute to the condition.
Thanks
PS- I am back to my normal bore cleaning since shoulder has rebounded so well in 4+ months.

 

[venatic]

JB bore paste applied to a patch that is wrapped around an old brush and work that back and forth if your brush is correct size to allow that.
After about 15-20 strokes rinse the bore paste out with cleaner although Kroil works excellent for that.
Takes about 15 minutes and it will be clean to bare metal.

Remington 40X cleaner will work as well using same routine.

 

[CMDR Kibo]

Sorry, I can't say I have tried this. In fact, this is the first I have heard of using PEA to clean a barrel.

Your buddy is right in that it is a detergent designed to help pull carbon off fuel system components while running the engine. But fuel system cleaners with PEA are designed to be heavily diluted with gasoline since it is a corrosive. There is no way I would let it sit in my barrel overnight. There is too much potential for damage to be done to the barrel.

If you want to try it, I would recommend just wetting a patch and stroking it down the barrel several times and see how it does. Maybe let it sit for a minute or so and then run some dry patches through the barrel and evaluate. Make sure you get it all out so it doesn't etch into the barrel.

For heavily carbon fouled barrels I have used CLR to break the carbon up. It has worked well for me but I did not let it sit in the barrel more than a couple of minutes and then I scrupulously made sure to get it all out and continue with my regular cleaning process.

I know everyone has their own pet way of cleaning barrels and swear by such-and-such method or cleaner. That's fine by me. Just go easy with anything corrosive.

If you try the Regane with PEA, please let us know how it performs.

 

[jjmp]

Try some Barnes CR10 ,follow lable instructions works great , get well healup strong ,Cheers !!!

 

[zr600]

I have had good luck with clr too. Like he said don't let it sit in there long and make sure to get it all out.

 

[venatic]

Found an article that describes essentially same process I mentioned above but with different product.... and it comes from Benchmark barrels so not just some person on the inter web

https://alphamunitions.com/news/

 

[Muddyboots]

OK here are the results of using Gumout so far:

1. Mixed 1 ml of GO to 9 ml of Kroil, several batches of this mixture
   
2. Used .277 jag (300WSM rifle) soaked patch down barrel 2X and "soaked" barrel for 5 min.
3. Ran nylon brush with JB and GO/Kroil 25X
   
4. Patched with Kroil to clear barrel
5. Dry patch
6. Barrel no better
7. Repeated but used bronze brush with GO/Kroil 25X
8. Barrel no better
9. Used 100% GO, 10 min barrel soak
10. Bronze brush with 100% GO 25X
11. Cleared with Kroil patching
12. Dry Patch
13. Barrel no better
14. Used 100% GO, 10 min soak
15. Bronze brush with JB and GO 25X
16. Cleared with Kroil
17. Carbon looked more gray in appearance than shiny black, still carbon coated though. Whatever gains I see probably more to using bronze brush and JB.

Probably need to soak barrel longer with GO but wanted to take baby steps to insure control over potential impact on barrel. I am still hesitant to allow GO soak longer than I have done so. I really don't have anything to confirm one way or another that GO can help remove carbon with the steps I took which were very conservative I thought to manage potential risks. Although it is a OEM Big Green barrel that shot pretty good, why damage it unnecessarily with steps that I do not have any information on to insure I am not incurring damage. What I really need to do is get it bore scoped to see what exactly is happening down barrel but since I do not have one I chose to take small incremental steps. I may bite the "bullet and buy one this week since it is really nice to have one.

I am now soaking barrel in 100% Kroil, rifle is vertical filled up to chamber. I will leave soaking until my Boretech C4 arrives this week. Maybe the Kroil will start to seep into the carbon layer a bit.

What I did find out is that stroking the barrel so many times was really good PT for my shoulder and actually feels better!

 

[zr600]

Once you get a rifle carboned up to the point of bad accuracy it is a pain to get clean. I did the same thing with my 22-243 last winter it just quit shooting. Had not been that long since I cleaned maybe 20-30 rounds I couldn't figure out what was going on. A old benchreat shooter helped me get it shooting. I was thinking it was a shot out barrel even though the barrel didn't have that many rounds done it. I finally got it cleaned try Free All penitrating oil for soaking too. That is supposed to be the best stuff for this. Jb Bronx brush and when you get the c4 boretech should help you. Even if you were cleaning before it got this bad you might have been leaving a little carbon not knowing it every time you cleaned it and now finally it's carboned up enough you can't get it clean your normal way of cleaning. I would highly recommend the Lyman bore scope it's worth every penny and gives you an idea of what's going on. Very handy.

 

[brian b]

I use the Bore tech C4 once in a while but all you ever need is Bore Tech Eliminator.
Just use Eliminator every time you clean and you will never need to use anything else, if you have a badly fouled barrel with either copper or carbon just let it sit over night and in the morning it's spotless and completely harmless to steel.
I agree with zr600 the Lyman bore scope is worth every penny

 

[javman]

Use GunSlick and let it soak overnight! Scrub with patch and brush then start running patches till they come out clean. If I see a hint of fouling then i usually follow up with JB bore paste or KG12.

 

[cmarchand]

This is what I have used for years and is excellent:
Genuine GM Fluid 88861803 Upper Engine and Fuel Injector Cleaner
It's not magic it still takes some work on your part...

 

[Mike AVM]

I've found that Slip 2000's Carbon Cutter is by far the most effective. It REALLY works. Great on gas pistons and bolts too. Great stuff.

 

[GeorgeS]

You might try Seafoam - a product designed for removing carbon buildup in engines from the pistons and valves. It appears to do a good job dissolving carbon of that type. Here's a video of a test on a lawnmower engine; it's pretty clear that it has removed, with a relatively short soaking time, a significant amount of burned-on carbon:

 

[EWY]

Instead of the Sea Foam gas treatment I use Sea Foam Deep Creep penetrating oil. It does a very good job of removing fouling, but I haven't had a barrel a carbin fouled as yours.