Boiling to remove carbon

[Nhoro]

Hi all, had an interesting observation today. I bought a brno .22 that was made in 1948 and have been fixing it up. I was struggling to get it to group and so I started cleaning the barrel with solvents and bronze brushing. I probably soaked solvent 15 times for an hour or two each time. I managed 1" groups at 50 m and decided that was about all I could get.Barrel and action were rusted so I cleaned it up and started rust blueing. So after the boil, I brushed the bore with a bronze brush and it was full of black gunk. Put a patch through and even more carbon sludge came out. So my theory is the boil loosened the carbon better than the solvent. Anyone have a similar experience ? I reckon it is worth a boil if you have stubborn carbon or a rifle that hasn't been cleaned for a while. Totally subjective but the area of rifling in front of the chamberhas much crisper, sharper rifling than before.

 

[Hunter4752001]

The black gunk isn't carbon, its a ferrous oxide (Fe(II) ). Rust is a ferric (Fe(III) oxide. Boiling rusty steel in deionised water converts the ferric oxide to ferrous oxide.

 

[Proneshooter]

The black gunk isn't carbon, its a ferrous oxide (Fe(II) ). Rust is a ferric (Fe(III) oxide. Boiling rusty steel in deionised water converts the ferric oxide to ferrous oxide.

I've rust blued a few guns and never had the bore rust. Just got done doing a 404 Jeffery and there was no rust in the bore when I finished.

 

[Nhoro]

There was no rust in the bore. The outside was treated with rusting solution but not the bore. What i noticed is that the boiling softened and loosened carbon in the bore and when i cleaned the bore for re assembly, a whole bunch of carbon came out.

 

[Sarg]

Thanks for posting this, I had in mind to boil a couple of rifles I have that show signs of rust, to turn it to black, but now I see maybe some of the real messed up .303 barrels I have might benefit from a tickle up & I have worn out many brushes on stuffed .303 barrels & a few have come up after a ton of work, elbow grease & bore cleaner, better to boil first & then clean maybe ?

 

[Nhoro]

Give it a go and then maybe you can add to the thread. I did a lot of solvent/ bore brush/ swab out before boiling and I am convinced that the boiling did more loosening of stubborn carbon than the solvents. Especially just infront of the chamber.

 

[deewayne2003]

I haven’t boiled a barrel, however I have used electro chemical to take out deep set fouling in old military surplus.

You plug the muzzle with a cork and the barreled action in a vise with the breach up and fill the barrel with ammonia.

Insert a metal rod into the barrel and fix so that it is hanging in the bore but not touching the sides or any other metal part.

Hook a 6volt lantern battery up with ground on the action and positive to the metal rod….. and you better have a bucket under it before you connect the battery.

The amount of fouling that used to come out of old Mausers always amazed me.

Also if you try this do it no longer than 20-30min because once the fouling is totally removed it will start to pit the barrel; this method isn’t supposed to get it squeaky clean, but rather break fouling loose.

 

[Nhoro]

I went and shot tje rifle and got maybe 2 to 3 inch groups. So I did some more research and started plan B. Put a brass brush on a rod and put it in the drill. Scoured the barrel out, followed by patches soaked in Handy Andy ( a kichen cleaner with fine grit/ ammonia etc.) Went to the range and got my boys shooting some junk ammo and they managed some groups aroun 1.5 inches and the rifle was actually grouping and not slinging bullets around. So I tried some Gekko ammo. 3 shots in 10 mm then adjusted the sights and a 2 shot group at 5 mm. For the americans among us, that is about 0.4 inches and then 1/4 ". Put a smile on my face to get this old gun shooting and looking good.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Boiling the rifle is nothing new. Boiling the rifle requires special attention:

1) the metal must be hot enough, but not overly hot, when with drawn the water Must Evaporate Immediately.

2) VERY TRICKY!!! EVERYTHING!!! DEPENDS on the Age Of The Barrel and ALL Metal Parts!!! The Quality Of Steel of the Barrel and ALL Metal Parts!! It also depends on the firearm's bluing/browning process.

Clean the firearm thoroughly removing all rust from barrel and all metal parts: bronze brush, swaps, patches, carbon and copper fouling removing solvents, 0000 steel wool wrapped snuggly around a bronze brush: IF NOT REBLUING/BROWNING THE BARREL AND METAL PARTS DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL ON THE BLUING OR BROWNING!! ONLY THE INSIDE OF THE BARREL!!

NOTE: MAY REQUIRE 2 OR MORE "HOT BATHS".

If rebluing/browning, reblue/brown firearm In Accordance to bluing/browning instructions before proceeding to Step 3.

3) After the firearm has been thoroughly cleaned return the metal back into the boiling water and bring the metal back up to temp so the water immediately evaporates off the metal. Weraing Latex gloves, then submerge into water displacing oil bath, let set 3-5 minutes (depending on quality of steel), remove and wipe down with clean dry lint free cloth. Reassemble firearm. Wipe firearm LIGHTLY with a light gun oil. I personally prefer using Bore Butter.

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"Boiling" a firearm isn't something new. It's doing it the correct way. I have seen a lot of firearms washed, showered, etc. with hot water to remove carbon and crud where the metal wasn't allowed to heat up causing the metal to oxidize and rust even after being heavily coated with Break Free, WD40, Rem Oil, gun oils.

The Water Displacing oil is the key as it gets to those hard to reach, no see um places, to evaporate water and coat the areas preventing rust.

 

[PeteG]

@Piet-Vis perhaps your 333 needs a boiling deep cleanse?

 

[Piet-Vis]

@Piet-Vis perhaps your 333 needs a boiling deep cleanse?

I would need to find a bloody big pot..

 

[Nhoro]

I would need to find a bloody big pot..

I have just been doing my gutters and fascia boards on the house. So a pice of the old galvanised metal gutter became a boiling tank and my camping stove the heat source. I believe the gutter is original from when the house was built circa 1970s

 

[Rez Exelon]

I have just been doing my gutters and fascia boards on the house. So a pice of the old galvanised metal gutter became a boiling tank and my camping stove the heat source. I believe the gutter is original from when the house was built circa 1970s