Cleaning Carbon from a Suppressor

C

Catdog1

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Word on the street is that Bore Tech C4 Carbon Remover is working fantastic on centerfire suppressors. Anyone tried this yet?
 
I have never cleaned a centerfire suppressor. Ill just put a dab of grease on the threads and the taper where the suppressor locks down to.
 
I don't have a suppressor, but if you ever try C4 Carbon Cleaner by Bore Tech in your rifle barrels you will never use anything else.
 
anytime i'm running subs with dirty powder (1680) thru my can, i just make sure i put it on the 5.56 or 308 afterward and run some full house loads thru it.

otherwise thats all the cleaning i've ever done to mine.
 
Originally Posted By: old catI don't have a suppressor, but if you ever try C4 Carbon Cleaner by Bore Tech in your rifle barrels you will never use anything else. This is what ive been reading. I need to get some of this magic pixey dust and try it.
 
I will have to try it! don't know how many rounds you guys put thru your's but you shoot enough you WILL be cleaning carbon out of them
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Just got done cleaning a SURE FIRE- RYDER It's been on a 22lr for about a year. Took all the parts and soaked them in a 50-50 of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar, borrowed one of ma's Tupperware bowls.
I let it soak at least 24 hrs. and then took an ultra sonic tooth brush to them. {don't have the big brass cleaner} Wow it worked really well. Going to treat the parts before I shoot it again. Poor mans sonic cleaner.
I've been having some carbon build up on the end of my barrels also. Put the end in the mixture, same results. Wiped it off and cleaned it immediately.
 
Thanks for the tip. I have been soaking my 22lr suppressor parts in the dot 5 brake fluid and i can say it does help. Ive also heard rumor of people using the fizzy denture tablets to help clean things.
 
I used the dot five method on my TBAC Takedown. Clean the parts and heat them up, then let them cool in the brake fluid. The Ryder was shot right out of the box, and it cleaned up pretty good.
They clean up easier.
 
Apparently CLR (Calcium, Lime, Rust) cleaner works exceptional on carbon whether in your bore or suppressor. Soak your suppressor overnight and your baffles will look like new. I also pre-soaked my rimfire baffles in silicone oil (same as DOT 5 brake fluid) and the carbon wiped off much easier than scrubbing.
 
Not sure if why you would clean a suppressor since the round doesn't touch it, but if I was to clean mine, I would use simple green purple and my ultrasonic cleaner.
 
Feel free to give me a call. CLR works great if your suppressor can handle it. We use CLR to clean our Thunder Beast cans.
 
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Originally Posted By: MistWolfCenter fire suppressors will eventually fill up with carbon deposits

Oh man! You got that right!

When I got my HTG Aris suppressor I was told not by some salesman but by the one of the guys that made them that although it was made to come apart that there was no need to do so because they were self cleaning. Ahem. Nope. After several thousands of rounds of .204, .223, .223AI, .22/250 and .220 Swift were shot down it I noticed that it was not as quiet as it once was and decided to take it apart and clean it. Oh me! Talk about waiting too long! I chucked the can in my barrel vice and tried to use the spanner wrench to take it apart and in 10 seconds broke the wrench. I had someone make me a heavy duty one and broke it trying to unscrew the base off of it. Finally took it to a shop and after heating it with a torch we finally got the base off and looked in it and it was solid carbon. I mean, it was so caked up that I could not chip out the carbon to get to the baffles to get them out. Put the can in my Thumler's Tumbler for 6 hours that did not do it. Bought an ultra sonic cleaner and tried every caustic cleaner I had and bought more and nothing got it out. Finally took the can into a gunshop in a nearby town and asked them if they could get it apart and clean it. He gave me the most piteous look and told me to leave it with him and he would take it apart and clean it for me.

Nope. No you won't.

One month later and hours of hand chipping with a tiny chisel and whatever else he could find he got both ends off and still could not get the baffles out. He called and said that he had never seen that much carbon in in a suppressor and that he never would have taken the job had he knew what he was in for but that he got out a fair amount and please- pretty please come get this thing out of his shop. Fine. I went and got it and sure enough he got out of great deal of carbon out of both ends of the can but never succeeded in getting the baffles out to clean in between them. He charged me a miniscule amount despite his hours of messing with it which I gladly paid. I took it home and tried it out. Was it better? You bet. As good as new. No way. Just last week I filled it up with some steel shot and it back in my Tumbler with a plug in my treads to keep from damaging them. After a big squeeze of Dawn and a half gallon of boiling water in the tumbler I turned it on and left it for 8 hours. I then dumped out some of the blackest water I have even seen. And I could see into the baffles! I filled it back up again left it on for several more hours and more black water but not as black as before. I am going to do it one more time and then take it with me to the range and see how she does now. I know that it's going to be better. A lot better I hope.

So now you know. Next time someone tells you that suppressors used on centerfires dont have to be cleaned tell them that they are full of hooey. And full of hooey is much better than full of carbon any day.
 
The best thing that I've found to easily clean suppressor's is a one gallon can of B12 Chem Dip. I just soak them over night, and blow them out with my compressor.Then stand on one end and let them dry out.
 
RUSTYDUST is right on the money. I found out by accident that the super heated blast of fire when it hits the suppressor it causes the air in the can to condensate. This condensation builds with each shot and between the super hot water and powder things really plug up badly! I found this out one day after shooting some new reloads I stood the rifle up in my bed room over night. I had left a round in the chamber and the next morning I ejected the round and noticed the bullet was GREEN! The water in the can had ran down the barrel all the way to the bullet! So of course I went to cleaning the barrel right away and man did it take a LOT of work to clean that mess up. Took off the suppressor to try to clean it and as rusty says I could not get it apart to clean. I finally got the bottom off but never did get the top off or any of the baffles out. I have tried all sorts of stuff to clean the can out with but so far nothing is cleaning it up, I might try that bore tech C4 and see if it works. I have put it back on the rifle as I just love the suppressor BUT I have noticed my groups aren't so good any more, thought maybe it was the heat from the can heating the barrel but I have given it plenty of time to cool between shots and still lousy groups. I was cleaning my barrel just yesterday and noticed something like scailing in the muzzle end and I believe its from the condensation and crud in the can. I've been trying everything I got to clean it off. So far it looks like I have it 98%. So I am now back to shooting can-less, cant wait to get to the range to see if my groups are back, but I 'll bet they are!
 
Originally Posted By: BearRustydust have you tried a sand blaster BUT using walnut shell case cleaner on that carbon?

No, I have not. No too sure that would work without damaging the interior of the suppressor. I would be afraid to try it for sure.

But like is said, I can get to the baffles but I cannot get in between them. Dont think that any sort of sand (or ground walnut hull) would do any good here.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
standard practice cleaning tool for gen1 (aluminum) SiCo sparrow was to use a soda blaster to clean the baffle stack and clam shells. probably not very useful info if you cant get your stack out, but still handy to know that you can use that type of material safely for cleaning our precious toys!
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