Salute Rifle barrel cleaning

[MXL]

Gentlemen,
My first post on the Milsurps forum (long time CMP member). My question is ...... on the blank fired salute rifles, like a couple of 17's I just got from the CMP, how the heck are you getting them clean. I have corked the muzzles and for one week soak periods tried pure acetone, Ed's Red, Kroil, Carburetor cleaner, Et Al. Each seems to do a little but no one cleaner will dissolve that mix of combustion products. If Acetone won't do it (the universal organic solvent) what will? Any thoughts?
MXL (Randy)

Information

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[musketshooter]

You are wasting your time and money trying to clean it with chemicals. The last resort is to find a glass bead blaster and run the beads through from both ends. Glass beads only remove the unsound metal (rust) or fouling and will not move any sound metal.

[Chuckindenver]

blanks are black powder..
only way to really clean, is with hot soapy water,
strip the rifle.
run hot tap water, dribble dawn dish soap down the bore, scrub the barrel with a worn over sized brush, let the muzzle set under the running tap water.
watch the black nastys run out, run some hot water down the bore, and repeat until the black nastys stop.
then clean with a new brush, and sovent, whipe with a dry patch, and then and oil patch, then a dry patch again.
thats as good as your ever going to get it.

[three0three]

While I do not share your exact barrel problem, when I first got my M1917 the bore was so dirty that I found it amazing that a .308 Dia. projectile could even fit through it. So, I got a SS brush chucked it in my high speed drill and went at it for 5 long minutes being sure to rejuvenate with Hoppes No.9 every minute or so. After 6-7 patches they came out almost as clean as they went in. After doing this I noticed I have some very strong lands an grooves.

I was so damn excited that my barrel was not "shot out" this is what I looked like------->

[AlReiter]

chuckindenver,
I've heard conflicting reports about blanks. Some, like you, say that they're black powder while others say they're not so I'm not sure which way to go. I tried the hot water and soap and didn't see any marked improvement so I went back to solvents.

MILSURPGUY1917,
How many times did you do the brush routine? My patches are almost clean also, but after more brushing, they're black as ever so it's soak, brush, patches, brush, patches, brush, patches, ... and then back to soaking. I've been at it over a month now!! I've used Hoppe's, Break Free Carbon Cutter, Break Free Powder Blast (lots of Acetone in it), B-12 Chem Tool, Kroil, and others I can't remember.

[three0three]

MILSURPGUY1917,
How many times did you do the brush routine? My patches are almost clean also, but after more brushing, they're black as ever so it's soak, brush, patches, brush, patches, brush, patches, ... and then back to soaking. I've been at it over a month now!! I've used Hoppe's, Break Free Carbon Cutter, Break Free Powder Blast (lots of Acetone in it), B-12 Chem Tool, Kroil, and others I can't remember.

I only had to do it once but I did have a Mosin Nagant 91/30 that never did come clean after months of shooting clean burning domestic powders and rigorous cleanings, I had to just come to terms and realize the soldier that carried it did not like me and was playing ghostly games with me. I still think that guy is a jack ***. try some good break cleaner, if that doesn't do it...... your gun must be haunted also. do like this guy and surrender

good luck and I hope it eventually comes clean

[Dan Wilson]

Well some of the junk is most likely rust as most blanks for years have corrosive primers.
Last one I bought was horrible, not even a chance of seeing any lands and grooves.
To get the rust out and not do it in a drastically damaging way I plugged the chamber and filled the bore with CLR and let it soak for a couple of days. Then I ran many many patches through it and repeated. Finally I got visible lands and grooves so I felt safe running some ammo through the beast and within 200 rounds the barrel looked really good (comparatively speaking that is) and it shoots good enough for me.

The pic is of the bore after 200 rounds. It may not be a match bore but then again I aint no match shooter!!

However a word of warning, do not try to shoot the crud out unless you can see the lands and grooves, if it still all crudded up and you shoot it you will run some serious overpressures in the bore.

Dan