Hard carbon removal from barrel?

[SwampShooter]

Hadn't tried scraping, I'll give it a shot.

[SwampShooter]

Popper, are you saying I should cast harder? Not a bad idea about tumble lubing till I get it figured out. You and kidding about hard, now I know what my dentist must feel like.

[popper]

Yes. I shoot XDM, soft works but can really leave a mess. Shot like 10 hitek coated on 30/30, had to use 3 50cal dry patches on the end of a coated rod, pounded with a big hammer to get the hard plastic donut out of the muzzle. Was building a BO pistol, tried using the BCG from the carbine that I shoot a lot of coated cast. Couldn't get the bolt to close. Long story but had to use a twist drill (by hand) to cut the junk out of the gas key. Normal PC residue in barrel is easy to remove but once it is burned, like concrete and solvent don't work.

[ole_270]

The next test is the scrape test. Take a razor knife and do a 90 degree scrape on the polymer to check the hardness. If the polymer scrapes off easily then it is not hard.

Just tried this on two different powders on three different bullets. With a pocket knife held perpendicular to the axis of the bullet, the coating scrapes easily to and into the lead. Fairly soft lead alloy that shows no fractures or flaking when crushed with a 3 lb hammer. The 25-20 and 38-55 are working fine, the 45 acp is causing some trouble and recovered bullets have a lot of coating missing. I just figured i had used too many bullets on a tray and didn't get fully heat soaked. I don't normally put near as many of the 250 gr 38-55 bullets on a tray since I like to stand everything up. The squatty 45s make it easier to balance the bullets while loading the tray into the oven. I do use an oven thermometer.

[Dragonheart]

Just tried this on two different powders on three different bullets. With a pocket knife held perpendicular to the axis of the bullet, the coating scrapes easily to and into the lead. Fairly soft lead alloy that shows no fractures or flaking when crushed with a 3 lb hammer. The 25-20 and 38-55 are working fine, the 45 acp is causing some trouble and recovered bullets have a lot of coating missing. I just figured i had used too many bullets on a tray and didn't get fully heat soaked. I don't normally put near as many of the 250 gr 38-55 bullets on a tray since I like to stand everything up. The squatty 45s make it easier to balance the bullets while loading the tray into the oven. I do use an oven thermometer.

I am sure you already know this, but make sure your bullets are out of the mold clean before coating.

You will find some powders to be better quality and some harder than others, but they shouldn't scrape off easily. I don't know who came up with the smash test, but it is a great idea to test the elasticity and bond of the powder, but it doesn't tell you everything.

I will take the credit for being the first to post the "Scrape Test" to this site, but actually Charlie Darnall designer of the FreeChex gas Check making tools came up with the Scrape Test idea to test the hardness of some of the powders we were using. It is a quick and simple test and will definitely show up a soft coating.

If you have a good thermometer that is proven accurate, then you know when the oven gets to 400 degrees the only problem is a loaded oven may take some time before the bullets get to 400. The timing for the cure starts when the bullets get to 400, so better to give them more time than not enough. I typically cook 1K+ at a time. These handheld infrared thermometers I don't have a lot of faith in, but they are better than nothing for a quick check of the temperature of the bullets before starting the timing.

[ole_270]

Question- since these bullets may be partially cured, could I recoat and bake again? The powder I'm using is PBTP Gloss Black wet, and the gray that Randyrat had. Thinking about getting some of Smokes clear to overcoat.

[Dragonheart]

Yes, if the coating did not get a full cure you can cook again. Doing what is called a "partial cure" is a way professionals get a thicker coating. You just do a coat the stop cooking after the first coat starts to flow then add a second coat and full cure. Of course if there is a problem with the powder of contamination it probably won't fix that, but I would give it a try.

[Bama]

Another item might help. A few rounds of jacketed will also make cleaning go faster. Some colors seem to be less of a problem than others also. In my evaluations Smokes "Bacon Grease" seems to be the best with mininum buildup and longer substained accuracy than any I have tried. I usually shoot 50 to 100 at a range sesion. A few brushes with Bore Tech and soaked patches usually makes quick cleaning.

[Newboy]

The powder does NOT have to be under cured to leave the hardest **** in a barrel I ever tried to get out. I never found a solvent to work on it. My barrel happened to be very hard, so I got a stainless brush and finally got it out.

Started expanding brass to .357, and sized to .358 (9mm), and problem went away.


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[Petander]

BORE TECH ELIMINATOR is the product you want for pc residue removal

Yes it luckily is.

An occasional "undercure disaster" isn't that bad anymore. You can guess how I know.