Cleaning Carbon ring / barrel with Thorolean - Some Questions

CanMike · Tuesday at 8:59 PM

So I got the cleaning kit and wondering how clean is too clean.. Should I completely get rid of the carbon ring or just a mild scrub.. I did 2 x 20 passes with the Thoroclean system and got rid of a lot of carbon. BArrell looks much cleaner. Should I keep going?

I think I will do one more pass of 20-30 and see where I am at.

Here are some before and after pics..

Mike

CanMike · Tuesday at 11:17 PM

So I managed to run another 40 passes or so.. Barrel came out spotless but I can't get rid of the remnants of the carbon ring. Its much cleaner then it was so I think I am going to leave like this for now.

The carbon is gone from the rifling even from the area where the lands start. Just this ring right before rifling starts.

Mike

TheJeanyus · Wednesday at 1:48 PM

Before I went too wild with Thorroclean (it is mildly abrasive after all), I'd soak a bore mop in Boretech C4 and leave it in there for a while.

Hickswr · Wednesday at 2:01 PM

I always clean the carbon ring separately before starting on the barrel with Thorroclean. Wet patch of CLR soaking on the carbon ring for 15 min, then spin an over sized bronze brush on the carbon ring BY HAND for about 10 seconds. Proceed to clean barrel with Thorrough clean like normal. Freebore will be as clean as the barrel when you finish and you won’t have ran an extra 40 stroke of abrasive down your barrel.

Baron23 · Wednesday at 2:07 PM

Might want to read this

For the Love of God, GI Joe and John Wayne.... cleaning and abrasive cleaners

Guys..... This has been beaten to death but you have to watch how your using abrasive cleaners! Here is a 223 barrel with 800 rounds on it. Cleaned after every 75 rounds fired. I know the pitting is from a chemical reaction but I didn't get the whole story. It was cleaned approximately 10-12...

www.snipershide.com

CanMike · Wednesday at 2:19 PM

Hickswr said:
I always clean the carbon ring separately before starting on the barrel with Thorroclean. Wet patch of CLR soaking on the carbon ring for 15 min, then spin an over sized bronze brush on the carbon ring BY HAND for about 10 seconds. Proceed to clean barrel with Thorrough clean like normal. Freebore will be as clean as the barrel when you finish and you won’t have ran an extra 40 stroke of abrasive down your barrel.

I'll try the C4 as I have some on order before entertaining the CLR as I have read a lot of potential issue with it. I am planning on using C4 as my normal maintenance and use the ThoroClean every 300 rounds or so if it looks like it needs it.. Barrell is almost perfect so no need to do more. I stopped once I got 90-95% of the copper out.. Didn't want to overdo it.

I used a Nylon brush as well. Just the carbon ring left.

Mike

CanMike · Wednesday at 5:24 PM

I used some Balistol to soak the ring a little and scrubbed with a soft Nylon brush. Waiting on some C4 to come in.. Getting there I think.

MIke

oldrifleman · Wednesday at 5:47 PM

CanMike said:
I used some Balistol to soak the ring a little and scrubbed with a soft Nylon brush. Waiting on some C4 to come in.. Getting there I think.

MIke

For my rimfires and centerfires that need it I soak an oversized bore mop in c4 and push it into the chamber as far as I can and let it sit for 15-30 min then brush with a nylon brush and if that fails I repeat the process with a brass brush (seldom needed).

CanMike · Wednesday at 5:49 PM

Will try that. How quickly does the ring return after it’s been completely removed?

Mike

Hickswr · Wednesday at 7:33 PM

CanMike said:
I'll try the C4 as I have some on order before entertaining the CLR as I have read a lot of potential issue with it. I am planning on using C4 as my normal maintenance and use the ThoroClean every 300 rounds or so if it looks like it needs it.. Barrell is almost perfect so no need to do more. I stopped once I got 90-95% of the copper out.. Didn't want to overdo it.

I used a Nylon brush as well. Just the carbon ring left.

Mike

I’ve soaked stainless muzzle brakes in concentrate CLR for 24 hrs with zero harm. 15 min on a patch isn’t going to hurt anything. But I also tried C4 first but got tired of scrubbing more and waiting and now go with CLR.

oldrifleman · Wednesday at 9:40 PM

CanMike said:
Will try that. How quickly does the ring return after it’s been completely removed?

Mike

For my rim fires I have no idea I just do chamber cleaning every third trip or 500 rounds which every comes first. For my center fires I do it every 500 rounds unless I get pressure signs.

TylerN · Wednesday at 9:41 PM

Hickswr said:
I always clean the carbon ring separately before starting on the barrel with Thorroclean. Wet patch of CLR soaking on the carbon ring for 15 min, then spin an over sized bronze brush on the carbon ring BY HAND for about 10 seconds. Proceed to clean barrel with Thorrough clean like normal. Freebore will be as clean as the barrel when you finish and you won’t have ran an extra 40 stroke of abrasive down your barrel.

This method works for me as well.

Turkeytider · Thursday at 8:24 AM

TheJeanyus said:
Before I went too wild with Thorroclean (it is mildly abrasive after all), I'd soak a bore mop in Boretech C4 and leave it in there for a while.

That’s what I do. If you clean your rifle barrel regularly, you can stay ahead of carbon build up. You can also avoid the use of abrasives, at least on a regular basis.

CanMike · Friday at 4:33 PM

Well thanks for all the advice guys.. The C4 came in and 15min soak a little scrub and it's been defeated. I am going to range on Sunday so will post up some pics after I put some rounds through and see what it looks like.

But for now.. Victory

MIke

carbonbased · 2025-09-14T00:07:14-0400

The problem is most methods rely the on time-intensive soaking of the ring or don’t firmly contact the ring.

Next time, try this. It works fast.

Get some blue (not red) JB paste, a regular felt VFG pellet sized larger than your bore, and a Proshot pellet jag.

Proshot jag

Welcome to Pro-Shot Products - Since 1982, World's #1 Brand of American Made Firearms Cleaning Accessories

Vfg pellet info

Rifle Competition Events - Cleaning for Competitions

I clean as little as possible i swear my gun shoots better when its dirty . I clean carbon every 400-500 rounds . And strip copper once about halfway thru a barrels life . If im at a match where my rifle got dirty though i will clean the barrel when i clean the rest of the rifle just because .

www.snipershide.com

You can use the end of your cleaning rod and just grab it in your hand so it doesn’t rotate. Or use a long non-rotating chamber cleaning rod. Put a pellet on there that’s 1 to 3 calibers bigger than than your bore (experiment). Add JB blue paste. Stick it in and spin while you twirl. Twirl = move the rod so it makes a cone shape.

That carbon ring will disappear. The larger-than-your-bore pellet directly contacts the ring. Plus the angling the pellet via twirling + spinning really helps.

Like this (only rotating the rod clockwise instead of back and forth)

Lol sorry I couldn’t find a better pic

A different post I made on the matter

Rifle Competition Events - Cleaning for Competitions

Everyone and their mother has a different cleaning regime. Different products, different process and different definitions of what cleaning is. For many years my cleaning process for precision rifles has been follow boretech instructions. Maybe do a cycle or 2. Gun shoots well again and is...

www.snipershide.com

CanMike · 2025-09-14T18:42:00-0400

So here she is after the range trip with 53 rounds through.. Scope before cleaning or doing anything.. Looks like some discolouration around where carbon ring forms but no significant carbon build up there.

Mike

CanMike · 2025-09-14T18:45:50-0400

And after a few patches of C4. Initially they came out black but this is how it looks after they are perfectly white. You can see that even though the patches came out clear there is still carbon in the barrell but I am stopping here as she's shooting super well.

Mike

Roadrace33 · 2025-09-14T19:14:02-0400

I’ve experimented with a lot, but lately what I’ve been doing is this.
1. 3-4 wet patchs
2. Brush 10-15 strokes with nylon(iosso) or bronze-idc but bronze does seem to work better
3. Wet patch
4. Soak the chamber in c4 and bore mop for 15 mins or longer. I’ve soaked it for hours on end before.
5. Spin an oversize brush in the chamber. This removes 99-100% of the carbon ring. Sometimes I’ll re soak the chamber, and re spin a brush once more for dirty chambers.
6. Wet patch and if satisfied with the borescope, follow it with a few dry patches.
7. Roughly every 400 rounds I use thorroclean. After my regular clean, which gets it pretty darn clean, I use thorroclean exactly how they recommend. I only use it with patches. I will do 10-15 strokes, and a few short strokes of the chamber. This cleans the entire barrel shiny new, but leaves the first 4-5” with just a tiny bit of carbon and the barrel comes back to normal velocity quickly. Typically 3-4 rounds.

I have found that since I toss a barrel at 2k rounds anyways, I haven’t noticed a measurable difference in barrels dying quicker, or larger groups. For reference I aim for sub .5” @ 100, and most all the groups are .2-.3” Maybe thorroclean can shorten the life of a barrel if its way overused, or you are shooting much more before tossing the barrel but since im yanking them before they start to decline anyhow, I really like thorroclean to clean 4-5 times during the life of a barrel to get it back to near new condition.

brianf · 2025-09-14T19:42:51-0400

Turkeytider said:
That’s what I do. If you clean your rifle barrel regularly, you can stay ahead of carbon build up. You can also avoid the use of abrasives, at least on a regular basis.

For the 10000000th thread

Every barrel mfg and builder say clean you rifle after every range session and there is no carbon ring problem.

It really is that easy

carbonbased · 2025-09-14T22:40:37-0400

brianf said:
For the 10000000th thread

Every barrel mfg and builder say clean you rifle after every range session and there is no carbon ring problem.

It really is that easy

???

So I follow the @Frank Green “slow” method. Clean after (almost) every shoot with Hoppes, and let it sit overnight (or longer). I use what jag he uses…Parker Hale type (or a VFG pellet, which is the same sort of thing).

I still get carbon rings that develop around 300-500 rounds on Muller barrels from Bugholes or factory barrels. Then I do Frank’s JB blue paste (or 40x) deal on the throat to get rid of the ring, and sometimes on the bore depending on how it looks.

I shoot factory ammo, mainly Hornady because that’s the fastest stuff for the calibers I shoot the most (22-250 & 204). I’m 100% suppressed.

Are you saying you never ever get a carbon ring just because you clean after each shoot?

high right · 2025-09-14T23:32:13-0400

This is a tool I made that works well.
Cut off a fired unsized neck from your brass. Solder a length of welding rod in the center. A diamond file to the end to create some small burrs. A dab of JB and spin it. It stops at the chamber, so no harm to the throat of rifling.

TahoeDust · 2025-09-14T23:41:28-0400

When you guys say "oversized", what are we talking? What size bore mop to soak and brush to clean for a carbon ring in a 6.5cm would you recommend?

Cleaning Carbon ring / barrel with Thorolean - Some Questions

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