Wayne, can you post pictures of your bore carbon? Please.

I use Hoppes also and I have always cleaned bores after a shooting session. Have always left a wet bore when put in the rack. Shot a Anschutz 64 all last summer in silhouette league but never cleaned it. So I'm sorta curious if it has a carbon ring. I'd like to know what I'm looking for. Many shooters claim they never clean .22 bores. So maybe a carbon ring is a good thing and should be left alone?

Federal 1240 FPS plain lead bullet ammo was used. I remember reading about a bronze reamer used to remove carbon rings in .22 bores. 
Didn't clean the Anschutz bore because it's not a fine single shot rifle and I got lazy.

westerner wrote on Apr 30^th, 2026 at 7:15pm:


I did not take a borescope photo prior to cleaning the carbon out after the last match.  It shows up as a black ring just in front of the location of the case mouth.  I just tried Hoppes and also Ballistol.  Neither worked to remove the frying pan carbon - not even close to the effectiveness of Bar Keepers Friend.

Wayne

westerner wrote on Apr 30^th, 2026 at 7:15pm:


From my reading,  the hard-core 22 guys don't clean the bore, but do clean the carbon from in front of the chamber. The carbon ring can stage the lead bullets as you chamber the round. They try to use something that removes carbon, but not anything else. I soak a swab with carb-out ant let it sit at the chamber mouth for a bit, then spin a brush

westerner wrote on Apr 30^th, 2026 at 6:01pm:


westerner,

I can't post a photo of the carbon ring due to having cleaned out the carbon after the last match.  But here's a very good article that has borescope photos of the carbon ring & an excellent match .22-rifle cleaning process.
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Ever since the article was published in 2022, I been following the suggested cleaning process using Bore Tech's C4.  But due to my recent carbon removing experiments, I plan to switch to Bar Keepers Friend to remove the carbon ring, then run a patch with C4 through the bore.

Wayne

GT wrote on May 1^st, 2026 at 10:37am:


Yes, that photo could have been from my rifle throat.  C4 certainly does work but will take more work to remove the carbon ring than with Bar Keepers Friend.

BTW, in another forum a shooter was concerned about the possibility of Bar Keepers Friend scratching the throat.  I responded with, "I share your concern.  It seems to be a little more aggressive with more of a gritty feel than IOSSO or JB Bore Paste. I only plan use it on a wetted Q-tip to clean the carbon ring in front of the chamber.  Then run a patch with C4 from the muzzle & out the breech to remove any of the remaining residue."

Wayne

A word of caution. 

Bar Keepers Friend contains Oxilac Acid and it can damage your barrel. It is great for removing rust stains.

Just because it’s black -- doesn’t mean it’s carbon.   Something to consider......

CHRIS
RGChristensen

I'll jump in here but my comments may not be germane to the problem of barrel carbon deposits. First of all oxalic acid will not dissolve or remove 
hard carbon accumulations so forget it..

In my hot rod days where we built high cam performance street rods carbon was a big issue as we did more cruising, stop light idling and short burst burning rubber high rpm displays. Carbon build up on valves and cylinders was a constant problem. 

The treatment for top end carbon was a slow running hose or can of water down the carb with somebody on the pedal .keeping the rpm's up. Engine had to be hot and the results was a stream of black carbon steam out the tail pipe. 30 to 45 seconds of this duesch and the engine ran sooo smooth. 

How does this apply to rifle barrels I don't know

Rick

Whatever you do with oxalic acid make sure it's done outside, and wear a respirator! That stuff is really nasty and can cause lung damage easily. I used it to bleach a gun stock and even small whiffs take your breath away!

Wayne a bit about carbon scale removal that I know for a fact

Working in the marine trades both commercial and yacht construction and maintenance we use Oxalic acid a lot. Teak decks are easily brought from weathered gray to gold with Oxalic if used in direct sunlight brushed across the grain. It's the UV that boosts Oxalic's efficiency. It's also probably the most effective wood stain remover on spruce or pine masts, again with sunlight. Boatyard hull waxing and cleaning crews depend on Oxalic to remove engine exhaust and industrial stains carried by rain. Nothing like it. 

But it's not a ' Carbon Scale Remover '. Understand that decarbonizing big ship and commercial fishing vessels, factory stacks, etc. is big business these days after the EPA and state coastal commissions have hit shipping companies with big fines for carbon emissions and related fires when a ship clears her stack. At night when they do that it's a shower of fiery embers. A lot of these carbon cleaning companies are essentially frauds using gimmicky names and solutions that won't do anymore than Oxalic acid. 

Removing baked-on carbon these days almost always is done with very strong surfactant solutions formulated around caustics like Potassium Hydroxide ( KOH) or Sodium Hydroxide/ lye ( NaOH) and some other proprietary stuff. Lately there are a few chemical companies adding amino acids, seaweed extract etc. that is claimed to go in and break down the carbon to base bond so the scale breaks loose. Many more modern big ships use a CCS ( carbon capture systems ). Engine exhaust, normally heavier crudes, is routed into big capture tanks that contain a special solvent. This solvent captures the carbon then passes the cleaned exhaust to atmosphere. In port this solvent is then heated to release the carbon bi-product and stored. Recently this carbon bi-product has been found to create Oxalic acid used to process rare earth metals. A win win all around. 

Rick

Flatlander wrote yesterday at 4:25pm:


Exactly. Most often used combo in RFBR match barrels.
RB with a quality bronze brush.