Ultrasonic barrel cleaning?

[DenisA]

Hi All,

I'm interested in the idea of ultrasonic cleaning barrels....................... if it works as well on the notorious hard carbon as has been suggested.

I'm looking into options regarding the Lyman Power Pro, but a down side is that the inner tank length is too short for a 32" barrelled action. It would be handy not to have to remove the barrel from the action each time, but if that's the best option then it would be O.K.

I know nothing about building these, but I think it looks simple enough to assemble one. Transducers and generators can be purchased fairly cheap from companies such as https://www.bjultrasonic.com/. Is it that simple???

Does anyone with experience know if a barrel tank made from a capped PVC pipe standing on end with plenty of transducers adhered to the outside would be sufficient. A complete barrelled action could be dangled in to it???

Just thinking out load.

[DannyS]

Hi Denis, any ultrasonic cleaners that I have used/had, have a metal tank. I would presume that metal would transmit the waves better that PVC

Cheers
Danny

[DenisA]

Hi Danny. I agree. I have seen a couple of small home made jobs on the www. that have plastic tanks. That's not to say that they work well. It might be a better option, also for ease of mounting, to just get some sheet metal folded up?? Triangular tank maybe.

[Steve N]

Could you cap the barrel. Fill full of solution and attach transducers to to outside of the barrel?? You only want to clean the inside..

[DenisA]

No Steve and PVC pipe wont work either. The tank is actually the diaphragm that causes the liquid to cavitate so it needs to be thin enough and durable.. Here's a good read. http://bluewaveinc.com/ultrasonic-cleaning-101/

[KHGS]

No Steve and PVC pipe wont work either. The tank is actually the diaphragm that causes the liquid to cavitate so it needs to be thin enough and durable.. Here's a good read. http://bluewaveinc.com/ultrasonic-cleaning-101/

Correct conventional cleaning with a rod, brushes ect sounds like a better option to me, just saying!!!
Keith h.

[mike H]

So when this perfectly cleaned barrel appears,will we see you on the winners podium?

[RDavies]

I am also very interested in ultrasonic barrel cleaning. Being able to keep carbon under control with regular cleaning without abrasive pastes removing precious barrel material sounds attractive.
The Lyman cleaner will take 34" barrels. Why not just remove the action from the barrel? It will save having to remove the action from the stock, then the scope, rings and trigger from the action.
The downside is the price of the Lyman unit. I was hoping some enterprising home experimenters might be able to make up something suitable.

[johnk]

Must admit that with my various .30s, I don't aim for a perfectly clean barrel. As long as they aren't stripping brass off the bullets, I'm happy to have the bore a tad scruffy, just as I prefer my case necks to look a tad world weary internally. Both seem to give me consistency from that first coolish clean barrel shot to the end of the match.

When you guys stop whingeing about needing blow off shots or multiple sighters to get your rigs going, I could just be convinced otherwise.

[RDavies]

Must admit that with my various .30s, I don't aim for a perfectly clean barrel. As long as they aren't stripping brass off the bullets, I'm happy to have the bore a tad scruffy, just as I prefer my case necks to look a tad world weary internally. Both seem to give me consistency from that first coolish clean barrel shot to the end of the match.

When you guys stop whingeing about needing blow off shots or multiple sighters to get your rigs going, I could just be convinced otherwise.

I also wouldn't want to use a totally clean barrel in competition, but what I am interested in is making sure a barrel hasn't built up an excessive amount of carbon as a few barrels I have seen lately had.
For my club and small match barrels I don't want to have to fire a bunch of foulers, but for a barrel being used in big competitions, I will put up with the hassles of having to recheck my wind zeroes from the hip once a day at the zero range if it means not losing any points that day through the fault of the gun.

[DenisA]

So when this perfectly cleaned barrel appears,will we see you on the winners podium?

Up until very recently I wasn't concerned at all about having some carbon in my barrels. Now that I've seen why the 300WSM has kept increasing in MV, a frustrating issue that I haven't seen to this degree with other cartridges, US cleaning seems like it might be an easy way to maintain that. If I can keep carbon to a bare minimum without abrasives then why not?

My motives have nothing to do with being "on the winners podium".

[jasmay]

I love the constructive comments that arise for no reason on these threads.

I wonder how many podium finishes some of these authors have had lately themselves.

Dennis, don't be discouraged by anyone, seeking new ideas and methods has been the key to success for many over the years.

[Julian D]

A few of you south QLDers need to get together & all put in to get a decent industrial cleaner, maybe like an annealer group buy.

They remove carbon with no ill effects on the internals of the barrel.

[DenisA]

Here's another good article. http://www.tmasc.com/qa%20process.htm

[KHGS]

A few of you south QLDers need to get together & all put in to get a decent industrial cleaner, maybe like an annealer group buy.

They remove carbon with no ill effects on the internals of the barrel.

How sure are you on this fact, you have proof?? I know commercial purpose made barrel cleaning solvents that I will not use in stainless steel match barrels. I say again you would all be amazed how many barrels I have seen that have been ruined by poor cleaning practices & unsuitable solvents. What ever cleaning medium that is to be used in ss barrels would need to be researched. Chrome moly barrels would not be an issue. My take for what it is worth.
Keith H.