TC omega barrel fouling

[Karl Karr]

I have a Thompson Center omega that I bought brand new many years ago. I have what is turning out to be a serious fouling issue. From the breech out about 6 or so inches I can see lumpy build up in and around the lands and grooves. I have always maintained and kept the gun and barrel clean (so I thought anyway?). My process has always been Scrub with wire barrel brush, T/C #13 bore cleaner till patches come out clean, dry patch then The 1000 natural lube bore butter and that's it. Sometimes during deer season I will leave the charge in it if I don't shoot it. I have always used triple seven pellets and T/C shock-wave easy glide yellow sabots. I gave the gun a thorough cleaning after shooting it at the range and started to notice this buildup. So, went to my ole standby (J&B abrasive paste) to scrub this out Did not work. What ever is in there seems to be hardened. I have tried the J&B, Hoppes, barrel brush with J&B, patches with J&B, Pasload impulse nail gun cleaning solvent, soapy water. Every time I run something down the barrel it keeps coming out black and dirty. I have probably run 100+ patches down the barrel. Brush with patches and abrasives. Still coming out dirty black. I seem to be taking it off (because I have dirty patches coming out) but just don't seem to be making any progress? I am at my wits end trying to figure out what this is and how to get it out?? Help!

 

[MrTom]

I see two issues right away....bore butter and pellets. When you get the gun cleaned up good, forget the bore butter and don't humor using the t7 pellets as they're a recipe for the crud ring you have to deal with now. And I'd never, ever leave a load in the gun after the season end simply because you can forget its there and pack a second load on top of it and then you'll have a way more serious issue to deal with. Besides, a freshly fired gun always cleans much better and thoroughly than a gun left for months, especially with the t7 residue in the barrel.

There are others here who are way better able to offer cleaning advice on a barrel as you describe so I'll leave doing so to them but an inline does not need bore butter for anything and those t7pellets are nothing but misery in my opinion since the BH209 powder offers itself as a far better alternative that comes with way fewer headaches.

 

[toytruck]

I agree with Tom, plus I use a house hold citrus cleaner for triple 7. Never use hoppes or any petroleum products on triple 7! Water based only! Scrub till clean patches then wire brush (.54 cal in .50 cal.bore) to get crud out of grooves.
Then use a good bore protector for storage. Before shooting next time wipe bore with alcohol to remove oil, fire a primer or 2,3 then load.Blackhorn 209 is so much better in a tight bore! Clean up is same as CF gun's.

 

[ENCORE50A]

............ I gave the gun a thorough cleaning after shooting it at the range and started to notice this buildup. So, went to my ole standby (J&B abrasive paste) to scrub this out Did not work. What ever is in there seems to be hardened. I have tried the J&B, Hoppes, barrel brush with J&B, patches with J&B, Pasload impulse nail gun cleaning solvent, soapy water. Every time I run something down the barrel it keeps coming out black and dirty. I have probably run 100+ patches down the barrel. Brush with patches and abrasives. Still coming out dirty black. I seem to be taking it off (because I have dirty patches coming out) but just don't seem to be making any progress? I am at my wits end trying to figure out what this is and how to get it out?? Help!

I'm betting what you've done, is to bake that bore butter into the rifle. Because your patches keep coming out dirty, keep brushing and patching it. Now for T7 and cleaning/swabbing, Butch's Black Powder Bore Shine WORKS. However you have more work ahead of you.
I purchased two percussion rifles at a garage sale, cheap. Both were clogged with hardened butter. It took me three (3) hours of non stop work just to clean a single barrel, then another three hours to clean the second. Keep working it...…….

 

[Steelheader323]

Sounds like a buildup of both t7 crud ring residue and bore butter.. the bore butter in my opinion is junk. I’m not sure I’d ever have any use for it. My advice.. get the barrel and action off the stock and the scope as well if you can.., gives you a little more room to run a ramrod through it. Fill a small bucket with some hot and when I say hot you can pretty much go as hot as your tap water goes.. I’ve even cleaned a few friends rifles with water from the stove top after boiling temps..

So now with your hot water add a few drops of dish soap..any kindnwill work I use the regular blue dawn dish soap.. in a bucket submerge the muzzle of the barrel in the soapy water bucket while holding the breech end up. Take your ramrod with a wire brush for your caliber and put a patch right around it creating a scrubby of sorts that somewhat seals in the barrel.. go all the way to the end up the muzzle without actually coming out the barrel and work it back up to the breech in sections..5-10 inches at a time..you should feel the suction grab the hot soapy water and pull it into the barrel. Keep doing this until the hot water has been scrubbed through the entire barrel, replace the patch if needed and give the Barrel a thurough scrubbing.

After this you wil want to let the barrel air dry a few minutes then if you desire a alcohol patch through the barrel to catch any moisture then an oiled patch and while external barrel down with some oil as well

 

[Karl Karr]

Ok, noted. So, where I’m at now is trying to get the hardened fouling out. Once I can get it cleaned I will research a better propellant.

I see two issues right away....bore butter and pellets. When you get the gun cleaned up good, forget the bore butter and don't humor using the t7 pellets as they're a recipe for the crud ring you have to deal with now. And I'd never, ever leave a load in the gun after the season end simply because you can forget its there and pack a second load on top of it and then you'll have a way more serious issue to deal with. Besides, a freshly fired gun always cleans much better and thoroughly than a gun left for months, especially with the t7 residue in the barrel.

There are others here who are way better able to offer cleaning advice on a barrel as you describe so I'll leave doing so to them but an inline does not need bore butter for anything and those t7pellets are nothing but misery in my opinion since the BH209 powder offers itself as a far better alternative that comes with way fewer headaches.

I do not leave a load in after the season. What I do is go hunting. If I don’t shoot the gun and plan to hunt the next morning...I will remove them primer, case the gun. Then in the morning put primer back in. Never do I leave the load in more than 3/4 days

 

[Karl Karr]

I'm betting what you've done, is to bake that bore butter into the rifle. Because your patches keep coming out dirty, keep brushing and patching it. Now for T7 and cleaning/swabbing, Butch's Black Powder Bore Shine WORKS. However you have more work ahead of you.
I purchased two percussion rifles at a garage sale, cheap. Both were clogged with hardened butter. It took me three (3) hours of non stop work just to clean a single barrel, then another three hours to clean the second. Keep working it...…….

Ok, so what should I use on the patches ? Also, I have J&B abrasive paste. Which is made for removing fouling. After working it for so long I start to worry using abrasives that I may damage the rifling??

 

[Karl Karr]

Ok, so what should I use on the patches ? Also, I have J&B abrasive paste. Which is made for removing fouling. After working it for so long I start to worry using abrasives that I may damage the rifling??

 

[Karl Karr]

 

[Steelheader323]

You can put some of the t/c #13 on it but the whole purpose of the bucket of hot water is to use the hot soapy water as a heavy solvent. T7 cannoften be cleaned up with just water if you read the packaging it comes in. The soap will heal break up any stuck oarticals and possibly that bore butter..on one occasion I had a cva sidelock brought to be because it was hard toblod the last 6-10 inches of the barrel..after talking with the owner I found out he was using bore butter on his round ball patches..I fought that gun for days and finally after asking him permission I used a hot plate on the breech area of course after flushing out the barrel but a hot plate for close to an hour or more and the heat softened up the bore butter enough i was able to get it all out

 

[Sideshow]

Ok, noted. So, where I’m at now is trying to get the hardened fouling out. Once I can get it cleaned I will research a better propellant.

I do not leave a load in after the season. What I do is go hunting. If I don’t shoot the gun and plan to hunt the next morning...I will remove them primer, case the gun. Then in the morning put primer back in. Never do I leave the load in more than 3/4 days

Either that is a crud ring of sorts or a rough spot sounds like to me . Id try #0000 steel wool wrapped tightly around a brush while using the cleaner . If a citrus or hot dish soap doesnt work id try laquer thinner or acetone . Maybe even mineral spirits . Afterwards use that citrus or dish soap hot again . Put a cork in the end of the barrel with the laquer thinner , acetone , or mineral spirits and use a cup or so as a source for it too while scrubbing OR fill the bore and just let it sit for a day or so . No research needed , BH is best .

 

[ENCORE50A]

Follow Steelheader323's advice first. It...……. may...…… help to soften up the burned on butter. When I did the rifles, I use absolutely scalding HOT water and I mean hot enough to wear a glove. It still wouldn't remove it easy and as I mentioned, 3hrs per barrel of non stop scrubbing. The only option you have is to just keep working your ask off until you get it cleaned out. Hard lesson to learn about BB.
I would not use any other products than hot water and dish soap, then just brushing the hell out of it. You likely have a combination of burned on BB and the T7 crud ring.
If you plan on using T7 in the future, clean and swab with Butch's BP bore shine, but throw that bore butter out.

 

[GM54-120]

Yep, what happens is people cant get the BoreBummer out of the bore before firing it again. The new fouling cooks into the BoreBummer over and over again.

Really freaking hot water and lots of scrubbing will soften it. Assuming it did not get into any pitting it will come out but if you had pitting its a total pain to remove. After using hot water you will want to make 100% sure all the water has been displaced or it will get trapped under any amount of BoreBummer.

Brake Clean and WD40 will displace water. Brake Clean helps it evaporate fast but it might not be stock friendly so remove the barrel from the stock and any plastics.

 

[Rockman]

Yep,tossed a couple tubes of Bore Butter last year after reading about the stuff here, and on another forum. I was cleaning up an Omega barrel with a rusty bore, so no need for more issues after that.

 

[Karl Karr]

Yep, what happens is people cant get the BoreBummer out of the bore before firing it again. The new fouling cooks into the BoreBummer over and over again.

Really freaking hot water and lots of scrubbing will soften it. Assuming it did not get into any pitting it will come out but if you had pitting its a total pain to remove. After using hot water you will want to make 100% sure all the water has been displaced or it will get trapped under any amount of BoreBummer.

Brake Clean and WD40 will displace water. Brake Clean helps it evaporate fast but it might not be stock friendly so remove the barrel from the stock and any plastics.

Just did hot water and soap scrub. Not much help. Afterwards used some more j&b and it really blackened up a patch. . Holly crap what a messI have another gun. TC Strike. I’ll use that for the balance of our Michigan deer season. And I’ll just scrub this sucker all winter long if I have to. Who would ever think this would be so dificult

 

[GM54-120]

JB will blacken a patch. Its a polish. I can polish a brand spanking new piece of aluminum with polish and the patches will all be black.

Which JBs are you using....Red jar or blue?....Blue is less abrasive.

 

[ourway77]

Just a guess could corrosion have gotten between the bore and the butter and now what you feel is bore butter may be corrosion Hope not

 

[Karl Karr]

JB will blacken a patch. Its a polish. I can polish a brand spanking new piece of aluminum with polish and the patches will all be black.

Which JBs are you using....Red jar or blue?....Blue is less abrasive.

Yes on aluminum it will. I’m not so sure on steel? I’ll have to test that. But I don’t think it will turn black. That did cross my mind.

Just a guess could corrosion have gotten between the bore and the butter and now what you feel is bore butter may be corrosion Hope not

Yes I’ve wondered about that too? Seems like what ever I do it don’t seem to be getting much better. But the black coming out on the patches using abrasive paste makes me keep going. I do know on aluminum rags will turn black. I polish aluminum parts on my classic mustang. I’ll have to test that on steel. If I get a lot of black on the rag then I’m probably not pulling out fouling after all??

 

[Karl Karr]

Ok I just used some of the JB (blue by the way) on a hardened stainless punch I have. And sure as **** it turned black. Yup it’s not fouling powder I see coming out. Yet I still see a bumpy barrel down there by the breach. I suppose it may be corrosion? Still drives tacs at 100 yards! Maybe I should just leave it alone? Have no idea what it is? I’ll see if I can google up a pic of what I’m seeing and post it

 

[Sideshow]

Ok I just used some of the JB (blue by the way) on a hardened stainless punch I have. And sure as **** it turned black. Yup it’s not fouling powder I see coming out. Yet I still see a bumpy barrel down there by the breach. I suppose it may be corrosion? Still drives tacs at 100 yards! Maybe I should just leave it alone? Have no idea what it is? I’ll see if I can google up a pic of what I’m seeing and post it

Old Mustang eh . A gearhead too . Nothing short of spirits for injectors or laquer thinner will clean the baked on carbon and sugar rezidue (ethanol alcohol in fuel )from intake ports like laquer thinner left to sit and soak . Nothin . Still gotta scrub it but it works .
Yep its a gun barrel . So.....??. That solvent beats the hell outa scrubbin for days . It will dry , wont hurt the steel , and to wash it after with soap and hot water to clean after ??. I dont see the problem with that .

Cross tech isnt all bad guys .