I have a buddy that bought a Ruger MkIII with a suppressor. He says it takes him days to clean the aluminum baffles. Even after a number of solvents he ends up having to scrape the baffles. He was wonder if he could run the baffles through a vibrating tumbler.

Any thoughts?

It sounds like he can take his suppressor appart.

If so have him soak the baffles in Prolix, and brush them clean.

Then have him just try soaking the entire suppressor in Prolix with out taking it appart.

Some suppressor manufacturers recommend not cleaning the suppressor ever...

He should consider getting the baffles anodized.

Stalking Rhino Industries can perform this service.

George

I plug the small end and completely fill with Benzine and allow to stand for an hour or so. Shake out and rinse with Benzine again and allow to dry. I am new to silencers so it may not be as good as some other methods. Works for my rimmy silencer very well.

I had to clean a Supressor that had come back from a war zone / sand pit.

The guy took it apart and we sprayed it with the
Wipe Out Expanding Foam bore cleaner.

It had carbon , copper, powder residue, sand, other dirt and rust caked throughout the inside
which was mostly Titanium.

Well even though I have a bent for Wipe Out, even I was stunned by how clean it got the thing. Lifted all of the crud off and stipped it back to the metal.

We literally washed it after that and re oiled.

That was about 6 years ago and their are now better carbon removers on the market (Wipe Out Foam Bore cleaner being a copper remover).

Just my input which I hope helps.
.

I "believe" what he is having trouble with isn't so much the carbon and copper but lead. The suppressor is on a 22 lr pistol So I would assume that the baffles are being hit with a molten lead buildup

Here is what he told me via an email.

""I have a suppressed 22 Ruger Mark III that is a bear to clean the little aluminum baffles. I have soaked them for days in Hoppes, diesel, kerosene, brake free, etc and still have to scrape off the residue.
What about a case tumbler, the vibrating kind? Will that hurt the baffles? If it would work it would be a lot easier.
""

Maybe an ultrasonic cleaner?

Why rince?
The coating will actually absorb sound and heat = lower signature!
When crud start to fall out while the silencer is being tapped then some cleaning is due.

Try spraying the silencer with WD40 before shooting. It will up the effeciensy of the muffler and dissolve some of the crud and shoot it out the front.

Thanks guys I'll pass on the suggestions.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Maybe an ultrasonic cleaner?

+1

+2...

I soak mine in a mixture of 50% ATF transmission fluid and 50% paint thinner. The detergent in the ATF will loosen the carbon. This is not a fast process, It needs to soak for a long time but it does work. There is a local guy that makes suppressors that turned me onto the idea.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
I soak mine in a mixture of 50% ATF transmission fluid and 50% paint thinner. The detergent in the ATF will loosen the carbon. This is not a fast process, It needs to soak for a long time but it does work. There is a local guy that makes suppressors that turned me onto the idea.

Terry

Which is half of the mixture of Ed's Red - which is a known Carbon Remover.

This might be of interest.

http://www.paulcompany.com/no-lead.htm


The same company that makes Wipe Out / Patch Out.

I have just tested TC1 method on my rimfire suppressor but soaked for only 30 min. Man you should have seen the shit that came out of it! I rinsed with Benzine.

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
I have just tested TC1 method on my rimfire suppressor but soaked for only 30 min. Man you should have seen the shit that came out of it! I rinsed with Benzine.

It's also good on Shotguns and semi autos - both shotties and rifles.

I have a tac 65 that I use on a ruger 10/22. I always coat the front side of the K baffle with a light coat of paste car wax after cleaning. I know it sounds silly but it really helps. It make it a lot easier to remove the lead fowling. When I shoot I usually go through a couple hundred rounds. I clean the suppressor after every trip to the range. If you dont let it build up its not that hard to clean off.

Ultrasonic cleaning on aluminum is a no-no! I have used very low pressure plastic blast, and had great results, but please, don't try ultrasonic on aluminum!

I coat all of the internal surfaces with a very small amount of never seize, makes clean up a lot easier