Cleaning a moderator: what I found.

[MAH]

Hi all.
There have been a few threads about how, when to clean a moderator.

Curiosity eventually got the better of me so I dismantled my very old Parker Hall 22lr moderator.

I've owned it since the mid 80s, it's probably had 1000, 1500 rounds through it.

Here's a few photos showing what I found.

 

[HonestJohn]

I’m of the opinion they are consumables. Use without cleaning for a couple of years and then replace.

 

[Steff]

Thanks for sharing. Though I doubt that your findings can be transferred one on one to CF mods. I would think that the much higher temperatures with CF rifles will burn a lot more carbon.

 

[NP435]

Very interesting! If cleaning a moderator keeps one from spending more on the replacement I ask why not clean one, same goes for rifles, shotguns etc.

 

[old 30-06]

I bought a second hand rifle with a T8 moderator on it. It had not been maintained and rusted through. A new moderator was a decent amount of money and a faf with the License. I always remove the mod and clean it after use, just as you would do with your rifle. If you get more service out of it, then it has to be worth it.

 

[paul o']

Wildcat Pred 12 used it for creed and 300prc this is what I found after preparing for its one year o'ring MOT! a full right off ?

 

[Klenchblaize]

The way I view this is if a moderator had been a key component of a military issue 303 Lee-Enfield, can you imagine being allowed by your SM to chuck it in a bed locker uncleaned when presenting the rifle and other kit for critical inspection?

There clearly aren’t as many ex-military types on this Forum as I had imagined until this subject arose.

K

 

[Steff]

My view is that you cannot maintain moderators. Either they erode under the crusted carbon you haven‘t removed or they burn out if you do clean them. Literally out of the frying pan into the fire.
Therefore I buy the cheapest mod I can find when I need a new one. Watch out for offers on discontinued models.

 

[Koenig]

The way I view this is if a moderator had been a key component of a military issue 303 Lee-Enfield, can you imagine being allowed by your SM to chuck it in a bed locker uncleaned when presenting the rifle and other kit for critical inspection?

There clearly aren’t as many ex-military types on this Forum as I had imagined until this subject arose.

K

The military do turn cleaning things, especially firearms into a fetish. It sometimes, and I stress sometimes does more harm than good through stripped threads and extra wear on components. This is maximised with weapons owned and used in training establishments. Sometimes certain weapon parts are better off being oiled up and left well alone. Ask me how I know this???

 

[Koenig]

I give my ASE a squirt of Napier Silensave (or whatever the correct name is). Too early to judge results yet.

The other thing I do is place a small square of electrical tape over the moderator muzzle if it’s wet. This stops water ingress combining with carbon to form a horrible corrosive paste that no doubt will find its way to your barrel causing all kinds of destruction.

 

[Cyres]

PH easy to strip and clean and should come with a reassembly rod.
If you use an Annie recessed muzzle and crud builds up in it and if you don't know accuracy goes all to pay. Also bugger to de clag if you leave it too long.
WIldcat easy just disassemble and put in ultrasonic cleaner

D

 

[MarinePMI]

My view is that you cannot maintain moderators. Either they erode under the crusted carbon you haven‘t removed or they burn out if you do clean them. Literally out of the frying pan into the fire.
Therefore I buy the cheapest mod I can find when I need a new one. Watch out for offers on discontinued models.

It really depends on the materials of the moderator. Inconel is some pretty tough stuff, for withstanding heat and flame (probably why so many 5th and 6th generation fighters use it for the exhaust cowling). A lot of moderators here use Inconel as baffle material, and titanium for the body, making them very durable and light. But you do have to maintain them.

Here, where moderators are much harder, and a lengthy a process to obtain (can take up to a year for approval), there are no cheap moderators. So, cleaning them is a must if you want it to last, and perform.

 

[Greenmist]

The military do turn cleaning things, especially firearms into a fetish. It sometimes, and I stress sometimes does more harm than good through stripped threads and extra wear on components. This is maximised with weapons owned and used in training establishments. Sometimes certain weapon parts are better off being oiled up and left well alone. Ask me how I know this???

I recall scotchbrite being removed from the cleaning kit, because someone decided to use it to clean the lens of the SUSAT

 

[VSS]

PH easy to strip and clean and should come with a reassembly rod.

A knitting needle will do for reassembly of a P-H mod.
Just make sure all the baffles go back in the right way around. I inadvertently reversed the whole stack in mine, and the result wasn't good. Took me some time (and wasted a lot of ammo) before I realised what I had done.

 

[archiekale]

I give my ASE a squirt of Napier Silensave (or whatever the correct name is). Too early to judge results yet.

The other thing I do is place a small square of electrical tape over the moderator muzzle if it’s wet. This stops water ingress combining with carbon to form a horrible corrosive paste that no doubt will find its way to your barrel causing all kinds of destruction.

i have the same mod on a 223 and clean the same way i don't think you can split it.the napier silence save works very well on the sak mods or hushpower a quick squirt after use and when it comes to cleaning the crud is not baked on just falls off 2 mins to clean .

 

[cjm1066]

The Parker Hale is for 22 rimfire, a notoriously dirty round especially if wax lubed bullets are used.

Zero will eventually go and a good clean restores it. More regular cleaning befor to much curd builds up probably saves some work/hassle.

 

[archiekale]

what i found was before i used the napier silence i only cleaned now and again on the 22rf and 17hmr the crud set like concrete but with the cleaner it just brushes off even after 6 months.

 

[Heym SR20]

The biggest challenge with many moderators is the fine threads and lightweight materials. Aluminium threads work very well but are very easily cross threaded and damaged. On things like optics where the instrument may be opened once or twice in its working life by a professional they work fine.

But in a moderator they get full of crud, which gets into all the threads and causes them to seize.

To dismantle then requires force which damages the threads. And then reassembly is never straightforward.

A threaded joint gets its strength from the large surface area of all the threads closely meshing with each other. Once those threads are damaged you have a much poorer engagement of the threads and a much weaker joint.

Add the quite considerable pressure that the moderator is designed to capture and it is just a matter of time before it fails.

I have standing about 5 yards to one side of a rifle where the moderator let go. It was very unpleasant with considerable blast - far worse than a muzzle break. Moderator went 50 yards downrange.

Best with a moderator is once assembled leave them alone. Remove from rifle and keep dry. If you want to get crud out, give them a gentle tap. But you really need to bother?

 

[Ranger22]

I bought my Parker Hale mod for my 22rf back n 1982, it finally gave up last year. This is after many thousands of rounds. I cleaned it, so no shame to it at all. I have an Ase utra on my 243, 14 years old and going strong. I give it a little squirt of oil after use, it’ll last a while yet. T8’s and Stalons are other mods I’ve used at work. Stalon was pathetic, less than 300 rounds before it developed holes. The T8’s last but you have to look after them, a wee squirt of oil inside and loads of oil on the outside.

 

[gonzo]

I had a T8 mod recently that had flakes of rust between the baffles. Though the killer was that the threads were rusted and stripped out.
I suspect it had been left on a rifle all it's life and had to be forcably removed.
It went in the bin.