To clean or not to clean Moderators ? - That is the question.

Not a question.....

Just don't
IMO its a disaster waiting to happen (and I have the box of shame in the workshop to prove it)

1)
The tube threads in the body are very fine in aluminium mods
Add grease/oil and carbon into the threads and you have a grinding paste
Keep disassmbling/reassembling and the threads wear, gas leaks occur, hot spots appear, breaches happen...

2)
Operator Error is a major issue
You find mods that are not fully screwed back together due to carbon ingress into the threads. (see above)

3)
Clean mods or louder! FACT

4)
When you clean the carbon off you expose the now un-anodised aluminium.......which burns easily at 40-50kpsi and high temps.
The carbon actually protects the metal

So why are you cleaning it?
Anything loose comes out with the shot

Quick spray of light oil to neutralise the acidic compounds, dry it on a radiator, clean the threads for the muzzle and go shoot it.
Don't use WD40, this has a habit of going sticky, congealing and attracting carbon which in turn becomes ever thicker and fills voids and encroaches on the bore
 
.... and this thread illustrates precisely why I am never sure how to clean my F&D mod, or whether I should at all.

I have never cleaned my A-Tec Maxim because the gunshop who sold it to me Loctited it to stop me.

I was told to use WD40 to neutralise alkaline compounds in my F&D, but somebody told me to stop because it was dieseling.

I hope this helps :)
 
Not a question.....

Just don't
IMO its a disaster waiting to happen (and I have the box of shame in the workshop to prove it)

1)
The tube threads in the body are very fine in aluminium mods
Add grease/oil and carbon into the threads and you have a grinding paste
Keep disassmbling/reassembling and the threads wear, gas leaks occur, hot spots appear, breaches happen...

2)
Operator Error is a major issue
You find mods that are not fully screwed back together due to carbon ingress into the threads. (see above)

3)
Clean mods or louder! FACT

4)
When you clean the carbon off you expose the now un-anodised aluminium.......which burns easily at 40-50kpsi and high temps.
The carbon actually protects the metal

So why are you cleaning it?
Anything loose comes out with the shot

Quick spray of light oil to neutralise the acidic compounds, dry it on a radiator, clean the threads for the muzzle and go shoot it.
Don't use WD40, this has a habit of going sticky, congealing and attracting carbon which in turn becomes ever thicker and fills voids and encroaches on the bore
YOU SAID " Quick spray of light oil to neutralise the acidic compounds "

IS THIS A LIGHT OIL SUCH AS BROWNING LIGIA OR NAPIER GUN CLEANER AND LUBRICANT IN AEROSOL ?

DO YOU SPRAY JUST OUTSIDE OR INSIDE THE MOD ALSO ?

I have a SVEMCO Hunter 1 in .223 cal. Thankyou.
 
Legit is perfect
Has a solvent mixed in as far as I can tell which is why it sort of foams and settles
Too heavy and it will congeal
I squirt a quick blast down the bore of the mod from the muzzle of the mod (baffles point away from you in that direction)
 
Legit is perfect
Has a solvent mixed in as far as I can tell which is why it sort of foams and settles
Too heavy and it will congeal
I squirt a quick blast down the bore of the mod from the muzzle of the mod (baffles point away from you in that direction)
Ideal thankyou. Svemco say dissemble and clean in warm soapy water every 300 rounds or annually. What is your view on those recommendations ?
All titanium with the Svemco Hunter 1 of course apart from the outer tube.
 
More important is to dry them after use (water is a by product of firing a shot) and this is not good for any metal not just steel.
 
Legia in the direction of the bullet t8 lawrence ti nm4 rimfire but get it hot and dry t8 is 15yrs old and no holes
 
If you do not clean , eventually have to ( there is no way you can go for ever ) hard carbon will form . Also the mix of powder residue and copper can trap moisture, which will pit the bore . Pressures will also climb as
A lot more guns are ruined from lack of a clean. Than never cleaning "the next round down will clean it is just a joke ."
Personally I "used to clean" every time the gun had been used . Now i clean if the day was fairly wet or if i feel the rifle shot slightly off .
Cleaning every single time its shot or every time its taken out ? Is perhaps too much.
 
I have a very early reflex moderated . std thin none stainless ie an easy can to rust out . I use it regular on my .260 rem , the barrel burned out when Covid first appeared . A squirt of the Browning Leigia oil on a few patches , after the barrel gets its clean !
I know loads of folks who just don't clean then oil with a few soaked patches . Five mins with Meths impregnated patch and its good to go .
WD40 has changed and it promotes rusting, terrible stuff now , The Chinese i think own the now - I wont have the stuff in my workshop ,
Interesting about the WD40 while I don't use it on my firearms it gets use on bolts that are rusted and hard to remove, dried a couple distributor caps with it. Perhaps I should get a chunk of bare metal and spray it down and look for rust later.
 
Cleaning is not the problem per se (as much as I can demonstrate that dirty mods are quieter! so what are we cleaning for?)
The issue (or my issue) is the inability to reassemle correctly due to carbon ingress in threads
The more frequently you dissassemble with carbon and grease in a thread, the more chance or thread wear, failure to seal joints, gas leaks, ot spots, burn holes, fractures and ultimately failure.

The argument that they will all need cleaning is flawed
60,000 psi of hot gas will shift pretty much anything!!
Including water

The compounds created with water either vapour or liquid and the product of the combustion of nitro cellulose powders are corrosive.
That is what eats your baffles and bore when you leave the mod on the barrel

if your mod is accumulating enough carbon to become detrimental without cleaning....get rid of it.
Numerous solid or sealed units survive decades without cleaning
So should your modular

It will last longer the ****ing around you do with it.
My box of shame in the workshop has them all in it,
 
Cleaning is not the problem per se (as much as I can demonstrate that dirty mods are quieter! so what are we cleaning for?)
The issue (or my issue) is the inability to reassemle correctly due to carbon ingress in threads

Any reason not to clean the thread before reassembly.

The argument that they will all need cleaning is flawed
60,000 psi of hot gas will shift pretty much anything!!

Talking of a flawed argument - a mod will never see 60,000psi.
 
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WD40 ... horrid stuff, keep it away from your moderator ... unless ... you take it apart and clean it thoroughly with WD40 and a toothbrush (the WD40 being a petroleum distillate will dissolve to carbon and crud).
Then clean it off with warm soapy water and fully dry off prior to reassembly.

At this point your moderator will be three things ;

A) Louder
B) More susceptible to internal corrosion
C) Looking prettier (which is very important to some).
 
From when Moderators for CF rifles i Have taken the mod off and blasted the Browning spray or similar in both ends . My Original T8 mod from Jackson was the get go of mods being allowed , its still in very, very good shape after 20 or some time .
I think its the spray more than anything else but i have have a neopreen sleave over is constantly
 
WD40 ... horrid stuff, keep it away from your moderator ... unless ... you take it apart and clean it thoroughly with WD40 and a toothbrush (the WD40 being a petroleum distillate will dissolve to carbon and crud).
Then clean it off with warm soapy water and fully dry off prior to reassembly.

There is a lot of hate for WD40 in this thread, but a lot of people using it. Why? There are dozens of very effective water dispersants/corrosion inhibitors/lubricants available that are more suitable for the task at hand.

At this point your moderator will be three things ;

A) Louder
B) More susceptible to internal corrosion
C) Looking prettier (which is very important to some).

Not if you use an effective corrosion inhibitor after drying.
Matter what the process or product, absolutely thorough drying is the key.
 
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