Hello, all.  This is my first actual post here, although I've been a 'lurker' for well on three years.

At any rate, let me preface my post by stating that this message board kicks ass--and by that, I mean the people here kick ass.

And on top of that, you fellas have the most hilarious emoticons in all of recorded history.

Anywho, I've got a post-ban Bushmaster M4A3 with one of those..."interesting" Mini-Y Comp. muzzle brakes.  She's a lot louder than an M16A2, that's for sure, and an A2 birdcage would be preferable, but hey, what're ya gonna do?
*shrugs*

At any rate, until I can replace the damnable thing, I would like to ensure that it's in proper working order (no point in owning a firearm unless you maintain it).

Here's where things get interesting; there is a strange blue-ish buildup of very hard, very resilient material accumulating inside the 'holes' of the brake.  I've tried wiping it off to no avail.  Solvent doesn't seem to phase it very much, and so far, the only thing that seems to have had any noticable impact on the stuff is literally scraping it off with the bore brush.  Normally, I'd just stick with what works, but doing this has essentially erroded my bore brush to the point of utter uselessness.  In point of fact, I've gone through two of the things...

Needless to say, I don't really want to keep replacing bore brushes for as long as I own and operate my rifle.

Has anybody else experienced this phenomenon?  If so, how did you manage to locate, close with, and destroy the stuff?  Any input is welcome.

Thanks in advance, guys.

It doesn't need to be cleaned off, but if it bothers you, try a USGI cleaning brush or a toothbrush.

The toothbrush seems like it would get its proverbial ass kicked by the stuff, as a bore brush gets eaten up pretty fast, but I'll try it.

And just for the record, I just want to keep the weapon sat--I haven't had any problems in regards to the buildup as yet.

It's just that the U of I NROTC Rifle Team gets to 'finger fuck' my M4 as a hands-on learning training aid, and I want her to be squared away for my fellow future devil dogs.

Arrrrr! Thar be the blimey blue barnacles left over from ye' ole copper bore brush arrrrr! ever seen a corroded copper penny me' matey?
Yaar It be the mating of the copper corrosion and
carbon from ye' powder!

Oh wow...  So, by scraping it off with the bore brush, I've been creating even more of the stuff...

Damn those vicious cycles!

Thanks for the heads-up, thoguh.

Use an aluminum paper clip and scrape with the tip of it.  I do that to the rear of my bolt stem if it gets too cruddy.

Ah, good to go, good to go.  I guess I'll try that (as expected, the toothbrush proved highly inefectual).

Had the same shit happen to me, but with a mossberg 500 , the shit kept coming back, got so fed up sent it back to them, got it back and it never happened again!!!

I used Hoppes Copper Solvent, then used some Rem Action Cleaner spray after, and it came back to it's normal state w/o the blue.

Then I shot it up with some Rem Oil and all was back to park-black. [:D]

All done with Q-tips......this was on an Armalite 3-slot brake.

Ed

You might be using too mild a solvent.  I suspect that scrubbing the deposits with Sweet’s and a GI plastic toothbrush would clean things up.

Note that Sweets is really aggressive and will literally devour a brass bristle brass before your eyes!  It will also corrode steel if left on too long.

That said, it’s great for occasionally decoppering your bore – just use it prudently.

[img]http://www.championshooters.com/images/hoppes.jpg[/img]

Edgecrusher, is that you?

You could replace it with a KKF A3 TacBrake if you have a 14.5" barrel.  Or a A2 TacBrake if you have a 16" barrel.  

A2 TacBrake
[img]http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/i/section_10746/A2TB2.preview.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/i/section_29585/NewA2TBside.jpg[/img]

A3 TacBrake
[img]http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/i/section_29585/A3TB2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/i/section_29585/A3TB.jpg[/img]

Use brake cleaner or Mpro7 to clean the brake, you need a CARBON solvent, not a COPPER solvent.

The copper solvent is what you are getting the blue from.

Dissolving copper and dissolving carbon are two different things, and not usually done by a single solvent.

Brake Cleaner is cheap.  (automotive brake cleaner, works good on the muzzle kind, too)

I should very much like to get a KKF A3 flash suppressor, but shall have to wait until if/when the AWB dies...

An A3 TacBrake might not be a bad way to go, but I'd rather wait until I can get the flash suppressor.

Thanks for the responses and advice, all.

[b]Enrich[/b]:
[i]Edgecrusher, is that you?[/i]
Sorry, different person.

So long as the "brake" is perm attached (ie, must be pinned and welded) it is legal!
[headbang]

I have owned and shot ARs for over 10 years and I have never seen any blue build up untill today. It is bright sky blue corrosion in the corners of my flaash suppressor.  I recently had my barrel and flash suppresor refinished with Bear Coat.  Is it a reaction w/Bear Coat?  It never happened to my Parkerized Guns.