Gun Cleaning
One of the things that I learned at the Para USA blogger event that I never would have thought to try was brake parts cleaner, available in the automotive section at WalMart for $1.97. Works great. Takes all the gunk out with minimal scrubbing effort. Since it also, basically, degreases the metal parts, a good lube is required after. But the brake cleaner worked great.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Just watch the fumes.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Yep, and watch it on any delicate wood finishes. They sell the same thing as “gun cleaner” however for about five times as much at Academy. BPC is good stuff.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:51 am
And watch brake cleaner around plastic, including things like plastic sight inserts.
CLP’s PowderBlast is a slightly friendlier version of chlorinated brake cleaner, though you still want to use it in a well-ventilated area – outside.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
And if you’re working outside, you can pick off inquisitive yellowjackets…or so I’ve heard. Like at third or fourth hand, whistle whistle.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Read the label. There’s a few different type of chemical cocktails sold as “brake cleaner” Some contain acetone, some tetrafluorowhatchamacallit, some are isobutane/isopropanol/CO2. The latter seems safest to plastics and finish.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I was just recently informed that extended use can also eat away at the metal finish, flake it, or discolor it.
I just use it sparingly.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I was also informed to only use *de-chlorinated* stuff.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Welcome to the brave new world. I’ve been using CRC LectraClean for years. I was introduced to it at work and figured there’s nto a lot of difference between the inner workings of a power circuit breaker and the inside of my Garand.
Just remember what everybody else said: It works almost TOO good. You need to pay close attention to lubrication and protective coating of oil after you use this stuff.
I save it for those one in a blue moon total tear-dwon cleanings.
MC
September 10th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Another idea, from “Quib” at ar15.com:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=7&t=358886
September 11th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Well, the Army used to forbid the practice of using it because of the total degreasing it does, leaving the pores of the metal open. That was back in the mid-90s, when the Air Guard used Army training materials, and there was this slick comic book on how to clean your M16, and they were EMPHATIC about NOT using brake cleaner.
I used it in the barrel of a Marlin Camp 45, and enough of it got into the trigger group to fuse the plastic parts together, and I had to buy a new lower for it.
Live and learn.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:35 am
A mechanic friend says there are serious health problems with exposure to break cleaner-I only use “Choke and Carb Cleaner” which, I’m told, is safer. It gets the funk out too.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
http://www.renegadepartswashers.com/health_and_safety/material_safety_data_sheet_msds/brake_clean_material_safety_data_sheet_msds.htm
Material & Safety Data Sheet reads like a Frankenstein experiment.
Or is that Frahnkensteen?