Spray Carburetor Cleaner for the bore?

I use brake cleaner as a rinse. Be doing it for years.

I use non-chlorinated brake cleaner to clean out the striker channel in my pistols.

i used brake cleaner to clean off a gun covered in cosmoline(sp?). worked great.

My only caution about brakeclean is that it leaves the metal dry. . . completely clean of the oil that prevents rust.

I prefer solvents that don't remove the last of the oil, and I only use breakclean if I'm going to take the time to go back and very thoroughly oil every speck and millimeter of metal.

Some carb cleaners might leave an oily residue (which is good), some might not.

Eye protection! Carb cleaner and brake cleaner is nasty stuff for your eyes!

I don’t think either will hurt the bore or any metal parts. Edwardware makes a good point, brake cleaner WILL leave metal with no protection at all. Carb cleaner usually leaves an oily residue and the chemicals in it seem more aggressive to me. Beware of getting either on polymer or wood!

I use non-chlorinated brake cleaner on a regular basis and have for many years.

Do be aware that some wood finishes, paint, plastics and rubber can be affected.

If cleaning after corrosive ammo, I still use a water based cleaner first.

Wipe down with oil afterwards to get rid of the splotching.

total recoil said:

I met a shooter at the club near St. Louis that cleaned his SKS with spray carb cleaner.

Click to expand...

I got a chemical burn from brake cleaner. The stuff ate up the nitrile gloves I was wearing and the skin on my hand peeled for about a year. There are chemicals in that stuff that your body cannot neutralize. I would stay the heck away from either carb cleaner or brake cleaner. It is one thing to spray the engine, carb, brakes, from a couple of feet away, but guns are too close.

There was a post awhile ago about various chemical products and how many are the same with different labels and huge differences in pricing. I wish I had book marked it was very informative. Basically many of the products that we use are the same thing you can get at the auto parts isle of Walmart. The difference is the label and in the gun isle there’s a huge markup.

Brake Cleaner holds a place of honor in my toolbox just below duct tape and WD-40. Not sure if I would run it or carb cleaner down the bore of my firearms though. As stated, it completely degreases anything it comes in contact with. It will work in a pinch though. Brake Cleaner does make fast work of cockroaches, wasps, mutant spiders ect. Carb cleaner is a little slower, starting ether just gets them drunk....but I digress

If you do use brake cleaner, get the non-toxic (green formula). I've used the stuff for cleaning old receivers, barrels, etc. I use carb cleaner for small engines primarily but usually they have a host of noxious organic compounds that required mixing under vent a hoods in organic chem lab. There might be a green version of carb cleaner around though. I sure would not use regular carb cleaner on a regular basis inside.

Why would anybody use products made for something other than guns on a gun when there are products on the market made for guns that will do what ever you want to your gun?

Jack B. said:

Why would anybody use products made for something other than guns on a gun when there are products on the market made for guns that will do what ever you want to your gun?

Click to expand...

Because many of these products are the same as products used for other purposes. The chemical companies know we will pay a premium if they have a different label and are marketed to our specific use.

Do you really think that an oil cares if it’s on a slide of a gun or on two other surfaces?

And do you think with a relatively small market that the major chemical companies are going to invest large amounts of money for applications that aren’t really any different than many others?

I’ve actually found that in some areas that chemicals that we think are suppose to be superior to others aren’t. For instance, good old fashioned vinegar, baking soda and ammonia cleans better than most commercial products and doesn’t leave films like many of the name brand cleaners.

Brake cleaner and acetone likewise are much cheaper than many other lesss effective cleaners.

Grease is much cheaper in larger packages than specially labeled ones and does the same job.

So if you’re on a tight budget and and willing to spend a little time often there are products as good or better that can be found cheaper. If you have better things to do, don’t like doing a little research, and dont mind spending a little more then yes, the specitaly products do a good job.

I'll stick with gun care products. Don't want to have to find out the hard that something not made for guns doesn't work. That could get expensive.

Non Chlorinated brake or carb cleaner only.

The Chlorinated products will wreck your barrel.

total recoil said:

I met a shooter at the club near St. Louis that cleaned his SKS with spray carb cleaner. I gave him a funny look and he told me that it would not harm the gun and worked like magic.
Has anyone information about this practice? I'm about to use it on the piston of my SKS just because the piston looks like hell and Hoppies won't clean it up.

Click to expand...

Whatever course you take, you would be well advised to neutralize afterwards.

For routine maintenance, people have been efficiently and effectively cleaning the barrels of their guns using Hoppe's #9 and its equivalents for more than a century. And light machine oil (i.e. 3IN1 and equivalents) has been used to lubricate and protect those guns for at least as long. Further, it is recommended in the manual of every commercially produced firearm I have owned.

They are simple, easy to use, effective and cheap. What would possess someone to go off and experiment on something as expensive as a firearm with something that could easily turn it into a pile of rust? The quest for novelty - apparently for novelty's sake - is something I do not understand. I have firearms that are nearly 80 years old still in regular use. I'm going to trust them to what I already know works for the long-term.

Of course, if you have an unusual problem or one normal maintenance can't resolve, then you have to try something unorthodox, but there you either experiment or the gun becomes a wall hanger and so you take risks. But then by definition that's not "routine maintenance".

Yes, no problem using brake cleaner or carb cleaner on a SKS. We used that stuff on our M4's, machine guns, etc. in the mil. Just don't use it on precision long range rifles, or guns that have nice finish on wood or metal. Remember the $75 SKS rifles that had all the cosmoline on them? 1 can of brake cleaner would make them spic & span licketty split.

Along the same lines.
A bore snake with proper cleaners and oil works in the short run.

DO wear eye protection when using brake cleaner because if you get it in your eyes, it will cause you to lose sight - happened to a friend of mine. That said, I use for shotgun barrels and handgun cylinders and barrels - it cleans immediately. Use the non-chlorinated (green can) and watch getting it on plastices or faux wood areas.

Chlorinated products will wreck your barrel.

Click to expand...

Is this another internet "settled science" ?

I can find only warnings to not breath/eat/get in eyes (duuuh....),
but absolutely no mechanism by which a metal cleaner destroys metal


.

Walkalong said:

My product of choice. Follow with a light coat of oil.
View attachment 778639

Click to expand...

Glad it works for you.

I use that stuff on my lawnmower and other small engines to help get them started in the spring and to clean up gunk when rebuilding a motor. It also serves as a less potent starting fluid than ether. Chemtool is one product best used outdoors for safety and definitely away from any open flames.