I see 4 spray cleaners at Walmart. Gun scrubber, gun medic, clp, and powder blast. Any particular advantage one have over another? None damage the blueing right? What about the factory plastic grips on my 96fs? (gun scrubber says may harm finished surfaces or plastics.) Most economical per ounce are gun scrubber and powder blast- big 10 or 12 oz. cans versus dinky 4oz cans of others. Do you use these on the bores (inside of barrels) too? Or you buy those separate jars? Seems like dipping a brass dirty brush in a jar would contaminate it fast.
Economical decent cleaning chemicals
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Deus Machina
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CLP is a basic go-to, as it's supposed to do three things (Clean, Lube, Protect) in one. IMO it doesn't do any of them as well as a dedicated fluid, but it does them all acceptably enough to keep if you only have one thing around.
No gun cleaner should harm bluing. Most are safe on relevant plastic, but if you're worried take the grips off and test a drop on the inside. There's a million plastics, and any liquid on earth affects a couple of them. Most on your guns will be fine with most cleaners.
All cleaners are designed for use in the bore. That's the biggest part of cleaning a gun, after all. There's no point to something that won't clean the bore, when the rails could be cleaned with some Windex and a rag anyway.
Cleaners are just a solvent, it's not a chemical reaction; dipping a brush just dirties it a little, it doesn't make it much less effective. It's not going to be any worse than what it breaks free from the cleaning. You should run a clean patch down the bore or rag over the rails once it's scrubbed anyway.
Personally, I'm not a fan of sprays. They work just fine, just tend to be a mess and occasionally wasteful. Grab one (CLP is my vote) for a quick expedient cleaner, and when you get the chance, pop into an actual gun store or Bass Pro or something and get a jar of cleaner and bottle of oil of your choice. Many cleaning kits include a bottle. Hoppes #9 cleaner and oil have been the combo that has worked since you great-grandfather first cleaned his .30-30, they still work today. Along with Rem Oil, sewing machine oil, Cletus' SlickEmUp, Jim-Bob's Whizz-Bang SuperGlide... any light oil, really.
You don't even need specialty gun oil. Many of us here fill a dripper bottle with 10w-30 or whatever goes in our car. Works just fine. At one point I even got fancy and used 'way oil' made to lubricate milling machines; it's just 10-weight oil that doesn't run as much. Slightly cleaner holster but no functional difference.
No gun cleaner should harm bluing. Most are safe on relevant plastic, but if you're worried take the grips off and test a drop on the inside. There's a million plastics, and any liquid on earth affects a couple of them. Most on your guns will be fine with most cleaners.
All cleaners are designed for use in the bore. That's the biggest part of cleaning a gun, after all. There's no point to something that won't clean the bore, when the rails could be cleaned with some Windex and a rag anyway.
Cleaners are just a solvent, it's not a chemical reaction; dipping a brush just dirties it a little, it doesn't make it much less effective. It's not going to be any worse than what it breaks free from the cleaning. You should run a clean patch down the bore or rag over the rails once it's scrubbed anyway.
Personally, I'm not a fan of sprays. They work just fine, just tend to be a mess and occasionally wasteful. Grab one (CLP is my vote) for a quick expedient cleaner, and when you get the chance, pop into an actual gun store or Bass Pro or something and get a jar of cleaner and bottle of oil of your choice. Many cleaning kits include a bottle. Hoppes #9 cleaner and oil have been the combo that has worked since you great-grandfather first cleaned his .30-30, they still work today. Along with Rem Oil, sewing machine oil, Cletus' SlickEmUp, Jim-Bob's Whizz-Bang SuperGlide... any light oil, really.
You don't even need specialty gun oil. Many of us here fill a dripper bottle with 10w-30 or whatever goes in our car. Works just fine. At one point I even got fancy and used 'way oil' made to lubricate milling machines; it's just 10-weight oil that doesn't run as much. Slightly cleaner holster but no functional difference.
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Ranger99
Member
I'm not a spray fan myself
When I do use a spray something, it's
common brake cleaner with the little red
straw and I'm squirting it through the
nipple or nipple channel to melt a gob of
grease or accumulated mung from a
black powder muzzleloader
When I do use a spray something, it's
common brake cleaner with the little red
straw and I'm squirting it through the
nipple or nipple channel to melt a gob of
grease or accumulated mung from a
black powder muzzleloader
I use Boretech Eliminator - squeaky cleans copper, lead and carbon residue with little effort - the chemical does the work with zero odor. I know this sounds like a commercial but this stuff is genuinely a great firearms cleaner. I don’t give any of the old ammonia based, foams or spray products a second look - a waste of time and money.
bullseye308
Member
Breakfree powder blast makes a plastic safe version and I have used it for years on Glock frames and several rifles that are polymer with no issues. I mainly use clp for everything else. Many choices available and most work as advertised so it’s hard to go wrong with any of them. With a few minutes of searching you can also find recipes for homemade cleaners, Ed’s red being one of the more popular.
Be careful with automotive drivetrain cleaners - like brake clean - the older formula was chlorinated and would remove paint etc. It's now marketed as pro grade if available. The non chlorinated seems to be the most common and will strip all lube completely from the surface its sprayed on - which is exactly what brake rotors and drums require. In humid weather they will begin to rust almost immediately, its normal with brakes, your firearm will need lube reapplied unless you like that bright orange patina of weathered steel.
Gun oils for some reason seem to be held in some disdain by shooters and it's highly popular to experiment with automotive oils, machining oils, and aerospace lubricants because the applications are so much more severe. That and a 1 oz bottle at $6 and up of gun lube = a 16 oz at $96 a quart. Cheap Mobil 1 synthetic is less than $8 a quart. I've tried it and other stuff, the one disadvantage is they smell like auto lube. The better gun oils have NO smell or very little that smells artificial, which is good if that firearm is your hunting rifle. Game is sensitive to that and will spook if they sense a wrong smell. ATF is about the worse of the lot. I went back to a gun specific, odor free lube because of it. I'll suggest that those who blend concoctions are mostly range shooters, not field users, like those of us who bag our boots and change at the hunting site wearing only footgear that has only been in that dirt. Not truck stops walking thru puddles of petroleum.
For the most part the individual firearm instructions generically advise cleaning, then wiping down with some lube and then wiping it down with a dry cloth. Apply drops - not squirts - of lube where suggested and that's about all that you need. Some advise special grease on the rails of a specific make, the owners manuals don't mention it. I speculate that dates to the days where slides and rails were the same alloy, which is a recipe for galling. Once the makers moved on to dissimilar materials (tough to do and match cosmetically) the problem was solved, but gun owners being very traditional they continue doing what was recommended decades earlier. Despite it no longer applying.
Gun oils for some reason seem to be held in some disdain by shooters and it's highly popular to experiment with automotive oils, machining oils, and aerospace lubricants because the applications are so much more severe. That and a 1 oz bottle at $6 and up of gun lube = a 16 oz at $96 a quart. Cheap Mobil 1 synthetic is less than $8 a quart. I've tried it and other stuff, the one disadvantage is they smell like auto lube. The better gun oils have NO smell or very little that smells artificial, which is good if that firearm is your hunting rifle. Game is sensitive to that and will spook if they sense a wrong smell. ATF is about the worse of the lot. I went back to a gun specific, odor free lube because of it. I'll suggest that those who blend concoctions are mostly range shooters, not field users, like those of us who bag our boots and change at the hunting site wearing only footgear that has only been in that dirt. Not truck stops walking thru puddles of petroleum.
For the most part the individual firearm instructions generically advise cleaning, then wiping down with some lube and then wiping it down with a dry cloth. Apply drops - not squirts - of lube where suggested and that's about all that you need. Some advise special grease on the rails of a specific make, the owners manuals don't mention it. I speculate that dates to the days where slides and rails were the same alloy, which is a recipe for galling. Once the makers moved on to dissimilar materials (tough to do and match cosmetically) the problem was solved, but gun owners being very traditional they continue doing what was recommended decades earlier. Despite it no longer applying.
Being that the other thread got nuked, just remember to check what the manufacturer says on the can or their website. If you don't know, try it out on a spot that can't be seen.
Two of the better companies out there that make great products are Boretech and Slip2000. As @Steve S. Said, their stuff is basically odor free and contain NO hazardous chemicals. If your girlfriend, fiance or wife can't stand the smell and tells you to take it to the garage, you won't have that issue anymore.
Two of the better companies out there that make great products are Boretech and Slip2000. As @Steve S. Said, their stuff is basically odor free and contain NO hazardous chemicals. If your girlfriend, fiance or wife can't stand the smell and tells you to take it to the garage, you won't have that issue anymore.
Not just paint--brake cleaner will also dissolve some plastics. I use it with complete abandon on an AR, but when I tried to clean up my Ruger Mark pistol I had to stop and find out what all the black stuff was that getting all over my hands. It was my grips. I managed to save them, but to this day there are some spots that look a bit weird. I use the non-chlorinated type.
So if you're going to clean with brake cleaner, test carefully first.
Tim
Ignition Override
Member
The CLP which I use is Ballistol; .....this means a cleaner etc category - CLP is Not 
a brand name... for example, most Part 91 and Part 135 small jets are Not Learjets.
Received three green cans of Ballistol over a year ago, and despite my guns not getting super dirty (I shoot nine guns, 12 min. drive to the club), only the First of Three cans has been used , and that First can is not yet empty.
The Cleaning function doesn't have to be very good for my moderate use, highly preferring the Lubing and Preservative functions (for the P. most people re-apply it every few months).
a brand name... for example, most Part 91 and Part 135 small jets are Not Learjets.Received three green cans of Ballistol over a year ago, and despite my guns not getting super dirty (I shoot nine guns, 12 min. drive to the club), only the First of Three cans has been used , and that First can is not yet empty.
The Cleaning function doesn't have to be very good for my moderate use, highly preferring the Lubing and Preservative functions (for the P. most people re-apply it every few months).
ColtPythonElite
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I do nearly all my cleaning with Ed's Red minus the acetone. A gallon can be made for the cost of a small bottle or three of pre-made cleaners.
I use brake cleaner instead of Gunscrubber. I only use it on all metal parts, keeping it away from wood and plastics.
I use brake cleaner instead of Gunscrubber. I only use it on all metal parts, keeping it away from wood and plastics.
FL-NC
Member
CLP does 3 things but IME it doesn't do any of them especially well. The mil loves it because it gets them out of buying 2 more products, and it prevents those with less than average intelligence from using a solvent as a lube, and vice-versa. I CLEAN my guns with MPRO7 solvent (or brake cleaner from auto zone if it is a real "clunker", like the AR that is a dedicated range training gun, or my SKS) I LUBE moving parts with white lithium grease from auto zone (a tube lasts a LONG time, and doesn't evaporate or fly out of the gun) and I PRESERVE (rust prevent) with whatever generic motor oil that is on sale at- you guessed it- auto zone. This is applied with a 1" wide paint brush, and I have been using the same quart for several years. All of this stuff works extremely well, and all of it (except the MPRO7, bought by the gallon) is cheap.
jarhead127
member
The CLP which I use is Ballistol; .....this means a cleaner etc category - CLP is Not
Received three green cans of Ballistol over a year ago, and despite my guns not getting super dirty (I shoot nine guns, 12 min. drive to the club), only the First of Three cans has been used , and that First can is not yet empty.
The Cleaning function doesn't have to be very good for my moderate use, highly preferring the Lubing and Preservative functions (for the P. most people re-apply it every few months).
Yup, love Ballistol + use it on everything metal, plastic, wood, whatever. But for that exceptional dirty bore that requires the rod + brush, still use Hoppes #9.
One thing to remember about cleaners, there are different types. The newer ones are surfactants and do a better job faster.
It also makes cleaning easier, they say you don't need to use a bore brush, just a jag. Using a bore brush will help but any brass or copper brush/jag will also give you a false positive on your patches.
Boretech and Slip2000 both make copper solvents and carbon solvents. They also make solvents for, shotguns (including the chokes), ultra sonic cleaners, .22's, black powder....
Depending on how fouled your barrel is, you might have to clean through the layers. Having a borescope comes in handy for inspecting the bore. Besides looking for fouling, you can check the chamber/throat areas also.
It also makes cleaning easier, they say you don't need to use a bore brush, just a jag. Using a bore brush will help but any brass or copper brush/jag will also give you a false positive on your patches.
Boretech and Slip2000 both make copper solvents and carbon solvents. They also make solvents for, shotguns (including the chokes), ultra sonic cleaners, .22's, black powder....
Depending on how fouled your barrel is, you might have to clean through the layers. Having a borescope comes in handy for inspecting the bore. Besides looking for fouling, you can check the chamber/throat areas also.
eyeshot
Member
I had to look "mung" up. Learned something today. The urban definition is kinda gross.
Ranger99
Member
Well I'm not exactly sure of what the
"official " designation is
I use it as a word to describe accumulated
dirt and debris not easily cleaned off
I'm sure somebody's found a way to make
an obscene term of it like everything else
in this day and age
Elkins45
Member
Automatic transmission fluid mixed with mineral spirits makes a great solvent, and it’s about as cheap as you can get.
BWS
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50/50 ATF and mineral spirits is a go to in our machine shop, very useful.
Ed's red has been worth every bit of time mixing up a batch. I keep it in dark,well labeled glass jars. And keep the acetone in the recipe. Would use the above 50/50 if the cleaning chore doesn't require the extra Ed's ingredients. Ed's is more guns,50/50 a little more slanted to equipment.... by slim margins.
Mobile one oil,as lube definitely has it's place in our shop as well. It is quite useful,on all things that don't have strict guidelines....
ETA: small touchup spraygun filled with MS and "aired up" makes a heckuva power washer.... obviously don't use it indoors. Works great,use some common sense. Can also use "green" cleaners as well. Watch these though,they clean great but can set up for rust. Small parts cleaners,the ones with submersible pumps using MS are pretty durn handy for gun work too. They make the spraygun setup complete. Good luck with your project.
Ed's red has been worth every bit of time mixing up a batch. I keep it in dark,well labeled glass jars. And keep the acetone in the recipe. Would use the above 50/50 if the cleaning chore doesn't require the extra Ed's ingredients. Ed's is more guns,50/50 a little more slanted to equipment.... by slim margins.
Mobile one oil,as lube definitely has it's place in our shop as well. It is quite useful,on all things that don't have strict guidelines....
ETA: small touchup spraygun filled with MS and "aired up" makes a heckuva power washer.... obviously don't use it indoors. Works great,use some common sense. Can also use "green" cleaners as well. Watch these though,they clean great but can set up for rust. Small parts cleaners,the ones with submersible pumps using MS are pretty durn handy for gun work too. They make the spraygun setup complete. Good luck with your project.
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This may seem obvious, but removing grips before cleaning can reduce worry about plastic damage from cleaners that don't explicitly say they are safe for plastic.
CopperClad
Member
How well does Ed's Red work on BP and lead fouling?
Barr
Member
Eds Red and Sweets 762 for 15 years. Use Ballistol or Eezox for general lubrication.
@amp-rat Boretech makes a Rimfire blend that cleans lead. https://www.boretech.com/products/rimfire-blend
If you need a good cleaner for your .22, this us what you want. If you just want a lead remover, this will take care of you also.
If you need a good cleaner for your .22, this us what you want. If you just want a lead remover, this will take care of you also.
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