gun care products

[James K2020]

I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about. I've watched a few of his videos in the past, and found that he marches to his own drummer. His techniques and procedures may work, but pretty much nobody else in the gun industry follows his recommendations. I generally avoid his videos these days.

If it's the same gunner, he does have followers on the Smith-Wesson site. Personally, I've used lots of different products but recently have been using just mineral spirits and light oil. Seems to work well. I also use Ballistol, Hoppes, and different type oils occasionally like everyone else. Lots of ways to keep the hardware clean and protected.

 

[JTQ]

... he does have followers on the Smith-Wesson site.

I don't doubt that he has followers. I was referring to the gun industry, and professionals. Colt doesn't use his techniques, S&W probably doesn't either, SIG doesn't, Beretta, Wilson Combat, etc., like I said, pretty much nobody in the industry follows his techniques.

 

[James K2020]

I don't doubt that he has followers. I was referring to the gun industry, and professionals. Colt doesn't use his techniques, S&W probably doesn't either, SIG doesn't, Beretta, Wilson Combat, etc., like I said, pretty much nobody in the industry follows his techniques.

Okay, but many solvents on the market today use mineral spirits as a base. Not sure we are talking about the same guy as his take down and re-assembly of a Model 25 look pretty professional to me. Don't believe his 'technique' was unusual or different from factory since he did get trained at Smith. But whatever.....

 

[JTQ]

OK, to be clear, and make sure we aren't talking about different folks, it is GunBlue490, who I'm talking about. It is not an issue with using mineral spirits, or mineral oil, it is all his other "stuff".

Use mineral spirits or mineral oil. It's all good. In general, I'd avoid his video's.

 

[Outlaw75]

OK, to be clear, and make sure we aren't talking about different folks, it is GunBlue490, who I'm talking about. It is not an issue with using mineral spirits, or mineral oil, it is all his other "stuff".

Use mineral spirits or mineral oil. It's all good. In general, I'd avoid his video's.

That old guy? There's nothing wrong with him other than he's kind of stuck in the 1990's.

 

[md7]

I’ve used slip and break free, from the ones listed on your poll. But have used plenty other brands of lube and cleaning products over the years.

They’ve worked well enough that I’d really be ok using any of em. Using MPro 7 and Lucas, since that’s what they usually have in the lgs I visit

 

[gwpercle]

To Heck with the local store ... the best cleaner is Ed's Red Gun Solvent !
Go down to local wally mart and buy one quart each of:

Automatic Transmission Fluid (conventional ... NOT synthetic) General Motors Dexron compatible .
K-1 Kerosene (deoderized for use in kerosene lamps and heaters)
Mineral Spirits (deoderized )
Acetone
Mix them up and store in metal can(s) or spray Windex bottle for spray application

These 4 common items can be bought at wally mart for about $20.00 and will make up a gallon of Ed's Red Solvent ... great fot general gun and bore cleaning ... it is actually better than most "gun / bore cleaners" sold on the market today that sell for 10 times the price .
Do not fear the Acetone ... it is only 25% of the mix , the other 75% cut the strength so it is no longer as potent as pure acetone (some people leave out the acetone ... I don't )
Gary

 

[777TRUTH]

Automatic Transmission Fluid (conventional ... NOT synthetic) General Motors Dexron compatible .
K-1 Kerosene (deoderized for use in kerosene lamps and heaters)
Mineral Spirits (deoderized )
Acetone
Mix them up and store in metal can(s) or spray Windex bottle for spray application

Do not fear the Acetone ... it is only 25% of the mix , the other 75% cut the strength so it is no longer as potent as pure acetone (some people leave out the acetone ... I don't )
Gary

I leave out the Acetone and it still cleans great. Never thought about putting it in a spray bottle, I keep it in a ketchup bottle. Gonna give that a try.

 

[JTQ]

To Heck with the local store ... the best cleaner is Ed's Red Gun Solvent !
Go down to local wally mart and buy one quart each of:

Automatic Transmission Fluid (conventional ... NOT synthetic) General Motors Dexron compatible .
K-1 Kerosene (deoderized for use in kerosene lamps and heaters)
Mineral Spirits (deoderized )
Acetone
Mix them up and store in metal can(s) or spray Windex bottle for spray application

These 4 common items can be bought at wally mart for about $20.00 and will make up a gallon of Ed's Red Solvent ... great fot general gun and bore cleaning ... it is actually better than most "gun / bore cleaners" sold on the market today that sell for 10 times the price .
Do not fear the Acetone ... it is only 25% of the mix , the other 75% cut the strength so it is no longer as potent as pure acetone (some people leave out the acetone ... I don't )
Gary

I suppose we all need to determine how long it takes us to go through a 4 oz bottle of a CLP product and how much we like storing a gallon of HAZMAT in our garage.

I suppose if I were the maintenance officer for a department, and had to clean everybody's gun once a week, a gallon of Ed's Red would probably be pretty handy. However, as a solo shooter with a handful of guns, a 4 oz bottle, of a less-toxic product, that comes packaged in a handy container, with a pointy tip, is a whole lot better choice for me.

In reference to cost, sure a pre-packaged bottle of CLP is going to cost more than most home made concoctions, but in the big picture of guns and shooting, a bottle of store bought CLP, even the most expensive brand, is nearly an invisible cost, compared to the guns themselves, ammo, range fees, targets, travel, match fees, etc.

 

[InTheSwamp]

In reference to cost, sure a pre-packaged bottle of CLP is going to cost more than most home made concoctions, but in the big picture of guns and shooting, a bottle of store bought CLP, even the most expensive brand, is nearly an invisible cost, compared to the guns themselves, ammo, range fees, targets, travel, match fees, etc.

Yep - "...fixin' to clean my Wilson Combat. How 'bout I save 10 bucks by mixing a gallon of Ed's Red Goo"

 

[gwpercle]

I leave out the Acetone and it still cleans great. Never thought about putting it in a spray bottle, I keep it in a ketchup bottle. Gonna give that a try.

Make sure the spray bottle is an empty Windex bottle ... it has a good shut off nozzle (evaporation will happen without good shut-off) and the plastic will not melt even if you do use Acetone in the mix .
The Ketchup bottle is good for "Squirt" application , will have to try it ... Thanks for tip .
Gary

 

[dekibg]

I suppose we all need to determine how long it takes us to go through a 4 oz bottle of a CLP product and how much we like storing a gallon of HAZMAT in our garage.

I suppose if I were the maintenance officer for a department, and had to clean everybody's gun once a week, a gallon of Ed's Red would probably be pretty handy. However, as a solo shooter with a handful of guns, a 4 oz bottle, of a less-toxic product, that comes packaged in a handy container, with a pointy tip, is a whole lot better choice for me.

In reference to cost, sure a pre-packaged bottle of CLP is going to cost more than most home made concoctions, but in the big picture of guns and shooting, a bottle of store bought CLP, even the most expensive brand, is nearly an invisible cost, compared to the guns themselves, ammo, range fees, targets, travel, match fees, etc.

Good point . We all are overthinking this whole thing way tooo much ……

 

[thunderbyrd]

Singer Machine Oil. had this small bottle forever. does what i need.

 

[gwpercle]

Singer Machine Oil. had this small bottle forever. does what i need.

Singer Sewing Machine Oil is a fine light weight oil as is good old 3-N-1 ...Three In One ... oil , I spotted a nice big can in Home Depot , 3 ozs. 4.98 with a nice applicator spout , great price and a good light weight oil .
The Singer All Purpose Machine Oil is $5.95 for 3.38 ozs. ...still a good buy for a good oil .
Gary

 

[thunderbyrd]

Singer Sewing Machine Oil is a fine light weight oil as is good old 3-N-1 ...Three In One ... oil , I spotted a nice big can in Home Depot , 3 ozs. 4.98 with a nice applicator spout , great price and a good light weight oil .
The Singer All Purpose Machine Oil is $5.95 for 3.38 ozs. ...still a good buy for a good oil .
Gary

i discovered a hole in the top of my bottle of Singer oil! it's so old the plastic bottle is falling apart! so i found another small plastic bottle to put it in. there's about an inch in the bottom. probably last me another 5 years cause i just paint it on with a q-tip.

 

[starling]

The big thing with Ballistol is its not toxic so its easy on the hands and the body. Smell is a personal preference but I dont mind it. Remoil and Break Free smell the worse to me. When working on projects I use plain mineral oil because its food grade (ballistol is also mineral oil based). I try to stay away from the toxic stuff as much as possible. Different steels or Aluminum need different lubes though so I use an assortment.