bokchoi
Member
The Science of cleaning, that is.
It is 6 am, and I am unable to sleep; I am determined to find a better way to clean a handgun. I am going to find a poor man's method of cleaning guns that will challenge even the longest hours spent at the kitchen table scrubbing the action.
The challenge is this: How to clean your guns without using dangerous or harsh chemicals such as brake cleaner and without the need for special heavy equipment such as air compressors, and cleaning thoroughly while minimizing disassembly. There is much emphasis on being able to clean discreetly, with a minimum of disturbing your wife or housemates, and achieving better results.
Basically, I've set out to challenge the supremacy of Ultrasonic cleaning.
From my understanding and from surfing around, I have come to these conclusions, which may or may not be entirely true:
- Simple Green is very bad for aluminum, and thus cannot be used to clean guns like the P226 or Beretta 92FS. However, it is not clear whether cleaning detergents such as Dawn will have the same cleaning effectiveness without the potential for harming the metal.
- MPro7 is an excellent cleaner, but leaves waxy or soapy residue if not flushed or wiped out, and is very expensive.
- Brake Cleaner and other voliatile chemicals are good for flushing out the action and parts with minimum disassembly, but will eventually ???? up your health, never mind smell up your dwelling if you don't do it outside. If it's cold outside, this can become a big inconvenience.
- Brake Cleaner should never be used on plastics, nor be used in the vicinity of paint markings such as sight dots, including the white rings of Trijicon night sights.
- Residual water can be removed with WD-40, which is generally not a good thing because it leaves a bad residue.
- A better way to remove water is baking at 200-300 degrees for 30 minutes. What effects this may have on the gun are unclear.
- Any cleaning means thorough enough to clean the gun deeply enough to degrease it will likely require means equally thorough enough to replenish lubrication and to prevent rust.
- Canned air is useful, but is somewhat ineffective in blasting flith out of areas, spreading it around rather than blowing it out of the area. Compressed air is a little better, but requires expensive and loud equipment unsuitable for a location beyond your workbench.
- BreakFree CLP is an excellent rust preventative. FP-10, while in my opinon being a superior lubricant, is a much inferior rust preventative.
- Motor oil, while possessing good lubricating qualities, does not displace water and is generally a very poor rust preventative.
- Ultrasonic cleaning is by far the king in the cleaning business.
I am curious and determined to find out what cleaning agent will be safe and effective in cleaning firearms, though I am almost certain that water will be involved.
Hence, the sacrificing bit.
When I set out later, what I am going to do is to test various common and relatively mild cleaners on my beloved Sig P226. In the initial stages, I will likely test the effect that dishsoaps such as Dawn or Sunlight may have on the anodized aluminum finish, as well as test the effect that these cleaners may have on other finishes such as factory bluing on an S&W revolver, or even an Oxpho-blue job. Just as importantly, I will find out if these cleaners are at all effective for cleaning fouling, carbon, or other gunky buildup. For the purposes of testing, I will also likely make a temporary switch to Breakfree CLP from FP-10 to minimize the potential for damage due to rusting.
I will also be experimenting with methods of delivery, including building a poor man's cleaning tank and possibly even a way to pressurize the cleaning medium.
Drying and removing water may or will be performed with either a heat gun, toaster oven, or hair dryer, followed by immediate oiling with BreakFree. Following oiling, I may use FP-10 on the moving components, though I have had bad experiences in the past with mixing lubricants.
I will likely stick to MPro7 and traditional methods for cleaning the bore, as my focus is not so much on cleaning the bore as much as it is on the little nooks and crannies of the action and slide that are inaccessible without more thorough cleaning.
What I ask of all you folks is for whatever knowledge you may have in regards to using water-based cleaners, including Simple Green and dishwashing detergents, or even maybe less orthodox cleaners such as OxyClean or citrus based cleaners.
Wish me luck!
It is 6 am, and I am unable to sleep; I am determined to find a better way to clean a handgun. I am going to find a poor man's method of cleaning guns that will challenge even the longest hours spent at the kitchen table scrubbing the action.
The challenge is this: How to clean your guns without using dangerous or harsh chemicals such as brake cleaner and without the need for special heavy equipment such as air compressors, and cleaning thoroughly while minimizing disassembly. There is much emphasis on being able to clean discreetly, with a minimum of disturbing your wife or housemates, and achieving better results.
Basically, I've set out to challenge the supremacy of Ultrasonic cleaning.
From my understanding and from surfing around, I have come to these conclusions, which may or may not be entirely true:
- Simple Green is very bad for aluminum, and thus cannot be used to clean guns like the P226 or Beretta 92FS. However, it is not clear whether cleaning detergents such as Dawn will have the same cleaning effectiveness without the potential for harming the metal.
- MPro7 is an excellent cleaner, but leaves waxy or soapy residue if not flushed or wiped out, and is very expensive.
- Brake Cleaner and other voliatile chemicals are good for flushing out the action and parts with minimum disassembly, but will eventually ???? up your health, never mind smell up your dwelling if you don't do it outside. If it's cold outside, this can become a big inconvenience.
- Brake Cleaner should never be used on plastics, nor be used in the vicinity of paint markings such as sight dots, including the white rings of Trijicon night sights.
- Residual water can be removed with WD-40, which is generally not a good thing because it leaves a bad residue.
- A better way to remove water is baking at 200-300 degrees for 30 minutes. What effects this may have on the gun are unclear.
- Any cleaning means thorough enough to clean the gun deeply enough to degrease it will likely require means equally thorough enough to replenish lubrication and to prevent rust.
- Canned air is useful, but is somewhat ineffective in blasting flith out of areas, spreading it around rather than blowing it out of the area. Compressed air is a little better, but requires expensive and loud equipment unsuitable for a location beyond your workbench.
- BreakFree CLP is an excellent rust preventative. FP-10, while in my opinon being a superior lubricant, is a much inferior rust preventative.
- Motor oil, while possessing good lubricating qualities, does not displace water and is generally a very poor rust preventative.
- Ultrasonic cleaning is by far the king in the cleaning business.
I am curious and determined to find out what cleaning agent will be safe and effective in cleaning firearms, though I am almost certain that water will be involved.
Hence, the sacrificing bit.
When I set out later, what I am going to do is to test various common and relatively mild cleaners on my beloved Sig P226. In the initial stages, I will likely test the effect that dishsoaps such as Dawn or Sunlight may have on the anodized aluminum finish, as well as test the effect that these cleaners may have on other finishes such as factory bluing on an S&W revolver, or even an Oxpho-blue job. Just as importantly, I will find out if these cleaners are at all effective for cleaning fouling, carbon, or other gunky buildup. For the purposes of testing, I will also likely make a temporary switch to Breakfree CLP from FP-10 to minimize the potential for damage due to rusting.
I will also be experimenting with methods of delivery, including building a poor man's cleaning tank and possibly even a way to pressurize the cleaning medium.
Drying and removing water may or will be performed with either a heat gun, toaster oven, or hair dryer, followed by immediate oiling with BreakFree. Following oiling, I may use FP-10 on the moving components, though I have had bad experiences in the past with mixing lubricants.
I will likely stick to MPro7 and traditional methods for cleaning the bore, as my focus is not so much on cleaning the bore as much as it is on the little nooks and crannies of the action and slide that are inaccessible without more thorough cleaning.
What I ask of all you folks is for whatever knowledge you may have in regards to using water-based cleaners, including Simple Green and dishwashing detergents, or even maybe less orthodox cleaners such as OxyClean or citrus based cleaners.
Wish me luck!
