Ultrasonic Cleaner Question

[GarySTL]

I have a HF cleaner that I bought a few years ago and never used. Hey, it was on sale and you never know!

My question involves pistol cleaning. Some of my slides have fiber optic or Tritium sights installed, and some frames have grip tape applied with adhesive.

I'm considering using the Hornady gun cleaning solution in my unit, but I'm concerned that the sights might be damaged by the solution or agitation. Also concerned that the grip tape may be removed.

I'm not worried about parts such as AR BCGs or anything like that, mostly the sights and grip tape.

Any advice or warnings would be appreciated. Maybe a better solution than the Hornady?

Thanks

 

[Blue68f100]

Contact the mfg of the sights and ask. Most are pretty durable since they take recoil. The only concern is the solvents used. On the FO sights you can always go with a mild soap so it does not attack the plastic. If you have some of the FO rods you could run a test on your solutions. I use Hop's #9, Citric acid and Simple green as cleaning agents in my cleaner.

 

[GarySTL]

I might call Hornady tomorrow and see what they say.

 

[Jim K]

I am pretty sure the tape will loosen up, though.

Jim

 

[GarySTL]

That would be a problem for sure. Maybe I could stipple the grip and eliminate the tape.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

My ultrasonic has not impacted my trijicon night sights but I have heard this is not always true of the clones. I would be worried about the tape though since mine gets hot and scrubs everything to "surgical" clean levels.

They work great, but I don't use mine every time. It is kind of putzy so I only do it occasionally to the guns I want perfectly clean.