Carburetor Cleaner? Brake Cleaner? ???
 

As I guess I'm getting lazier in my old age, but more and more I find myself just hosing down my guns with Brownell's Gun Scrubber, instead of meticulously disassembling and cleaning each part with an oily patch. I've seen several references in the forum over the months that carburetor cleaner and brake cleaner are the same as Gun Scrubber, but a lot cheaper. Sure enough, the neighborhood WalMart has an array of solvent-like auto cleaning products --so many that I didn't know which to pick. For example, engine degreaser seems like it would come closest to being a good solvent for firearms. What's the consensus? Thanks.

engine degreaser is a soap like substance that if sprayed on a warm engine and allowed to sit a few minutes will allow much sludge to be rinsed off under high pressure water. That just doesn't seem to be a procedure I would want to perform on a Luger... You could never be sure you got all the moisture out of the crevices in the assembled gun.

Brake cleaner on the other hand is a high powered cleaner that cuts through most substances and it evaporate completely in a couple of minutes... that is the way I would go and then be generous with the lubricant on your precious Luger. I would use Breakfree CLP for the lube.

CAVEAT: DO NOT GET BRAKE CLEANER ON ANYTHING MADE OF WOOD, PLASTIC OR BAKELITE (Like grips)... You would be very sorry that you did.

just my $0.02

John:

There was a very lengthy discussion on the cleaning properties of BreakFree CLP on the K98 posting site. The overall consensus was that it is very easily to use and extremely effective. Especially for cleaning hard to reach places, like the inside of the bolt body. The crud will literally come flying out. And like you mentioned, it will evaporate real fast after doing its job. Highly recommended. Just make sure to oil immediately after applying BreakFree, because the metal will be as exposed as a chick on prom night.

I was amazed at all the types of cleaning agents that people use to clean their firearms. Just to name a few: water with Tide, mineral spirits, ammonia, diesel fuel, Windex (to remove the salts from corrosive ammo), acetone, degreasers, isopropyl alcohol, BreakFree CLP, and commercial things like Hoppe’s (my favorite). There is one guy in the K98 forum who swears by ammonia, he says just run a couple of patches with that solvent down the barrel after shooting, and everything is cool. But, he says his wife wants to kick his butt if he ever “stinks up her house” with lengthy solvent cleaning after getting home. No wonder he expedites things. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

I have seen metal literally rust as you looked at it after cleaning with the very strong strip it an evaporate type solvents. I'd be real careful about getting the pieces oiled quickly and throughly.

Some solvents are themselves a bit oily and will leave the metal protected until you can oil it properly. Kerosene or fuel oil will do this although it is a fire hazard.

I have seen metal literally rust as you looked at it after cleaning with the very strong strip it an evaporate type solvents. I'd be real careful about getting the pieces oiled quickly and throughly.

Some solvents are themselves a bit oily and will leave the metal protected until you can oil it properly. Kerosene or fuel oil will do this although it is a fire hazard.

Heydrich,

Did you really mean to say "Break Free CLP?" When you said it evaporated rapidly, it sounds more like "brake cleaner."

Don, as we are dealing with steel parts here, I have to say that I have used just about everything there is to clean my guns/pistols. It is very difficult to do damage to blueing and I have not had a problem with any of the cleaners, Berryman Brake cleaner or anything else. Even hot water and a regular kitchen sink cleaner has worked for me. Just be sure that you get the moisture off of the parts before storing them. The hotter the water the better as it evaporates faster. I caution you in the use of Oven Off, as I am not really familiar with it's caustic action, although I might try it on a really bad unit. I have heard that it will even remove a chrome plating????

Don,

I have been using Prestone Brake Cleaner from Walmart to degrease prior to bluing, and it works great. Last time I was at the store, I saw some Primis Brake Cleaner that was cheaper so got some of it. It works as well, but seems to irritate my skin, which the prestone didn't do. [img]rolleyes.gif[/img]

Whoa, listen to me, who has automotive repair experience and formal training, and learned from the school of hard knocks, about brake cleaner. Brake cleaner has properties in it that is highly toxic. If you get it near heat or flame accidently, it will turn into something similar to mustard gas, happened to me once on the job, almost killed my butt, by spraying a carburetor with it near an exhaust manifold. The can will tell you not to do this anyway. Also, it is more toxic, more carcinogens. Also, it is more abusive to paints and finishes.
Carburetor cleaner on the other hand is supposed to be more close to what you are looking for in a gun cleaner, and is less toxic and won't turn into mustard gas if hot.
I recommend carburetor cleaner if a person absolutely does not want a gun intended only product. Also, keep ALL plastics away from all the cleaners, cause once again, school of hard knocks, my brother screwed up a Remington Viper .22 rifle and my Marlin camp 9 plastic trigger housing with "Gun Scrubber" gun cleaner spray.
Unfortunately, Gun Scrubber or similar brands can be expensive, so I only use it on pistol extractor areas, and other areas that would wear out faster if taken apart all the time.
Definitely, if you have to, go with carburetor cleaner, NOT brake cleaner.

I've been using paint thinner @$2 a gallon as a degreaser. It seems to work well, although slowly, but without some of the adverse caracteristic previously mentioned. It will dry out your hands unless you add a bit of brake fluid (not cleaner). Tom H.

Bud,

[img]confused.gif[/img] Now that I think about it, I may have been using Prestone Carburator Cleaner & then got the Primis Brake Cleaner, and that is when I noticed the skin irration! <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Thanks, guys. I'll try carburator cleaner.

Doh! Don, yes I meant typical brake cleaner products. <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Ok - another cleaning approach-

When I'm faced with a real gunky gun (none of mine get real gunky, someone else's) I disassemble everything and go to work with Simple Green mixed with equal part water, a 50/50 solution. It's a great dirt and grease and crud dissolver.

I dry the parts off off give them a dose of Breakfree.

Now, if I need to finish a project such as this later or another day, I spray everything with WD-40 (I can hear the sreams already). WD-40 is a moisture displacer, that's why the initials are WD, and will keep everything protected for a couple of days until I get back to finishing the job. The advantage to WD-40, besides displacing any water, is that is is light, does not damage anything, and is easy to clean up when I want to remove it. Besides, it's much cheaper than anything except kerosene, which I think is a major component of WD-40.

Rest assured - I NEVER use it for lubrication or long-term protection. [img]eek.gif[/img]