doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dirty gun, dirty, dirty gun.

I am always amazed how much dirt & grime comes attached to a 100 year old gun.
A casual look & they appear to be OK but when I get right into it the old hardened lube in the corners & the engraving & inside the action is like a potato field
I just got another one & the grime just keeps on coming off.
It will be stripped & put into the ultrasonic cleaner to finish it of.
Gun cleaning seems to be some sort of oxymoron.
O.M

A local Gunsmith showed me what he found under the lock plates of an old sidelock recently and that was about 2 dozen dead flies. Amazing how they got in in the first place. Lagopus.....

My ultrasonic cleaner is a godsend.
The solution you use has an effect as well.

What is the best cleaning solution to use in an ultrasonic cleaning tank?

I've come across some guns in desperate need of cleaning but the crudiest thing I ever got was a guitar. Couldn't see it in the pix but when it came outta the box it looked like the fretboard was just massively string worn. Then I realized that the grooves were in the accumulated deposit on the wood. I don't know what it was and I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know what it was but I wore vinyl gloves and scrubbed it clean with alcohol. The whole guitar.
I always find it puzzling(?) that someone would sell a crusty gun but then I suppose that it's just a normal state to them. The spray can brake cleaner stuff is super for blasting off the nasties but it will eat wood finishes so .............. I never use volatile fluids around anything electric so kerosene in the sonic or one of the citrus cleaner concentrates.

have another day
Dr.WtS

I use hot water and Spic and Span or a squirt of an Amway cleaner.

I find that there are two processes going on.
Vibration separating hard materials from the base metal, and solution of compounds that can be dissolved into a soap/detergent/water solution.

Most of what builds up on a shotgun is non polar, so, any detergent that might dissolve an organic is fine.

After a couple cycles (480 sec ea) rinse out and use fresh hot water. When done, the steel will be hot enough to dry itself, or you can blow air on it.

Occasionally, there will be salts precipitated on the steel, or grime that isn't 100% broken loose. No worries, as a popsicle stick will scratch it loose quite easily.

An action will be super clean and must be lubricated after a sonic bath. They are probably more clean than when manufactured, as current steel processing is quite an advanced science.

Some people go:
1)Polar
2)dilute mild acid Muriatic Acid
3)dilute mild base (NaHCO3) Baking soda
4)water rinse
5)dry and lubricate

There's no reason to be treating locks or an action like body panels or range brass, so I'd avoid too complex a process.

Hot water and a non polar solvent detergent or soap product suffices.


edited to add:
cleaning a complex mechanism for maintenance isn't the same necessarily as preparing it for exacting machine work.
So, if you are concerned about removing patination, stay away from acidic solutions. Use neutrals, like Spic and Span, Dawn, Amway, etc. Nothing that might etch.