OK fellows I will let you in on one of my little tricks, the stuff is cheap, readily available and it's the simplest and most effective way I've found to clean an old curded up action,...or any part by that matter it will bring loose rust out of the cavities as well as break down all the old curded grease and oil paint or shellac pretty fast and will not affect the case colors or the metal,..and boy does it ever do nice job of cleaning up old engraving!....It will remove everything except what you want left alone
Sounds too good to be true?,...it's readily available,...matter of fact some of you might even have some at home already
You will might need rubber gloves ( I don't bother I try not to get it on my hands ) an old toothbrush and maybe a couple of small plastic bore brushes to get into the small places, an old stainless cooking pot or small plastic tub will do to hold all your parts.
I disassemble all the parts and put them in the pot,...I do all this inside the sink ,....take your "easy off etra strength oven cleaner",...lemon scented if you prefer! ..and spray all and every part making sure all surfaces have been covered with the stuff, inside and out.... then go and do something else for 20 minutes.
I use the liquid type because I find the aerosol disperses too many fumes,...you want to keep your nose at somewhat of a distance,...you'll know what I mean
When you get back to your parts you'll notice all the brown crud has started to break up,...take the brushes and rub the stuff all over again,...no need to re-spray just use what has run down to the bottom of the pot, and leave for another 20 min
When you come back it should all be loosened up, if not repeat the brushing,...then put the pot under the hot tap and fill with hot water,..since I don't like putting this stuff down my septic system I will dispose of the first and dirtiest water in a different manner,..then return the pot and its contents to the tap and run under the hot tap till the water is clear,....drain the water and blow the hot metal parts with compressed air making sure all the water is out of all the little holes,...parts will dry instantly, at this point you can inspect to see if they're clean all that's left to do is polish or stone the internals as required and re-oil to protect.
I learned the versatility of the stuff years ago when we needed a way to clean our carbide table saw blades that were caked up with sap and wood resin after a day lumber cutting,...we just sprayed the foam type stuff on them and left overnight,..they looked and cut as good as new the next morning
CJ
