Carb clean gun parts?

[alex22]

Is it Ok to use the good carb clean stuff that comes in buckets on gun parts? bolts, firing pins, bolt carriers that are parkerized? It works great on nasty old carburetors but I don't want to damage any of my gun parts.

 

[Tenny]

No clue.

Do you have so many guns that you need to do it in bulk, or are you looking mostly to soak?

 

[Wayne Sihler]

Well most old carbs are cast "pot metal" alum,zinc & such-I wouldn,t think it would damage steel gun parts. BUT the finish,I m not sure.

Spray carb or brake cleaner works for me

Wayne

 

[alex22]

No clue.

Do you have so many guns that you need to do it in bulk, or are you looking mostly to soak?

There is a 5 gallon bucket of the strong stuff where I work and I would rather toss the parts in there for half an hour or so than scrub and pick at them.

 

[AIbandit]

Don't do it most carb cleaners will eat the blueing.

Use non chlorinated brake cleaner if anything and do not permit it to get on your plastics/synthetics!

 

[ECKSJAY]

Don't do it most carb cleaners will eat the blueing.

Use non chlorinated brake cleaner if anything and do not permit it to get on your plastics/synthetics!

x2

We use either hot soapy water or Simple Green and a nylon brush. If you go that route, don't clean parts in the kitchen sink or anywhere else you might prep food.

 

[T3hk1w1]

Carb cleaner is fine for bare metal or stainless, but don't let it get on the stock or on anything blued.

 

[CraigC]

What are you looking to clean with the carb clean? You mentioned bolt carriers, so would I be correct in assuming you're looking to clean an AR? Carb clean shouldn't hurt anything you mentioned, and I've used similar stuff to clean AR parts in the past. As far as soaking stuff in the cleaner, I know some guys do that, but it's really rather unnecessary. As long as you've lubricated your parts properly there's nothing wrong with just wiping them off and re-lubing them and then putting it all back together. If you want, you can remove the extractor from the bolt and really clean out in there with a q-tip. Make sure your lugs are nice and clean, and scrape most of the carbon off the bolt tail with something like a .223 case whose mouth you smashed with a hammer. For the carrier, just wipe the outside down with a rag and clean out the part where the bolt goes. Don't worry about getting every bit of carbon out of the inside of the carrier, it won't hurt anything. Once it's all wiped down, wipe down your firing pin, cam pin, and whatever else you have in there. Wipe down the inside of your upper receiver and clean out your chamber and the lugs in the upper. Then properly re-lube everything and reassemble.

 

[AIbandit]

I'm going to repeat DO NOT USE CARB CLEANER... Theres a reason Lockheed Martin pays me what they do to train sailors on handling weapons.

There is a small piece of rubber inside the extractor spring using this on your bolt will atleast eat that... If you are infact talking about an AR-15

 

[Ecomike]

This is the first I have heard of regular carburator cleaner hurting gun bluing. Has any one here every actually seen it happen first hand? If yes, what exactly did it do? If so do you recall what the brand and formula # was?

I do know some of the old formulas with a water seal (which had hex chromium in the water phase) would brighten brass and copper, and strip brass antiquing stains. but I never heard anything about it or other formulas hurting gun bluing. All of them will eat most plastics, paint and other organic materials.

 

[ECKSJAY]

I'm going to repeat DO NOT USE CARB CLEANER... Theres a reason Lockheed Martin pays me what they do to train sailors on handling weapons.

xEleventy

Even (especially) cleaning an AR. It's not real friendly with buffer components (like what's inside the extractor, something most turds never inspect on their ARs) and is iffy on the chrome lining of other parts.

Dry lube on the fire control group, and lube the lugs/carrier. I loves me a high temp bearing grease for the carrier. It works like magic.

 

[CraigC]

I've honestly never heard of carb cleaner, or brake cleaner, hurting the finish on any of the parkerized stuff in an AR. As for bluing, there's really nothing blued on a normal AR. Nonetheless, there's no need to use any solvents at all cleaning an AR. As I said before, just wipe things down and re-lube. That's worked for me through thousands of rounds fired recreationally, in training classes, and in competitions.

 

[AIbandit]

I've honestly never heard of carb cleaner, or brake cleaner, hurting the finish on any of the parkerized stuff in an AR. As for bluing, there's really nothing blued on a normal AR. Nonetheless, there's no need to use any solvents at all cleaning an AR. As I said before, just wipe things down and re-lube. That's worked for me through thousands of rounds fired recreationally, in training classes, and in competitions.

1. I said Non-Chlorinated break cleaner will work but keep it off your plastics/synthetics

2. Really thousands on just a wipe? I suppose you charge your weapon manually after each shot.

(like what's inside the extractor, something most turds never inspect on their ARs)

Lol

This is the first I have heard of regular carburator cleaner hurting gun bluing.

Feel free to test and let us know the results

 

[Ecomike]

I've honestly never heard of carb cleaner, or brake cleaner, hurting the finish on any of the parkerized stuff in an AR. As for bluing, there's really nothing blued on a normal AR. Nonetheless, there's no need to use any solvents at all cleaning an AR. As I said before, just wipe things down and re-lube. That's worked for me through thousands of rounds fired recreationally, in training classes, and in competitions.

Well the OP has not answered the question (or been asked) why he wants to use such an aggressive cleaner. He might be trying to clean something that is filthy with old with dried up grease, dust and rust, old antique stuff?

That said, I would agree, normal routine gun cleaning does not need a dip style carburator cleaner. Diesel fuel might work fine if he wants a dip cleaner.

The dip style carburator cleaner formulas are typically much more aggressive than the automotive aerosol spray carb cleaners. The spray version is usually mostly toluene and MEK, common paint solvents that burn well and safely in gasoline engines while dissolving carbon deposits.

The common dip cleaners use to use a variety of stuff like ortho-dichloro benzene, Toluene, MEK, mono-ethanol-amine, and some used cresylic acid (IIRC), which is nasty stuff, and methylene chloride was quite common. The methylene chloride formulas typically used a water seal to slow evaporation losses, and had a chromate additive in the water to keep the metals from being attacked (corrosion inhibitor), as the chlorinated compounds would release traces of free HCL acid when exposed to reactive metals (aluminum) which (HCL) is quite aggressive in a solvent solution.

The MSDS and tech data sheets on shop formulas (like a 5 gallon can) usually have very good details on the major ingredients and metals, materials compatibility!

 

[Ecomike]

Feel free to test and let us know the results

No thanks, no need to, but my question was who has first hand experience seeing a carburetor cleaner solution attack gun bluing? If they have, I want to hear the details, what did it do, severity, and the brand and formula.

I am not suggesting anyone try it.

 

[redneckboarder]

x2 on the simple green, thats what i use to clean my ar then i relube everything real good. elbow grease helps a lot too. im not really up on cleaners and solvents but i use the hoppes stuff

 

[AIbandit]

The MSDS and tech data sheets on shop formulas (like a 5 gallon can) usually have very good details on the major ingredients and metals, materials compatibility!

If he Really insists on using this crap this is definetly a good idea.

"5 gallons of the strong stuff at my work" doesnt sound promising

 

[CraigC]

1. I said Non-Chlorinated break cleaner will work but keep it off your plastics/synthetics

2. Really thousands on just a wipe? I suppose you charge your weapon manually after each shot.

Lol


Feel free to test and let us know the results

Here's how I do it...

I shot a rifle match yesterday, nothing too harsh, but almost 200 rounds, and it was really dusty out there. Here's how the upper looked afterwards.

A better view of the BCG after I took it out.

Here's everything taken apart.

A few minutes with a rag, and here's how it looks. This is as far as I need to clean it. I stick a patch in the carrier where the bolt goes and use it to clean out the lube that's left in there. At this point there's just residue of the old lube. I see no need to use solvent to strip all every trace of lube off after this point.

Here's inside the upper before I wipe it down.

And here's after a minute with a rag and some q-tips. Obviously I also use a chamber brush in the chamber to clean in there, but it's hard to take pics of the chamber.

Really, that's all. I apply a fair amount of lube to the bolt rings, bolt body, cam pin, bolt lugs, carrier rails, and charging handle and the I throw it all together. I've shot it in conditions ranging from mid 20º snowstorms (during a rifle class) up through the heat and dust of summer during matches and it hasn't let me down.

 

[tbburg]

My Drill Sergent would still be laughing at that!

And you'd still be cleaning it!

 

[CraigC]

My Drill Sergent would still be laughing at that!

And you'd still be cleaning it!

I know. Military cleaning practices are a funny thing. Here's an interesting article by Pat Rogers...

http://www.ar15.com/content/swat/keepitrunning.pdf