Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Any cleaners to avoid with hard chrome finish?


LeviSS

Recommended Posts

I usually use gun scrubber to hose out my other guns in between and during detail cleaning.

 

It seems that I've read it shouldn't be used in certain finishes.  I think it was nickel, but not sure.

 

Are there any chemicals (gun scrubber or other) that shouldn't be used on the hard chrome finish?

Edited by LeviSS
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, ryridesmotox said:

What kind of poo are you cleaning off that won't come off with CLP or hoppes9 and a rag?

 

Did you smuggle it into a NVA POW camp in your anus to bring it back to Butch Coolidge?

Haha.  I hate the smell of Hoppes.  Some things I want clean without the oil residue left behind from CLP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually use gun scrubber to hose out my other guns in between and during detail cleaning.

 

It seems that I've read it shouldn't be used in certain finishes.  I think it was nickel, but not sure.

 

Are there any chemicals (gun scrubber or other) that shouldn't be used on the hard chrome finish?



Thanks for the heads up, I just got a Stock III Special (nickel plated) last week and I use Birchwood Casey's Gun Scrubber. I'm going to dig on the subject before cleaning it for the first time!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks johnbu,  I went through all the latest lubes and cleaners, and I finally settled on brake cleaners for cleaning.  They are cheap and they work.  I just use what's at auto part stores.  For lubes I use the ones mentioned in Grant Cunningham's lube 101 article.  Lubriplate sfl0 grade grease and the oil FMO350AW.  You can find it at lubrikit.com.  You can get a 15 ounce tub of the grease at midway for 14.99.  Best of all its food grade.  Sorry guys I didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@rooster why are food grade products in any way desireable on a firearm? I've always considered that a minus - more likely to go rancid or spoil when stored for extended periods or break down under extreme heat.

 

The most highly stressed metal-on-metal you'll find is probably in automotive racing, not in "Hell's Kitchen." So that's where I turn for lubricants to use on guns.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, LeviSS said:

What do you use?

I'm using lucas X-tra heavy duty grease for pivots, pins, sear to hammer.  Motor oil for liquid lube.  5w20 or even less.  I do have some of the "fancy" oil bottles with flip tops, they are nice to reuse with cheaper oil. 

 

I've also bought a tub of coconut oil as a flog lube substitute, but haven't been bored enough to use it as it requires baking the parts etc. 

 

I also use 100% silicone for things that need a "dry lube" where you don't want dirt to accumulate. 

Brake cleaner spray that I buy by the case when it goes on sale for $1.99 at the farm-fleet store. 

 

basically, I grab what I have. The only caution is to use thin stuff in cold weather.  or you WILL curse as things slow to a crawl and mess up your best ever classifier run.  !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any oil will work just fine.  Automotive oil is used in a closed environment where rust and corrosion is really not a factor.  Food grade is good because you are not handling any hazardous chemicals on your skin.  Read Grant Cunninghams lube 101 article and he goes into great detail on lubes for firearms.  The sfl00 grease is corrosion resistant, has excellent boundary characteristics and has a good temperature range.  Every lube I have ever tried worked just fine, but the prices are ridiculous.  I just tried some MOA, supppsed to be made for the space industry it was like 19.00 for an ounce. It worked but never again.  I just bought a lifetime supply of sfl00 lubriplate grease for 15.00.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another great read on firearms lube is Cherry Balmz. The articles on the website are excellent.  I even bought some of the black rifle balmz.  It worked just fine but still very expensive, but you don't use much so it will last along time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, rooster said:

 Food grade is good because you are not handling any hazardous chemicals on your skin.

 

You're supposed to put the oil & grease on the *inside* of the gun. :D

 

Honestly, I suppose that's a good enough reason. But exposure during weapon cleaning is about 0.3% of my total contact given my occupation, so it's never occurred to me that people would be concerned.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why increase your risk at all?  Plus I've been shooting for about 30 years so the exposure is a lot.  If there wasn't anything else available no problem, but if you look at the industry now,  they are all moving towards being green.   Also I think you mentioned that for long storage the lubes might get rancid.  That is not the case,  most of them are synthetic so no worries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

Cleaner: brake parts cleaner. If it's hard chromed or blued, it'll be fine.

 

Lube: Red synthetic bearing grease or 10/30 motor oil, depending on location.

 

Anything more is just marketing.

 

 

Good morning,

Marketing....marketing.....you are right.

Last summer, I shot a match under heavy rain; my LC was lubricated with Mobil 1 ; rain in the slide openings + motor oil = white goo =  gun jammed tight.

I had to wait for the barrel to cool down before being able to rack the slide (in the safety area of course). So, back to Break Free.

A bit of folklore now if you please : when I was a young hunter, a long time ago when the earth was green, I use to work a lot and my spare time was scarce (Viet-Nam effort in the airplane industry). One evening, I undertook the task of cleaning my Winchester 30-30; no more oil...too late to go buy some, but plenty of Mazola in my Mom's kitchen though; it did the job beautifully but was a beast to remove afterwards.

And - I'll hear teeth grinding - anything wrong with a field stripping, liberal spraying with M-Pro 7, let it work and blow the hell of it with compressed air, using trigger control of course ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...