The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

As some of you may remember a while ago I posted a video on my RPA Quadlite that I filmed with an ebay borescope.

The amount of crap and rust inside the action in all the nooks and crannies was pretty horrific.



If I could get hold of an action Wrench for my rifle, would it be detrimental to stick the whole action inside an ultrasonic cleaning machine, and would it remove the rust and crud that seems to have accumulated from numerous wet shoots and bad past maintenance?

Has anyone done anything similar?

Any recommendations on cheap barrel vices or adapters for a normal heavy duty vice to hole the barrel without marking...?

Cheers,

TG

Where you'd get an ultrasonic machine big enough to get a rifles barrel in I don't know, but from experience if its get any kind of finish other than stainless steel the ultrasonic will take it off, whether its bluing, painted, anodised etc etc. Not sure what it would do to a chrome lined barrel either. Personally I'd stay clear until you've spoken with an expert in the field.

Good luck

Blackstuff wrote:Where you'd get an ultrasonic machine big enough to get a rifles barrel in I don't know, but from experience if its get any kind of finish other than stainless steel the ultrasonic will take it off, whether its bluing, painted, anodised etc etc. Not sure what it would do to a chrome lined barrel either. Personally I'd stay clear until you've spoken with an expert in the field.

Good luck

The barrel will be taken off, as stated above where I mention getting an action wrench to do so.

The only thing that would have to fit in the ultrasonic bath would be the action itself.

Not sure what the finish is on my RPA, anodised I think.

Might be a none-starter... Although, taking the barrel off might allow me to get in from the other end of the action and do some more thorough cleaning of the parts I can't currently reach...

I clean my (blued) BP revolver in an ultrasonic tank and it always came out like a shiny new pin. I never saw any degradation in the quality of the finish. I use JPL Seaclean and hot water but was very wary at first due to people having problems with bluing stripping off-I did lots of trial runs with parts that couldnt be seen when the pistol was reassembled.
All my bolts go in the tank for an annual service / spruce up but proceed with caution.

Derp, misread/assumed from the video it would be the barrel you'd be cleaning. But yes, proceed with extreme caution

I cleaned my Walther G22 in a JPL ultrasonic bath using a mixture of half a teaspoon of dehydrated citric acid, 2L of water and a teaspoon of washing up liquid. The bath was heated to 45C and degassed for 5 minutes. I then ran the cleaning procedure for 15 minutes. The bolt was nice and clean but unfortunately a large majority of the bluing was removed.

There are cleaning solutions such as Carbusonic AA29R, which are designed for ultrasonic cleaning of firearm components so I doubt they would remove the bluing. I cannot comment on the efficacy of Carbusonic cleaner as I've never used it but it is a cleaner I've seen advertised recently that's designed for your purpose.

Dishwasher?.......

snayperskaya wrote:Dishwasher?.......

Was a practice of mine pre-handgun ban. I was shooting 500 to 1000 rounds a week and every couple of weeks would shove the Colt Govt in the dishwasher.

Well before kids and both the wife and I worked shifts, got back from the range whilst the wife was at work, field stripped the Colt and took the grips off. Chucked it in the Zanussi and went to work. It was probably four days before the dishwasher was opened again and yes, stainless steel does rust!!!

Previously, it would be removed at the end of the cycle, oiled and put away. Just had a brain fart this time.... Anyone who remembers Jock Robinson a gunsmith from Maisdstone rescued my Colt, and told stories for tears about the stupid copper and the "intense" cycle!!!

With the above, and the incident involving 1500 9mm cases cleaned in the washing machine, I've never let water anywhere near my guns since!

I use a 2.5L ultrasonic tank to do the odd moderator clean, sizing dies, various non-blued components etc. etc. usually about 50c for 15mins or 30-60mins for the moderator steel baffles/internals if required.

I've ran a BP pistol through the dishwasher, came out very clean :)

After fully drying in a warm (140c) oven or the food dehydrator I give everything I clean that way a nice coat of SafariLands CLP (Clean Lube Protect) it's a system that's worked very well for several years :)

One tip, don't put brass cases in the dishwasher, I did it once and they came out a lovely shade of purple!, I thought at first it was heat problems but the dishwasher only runs at about 70c. They did polish back to normal after an hour or two in the stainless tumbler :)

Sim G wrote:

snayperskaya wrote:Dishwasher?.......

Was a practice of mine pre-handgun ban. I was shooting 500 to 1000 rounds a week and every couple of weeks would shove the Colt Govt in the dishwasher.

Well before kids and both the wife and I worked shifts, got back from the range whilst the wife was at work, field stripped the Colt and took the grips off. Chucked it in the Zanussi and went to work. It was probably four days before the dishwasher was opened again and yes, stainless steel does rust!!!

Previously, it would be removed at the end of the cycle, oiled and put away. Just had a brain fart this time.... Anyone who remembers Jock Robinson a gunsmith from Maisdstone rescued my Colt, and told stories for tears about the stupid copper and the "intense" cycle!!!

With the above, and the incident involving 1500 9mm cases cleaned in the washing machine, I've never let water anywhere near my guns since!

A bit off-topic but I once set about degreasing a set of Yammy 350LC crankcases, barrels and all the gearbox components in my mums kitchen sink with a great big can of Gunk whilst mum and dad were on holiday in Scotland.....Anyway it turned out that Scotland was having a monsoon so they came home early just as I was mid way through the degreasing!