Diesel fuel for cleaning AR's

I saw it being used in S.E. Asia back in 1969 by U.S. and
Vietnamese troops. Don't know how effective it was. They
were using it on M2's, M60s and M16s.

Should work, though I'd be concerned about flammability. You'd still need to patch or brush the bore though.

Sounds like more trouble than just cleaning it by hand.

Put mineral spirits in your parts washer. Diesel stinks to high heaven and leaves oily residue. It may work in a pinch, but It would not be a good choice.

I know this may be a common sense statement but I am gonna say it anyway....

ONLY USE GASOLINE AS A MOTOR FUEL!

Diesel or jet fuel is essentially a form of kerosene. It's safer than gasoline for removing Cosmoline and grease from gun parts, but I wouldn't use it to clean wood stocks, as it's kind of smelly, and might soak into the wood.
If you're using it in a parts washer to degrease and deoil all your gun parts, that should be fine. I wouldn't use it as a bore solvent after shooting, though, there are better products for removing copper and lead residue, and carbon.

I prefer WD-40 to remove cosmoline....

It is somewhat flammable, but I take it and just spray it down and let it set for while...(penetrate)...and then wipe off what has turned soft with little effort.

Then repeat a few times as nescessary! It really works very well!

You could completely emerse an action in it and leave it..all cosmoline would just melt right off.

And there would be no reason you could not put it in your parts washer. They sell it in 5 gallon cans to 55 gallon drums.

And my parts washer has a fire safety that drops the lid to snuff out fire in the case that it happens.

Most everything thats been in my parts washer has always been flammable.
i.e. varsol, wd40, diesel...

I have also used Mean Green and Purple Power in them for a non flammable option but would not reccommend for cleaning firearms!

You could if you went from cleaner to a complete air dry down and oil application but Purple Power is acidic and could damage some finishes.

I used diesel one time in it but didnt like it much, and never would use gasoline to clean with....dont like it at all! ( except to run my truck )

Just found this non flammable choice on internet...

http://www.shooters-choice.com/aqua_clean_action.html

Aqua Clean...Know nothing about it...looks good! and they like it! $62.99 a gallon! Might find better deal by shopping around... I might try it though! Usually get what you pay for MO.

And here may be another option: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/lpst91.php
Not familiar with it but LPS makes good stuff

Be very careful with gasoline as a cleaning agent....it ignites very easily.

Don't use gasoline for cleaning anything. Its highly flammable and the vapors will ignite. Diesel is OK and Kerosene is a better solvent. They are combustible, the vapors will not ignite but a direct flame will cause them to burn.

Big mess

We used solvent for mass cleaning of automatic weapons in the Army.
Dip, brush, blow dry etc.
The solvent not blown out of the parts adversely affected the lube we put on afterwards.
You will end up with diesel in every joint, screw and pin hole.
In time the solvent was full of sediment and bits of brass, sand and crud.
Parts washers work fine for dirty vehicle parts.
For a AR I'd just use a decent firearm cleaner/lube.

I have a parts washer filled with off hwy diesel for cleaning various jeep bits-n-pieces. I can honestly say the thought of using it to clean my AR never crossed my mind.

IMO that's what we have brake parts cleaner for. About the only way I'd concider using diesel would be for stuff that needed an extra vigorous scrubbing at which point I'd flush all the diesel away with brake parts cleaner before reoiling

I have a high grade French sliding breech shotgun, a Darne.

The mfr recommends diesel for cleaning the sliding breech.

i use charcoal lighter fluid, its a dry cleaning solvent and works great. There is another solvent like it called PD-680 that we used to use to clean aircraft parts, which get as nasty as a firearms, so try that out.

Diesel = Kerosene = Jet Fuel. (more or less)

Diesel =/= Gasoline.

That Said, I'm not sure why kerosene would be all that great of a cleaning agent.

How about a batch of Ed's Red minus the acetone?

Diesel is good for removing cosmoline.
I would buy a solvent designed for use in a parts washer.
You can reuse the solvent many times by filtering through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

Diesel is good for removing cosmoline.

Click to expand...

I always thought so, until I tried boiling water!

It should also be noted that gas has alot of bad chemicals added to it. Not sure if diesel is as bad, I don't think it is.

Still Mineral spirits would be better. Or just chuck a gallon of simple green and some agua into your washer!