Carburetor Cleaner to clean your guns?

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Punkermonkey

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I was at the local auto parts store yesterday and there where two young guys in line behind me. I caught part of their conversation. One of the guys had a can of carburetor cleaner in his hand and the other asked him what it was for. The guy responded that he was going to use it to clean his guns. To be fair and open minded, and not to sound like a know it all gun nut I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word.

So my question is this: with all of the fine products out there INTENDED to clean your guns with, is it a good idea to use carburetor cleaner?
 
Stainless, sure. Moly coated of some sort, who knows? Poly framed guns I wouldn't touch it with.
 
I'm not a chemist, but I agree with you, only gun cleaner on my guns. You don't need chemicals dissolving parts. Really, is it THAT hard to find #9 or CLP or something?
 
No carb cleaner isn't that great for cleaning guns. Brake cleaner works far better. Just be sure to oil it well when you're done.
 
Carbs

Been usin' Advance Auto's proprietary carburetor cleaner on my guns for about 10 years now. It emulsifies the cack and flushes it out. Good stuff. Other carb cleaners pull the oil out, like brake cleaner and leave the cack behind.

Brake Cleaner...BC Gunscrubber...all same-same. Flip a coin. Brake cleaner is about a third the cost.
 
carb cleaner is fine for metal and some plastics. i prefer starter fluid because it has less chance of hurting plastics. i spray things off outdoors so the flamability isnt a concern for me.

either will strip off oil, so re-oil immediately. rust starts immediately with bear metal.

carb cleaner, brake cleaner or starter fluid are not enough to clean a gun when used alone. what i do is wet the gun down good with hoppes9 and brush whatever i intend to brush, then use the sprays to wash out the loosened junk before oiling. carb cleaner gives me wicked headaches, but starter fluid doesnt, i dont know why.
 
I use sometimes brake cleaner for initial cleaning of a "new" old gun, mainly for cosmoline and crud removal in nooks and crannies. The spray nozzle gets the liquid into places that are nigh on to impossible to reach otherwise and flushes the crud out.

Don't have any plastic parts to worry about, and remove the stock before doing any extemsive cleaning, so I don't have any worries there. Since brake cleaner removes oil as well as other crud, I always make sure to follow it up with a liberal oil coating and then wipe down.

After the initial cleaning, I seldom have reason to use anything other than "normal" gun cleaning stuff, (Hoppes, CLP, etc.).
 
Carbs

Try Advance Auto's proprietary carb cleaner. It stays wet and doesn't pull the oil out of the steel. So far, it hasn't hurt any of the Colt OEM hard rubber grips that came on the ORM 1991A1s...and I've been usin' it for 10+years. Most of the time, I use it...let the gun drip-dry, or blow it out with compressed air...re-oil, and go. Nary a problem.
 
For all Metal parts GunSrubber and or Carb Cleaner are interchangeable, I ran out of Carb Cleaner rebuilding an Outboard motor carb and finished using a Little , and done the reverse with the Bbl of an old Ishapore .308
Just be sure you liberally Oil the parts when done.
 
I'm not sure what's in carb cleaner but CRC brake cleaner in the red can is the same as Gunscrubber, tetrachroloethylene (spelling?). I had a chemist friend check samples and they said the CRC and Gunscrubber were same thing.
 
It will work---somewhat.

I used to use it. As long as you have all of the plastic furniture and wood out of the way it probably won't hurt anything. Like using white gas, it seems a good initial step for a deep de-grease and cleaning. I have always done a boiling water rinse to get the crap off and really done a fresh and complete lube as a follow up of all surfaces. You really need to get it ALL off as it will otherwise keep reacting with your lube and leave the weapon open to rust and staining of metal.

I would use this only on a weapon I would refer to as 'hardware'--I wouldn't beat up a weapon I really cared about like this. OK for a barn or trunk gun.
 
CARB CLEANER

The plastic grips on my pistol now have permanent finger prints. :uhoh: :banghead:

Works fine on the metal parts though.
 
As noted in the post above, carb cleaner will dissolve many plastics. Unlike brake cleaner, it is made to dissolve the gummy deposits in the carb venturis. Brake cleaner is formulated to remove all oils and leave a clean metal surface.

When I detail strip my guns, I clean with brushes and Hoppes or M-Pro 7 and then use brake cleaner as a spray off step after all gunk is loose.

I prefer the $1.99 a can non-chlorinated brake cleaner. I do wear nitrile gloves when I use it and spray out in the open.
 
brake cleaner will definitely dissolve certain plastics. I used a plastic container once and it ate through it and left a pretty plastic shaped puddle. Stuff is wicked.
 
This is nice stuff

One of the nicer non-gun-specific solvent cleaners I have tried is BreakFree Electronic grade Contact Cleaner @ 2.99 per can:

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/coclnewbr.html

It sprays on abnd blasts out crud, then evaporates almost immediately, leaving no residue.

So far, no ruined plastic nor varnish; though tto be fair i am dilligent about wiping it off if I get a run.

C-
 
I use Brake-Kleen over carb cleaner due to the residue carb cleaner leaves on polished parts. As previously noted re oil is immediately required. I use Rem Oil in an aerosol can to get oil into all those nooks and crannies.






:evil: I've even used gasoline before:eek:
 
$2000.00 for my Bushmaster Varminter, scope and accessories and I would crap my pants if I got carb cleaner on it. unless the manufactures say carb cleaner is ok then I wouldn't use it. I assume you all have lots of $ invested, why go cheap on cleaning supplies? This is just MHO. I can see cleaning the thing and having a gooey puddle for a stock in the morning. Or maybe you could take the term "cheek weld" to a whole new level.:)
 
Y'all are wearing safety glasses every time, right?
I thought so.

I've had good luck with nitrile gloves and butyl gloves for this stuff. The CRC Brakleen that I use lists tetrachloroethylene and carbon dioxide (as the propellant, I believe). The label actually reads, "Not for use in California."
{ :eek: Oh Noes! Greeenhows Gassiz! :neener: }

I take stocks off before I use it, and I re-oil immediately.
 
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