How many of you rinse your guns with hot water during cleaning?

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I use an L&R ultrasonic cleaner occasionally (Use their cleaning soln & sometimes simple green)


http://www.lrultrasonics.com/industries/weapons/weapon/hcs200.html


Their process recommends a few minutes in the cleaner
Hot water rinse
Blow off with compressed air
then a few more mins in ultrasonic lubricant pan that is separately placed above the main cleaning solution just touching so waves ~ penetrate.
This few mins with their liquid lubricant has inhibited rust in my glocks/sig internals.
I still lube with Tw25 or CLP where appropriate but that lube bath lets mefeel better about the hot water.

I do recommend their system but I will admit :

I still have to scrub bores but if I do it before ultrasonic it gets them
ready for a few lube/dry patches ONLY after the wash/lube cycles)

I still have to do work on face of revolver cylinders
(I brush them with a serious solvent, rinse henm straight into ultrasonic cleaning)

I still have to brush breechfaces
If I do that with solvent pre-treat, whatevers left wipes off later with a patch


but it cuts the time required to do all of those & has never caused me issues
with Sigs (even alloy frame 220)
Glocks
Smith & W revolvers & a 1911
Does great with my MAK90 bolt/carrier
My ps90 innards
etc
 
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I use hot water to rinse the solvent out of all of my guns, especially my pistols. I really dislike disassembling the trigger groups unless I absolutely have to, and HOT running water flushes out all of the solvent, oil, and other residue that you can't get out otherwise. I've never had any rust problems either. We used to use submersion heaters and garbage cans to heat water to clean our M-16's just after field exercises and before annual IG inspections, when I was in the Army. Just saturate with RBC, scrub with a toothbrush and swish in the can to rinse.
 
Way back when I was in the Air Nat'l Guard we used the Hot water/Air compresser method. After annual qualifications we had about 70 M16A1s and A2s to clean, and 4 of us doing it. The trick is smoking hot water, I know I know weekend warriors, the point is it's fast, its sure, it works. We also oiled them with the stuff in the green pint flasks, can't remember the name of it but was govt issue. White thin oil, good stuff wish I had some more of it. The Sargent in charge was a Nam Vet jar head that knew his @#$, if we did what he told us it always worked.
 
I do it, but I make sure to remove as much as I can, make sure the water is as hot as water can get, let the metal parts in the water long enough from them to get thoroughly hot, then used compressed air to blow everything out. I only do it with my pistols. I wash them thoroughly with dish soap and hot water using a toothbrush then rinse them in the hottest tap water I can get them pour boiling water all over them. I like it because it doesn't stink up me or my clothes with solvent and I make sure to do it with timeliness to make sure nothing rusts. It's worked great so far. I started doing it with a stainless Vaquero and a stainless P95 but seeing the results led me to do it on my CZ75, my P11, and my Buckmark. Filed strip, remove the grips, and get into it.
 
With a 1911 its not too big a deal, because it can easily be field stripped all the way down. But most modern autos only break down into a frame, slide, barrel and spring/rod. How do you get all the solvent out of the slide, firing pin/striker channel, down in the grip, etc...?
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I don't put solvent on the gun, at all. I used to use it on the bore, only. That's easy enough to wipe away with a patch or two. Now I only use gun oil and mechanical cleaning. Chore Boys/bronze wool and a drop of oil takes care of fouling of bore/chambers/cylinders. Nylon brush and Q tips/patches takes care of the rest.

Striker channel gets cleaned with a custom jag and patch just dampened with oil. Then cleaned out with a dry patch.
 
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4thPointOfContact said:
In the 80's, I often used hot water to clean my M16. Of course they had Industrial Strength hot water in the barracks; you could make instant coffee with it right from the tap.
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Those barracks were on Ardennes, weren't they? From your screen name, I bet they were.

I've done the same thing (maybe in the same barracks for that matter), but only right before certain inspection types. It wasn't an everyday occurrence, but right before we had to assume DRF1. The inspectors were a bit crazy, which made BN commanders a bit crazy, which made CO commanders even crazier, which just continued to roll downhill until joe got stuck waaaaay over cleaning rifles. Good times.

The water has to be painfully hot though, so it will heat up the metal enough that it all evaporates in a few seconds. (ETA: yeah, the water is amazingly hot - I literally used to make ramen noodles with it right from the tap.)

It is not a practice I continue today.
 
Have done it for years ,especially when doing a detail strip inspection-cleaning on any guns that are new to me, even the ones that have never been shot!
 
Only with my flintlocks. Boiling water, air dry, lubricate
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Ditto. With modern firearms the real problems are usually not going to be fixed by hot water. Copper fouling is unaffected for example. And the big problem isn't black powder soot.
 
I use hot tap water as part of the process when cleaning handguns. I'll spray some solvent in a part (say the barrel), let it sit a minute while I work on another part, and then scrub with a toothbrush while running the part under hot water.

If the water is hot enough it will evaporate away. I make sure all the parts are perfectly dry and then relube before reassambly. This way I strip out all the old lube and built up crud.
 
Not me, thats like inviting the enemy in for supper. I'm extremely protective of my weapons and that means keeping all moisture and humidity out of them the best I can.
 
just something to think about, when you wash your hands after cleaning a gun you are suppose to wash with cold soapy water, and then with warm soapy water, the hot water makes it easier for your body to absorb small amounts of lead, if thats a problem just washing your hands, id hate to see what it does when you clean the whole gun that way

non the less, i have seen a muzzle loader cleaned in a bath tub, and it did get very clean
 
I only do it if I'm shooting corrosive ammo or if I'm painting the gun and need to strip it. Otherwise, no.
 
I think the practice started with the black soot problems on the 16s and ball powder, Id like to know why, and one of yous got to be a chemical engineer, water is considered effective with black powder and not smokeless. I thought they both had a nitrite base.
 
Disclaimer: I don't clean my guns that often.

When I do, I'll detail strip the weapon and soak all the small parts (to include pretty much everything on a handgun except the grips) in a tray of Simple Green, Purple Power, etc. to de-gunk for a while, wipe clean, and then run under water - as hot as I can get it from the tap - to rinse. I'll then set them on a dishtowel to dry, wipe thoroughly with a dry cloth or paper towel, and if necessary, take a blowdryer or air compressor to any nooks and crannies that I can't otherwise get into. Reassemble, lube as required, store.

Never had any aesthetic or functional issues, and as a few people above have noted, this does a great job of flushing out trigger groups or other assemblies that need cleaning, but can't (or are a royal PITA to) be broken down.
 
Sounds like hot water is good for an occasional detail cleaning, but not usually necessary for routine care.
 
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What kind of solvent's are ya'll using that you need to rinse them out with water? Most will evaporate off quickly. Ecspecially those sold for gun cleaning.
 
"Quote:
Most will evaporate off quickly. Ecspecially those sold for gun cleaning.

Rinsing with hot water flushes out the crud that the solvents only loosen."

I use the solvent to rinse out what it dissolves which is all the easier when in a pressurized can. When i clean after corrosive ammo use with water or a water based cleaner i usually follow it up with a spray solvent to rinse out the water and dissolved minerals. I then follow up with an oil based hyrophobic product like CLP or Remoil, which is a must to be sure all water is displaced. And i make sure it gets in all the little nooks and crannies so as to avoid rust.
 
use the solvent to rinse out what it dissolves which is all the easier when in a pressurized can.
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Brake cleaner does the same much cheaper.
I then follow up with an oil based hyrophobic product like CLP or Remoil, which is a must to be sure all water is displaced.
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I use WD-40 for this. For a complete detailed strip and clean you just can't beat hot ,soapy water(but you CAN pay a LOT more for it).
 
I only clean the guns in water after shooting Black Powder and corrosive ammo.
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Me too! Was what I was taught and it always seemed to work fine. My BP guns are pristine.

What is all the worry about water? Doesn't anyone get caught out hunting in the rain? I bet lots of military firearms have seen their dose of water from rain to submersion. I think the point of any tool or gun care is that it be cleaned and oiled afterwards. Guns are usualkly made out of some pretty good metal. If yours isn't, you should buy a different gun anyway. :)

Shoot it lots....clean it....oil it....thank the Lord....kiss your wife...do it again.
 
Jimmyray, be careful with break cleaner on plastics and some other finishes. For guns with polymer i'll only use the Birchwood Polymer safe cleaner. Hard lesson learned.
 
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