OK to clean semi-auto barrel by immersing it in cleaning fluid?

[Dan in MI]

Back to the OP. Make sure your solvent doesn't eat some pieces.

A gunsmith friend told me of something that happened to him in the very early 60's. They had some type of solvent bucket they used. He hooked a Ruger on the wire by the trigger guard and dropped it in the tank . The next day he pulled out the wire and it was empty. Apparently whatever was in the solvent ate aluminum. Lesson learned.

 

[Star43]

Wow, that was an expensive lesson to be learned. What is wrong with spraying and wiping them down with good old WD-40 after shooting. It gets a lot of residue off and protects the metal at the same time, before of course you clean them.

 

[larry8]

Personally, as a collector I have a few guns and I can't shoot more than one at a time, so whenever I buy a gun either used or new, I take it apart and clean it. Then to the range to shoot 6 or 12 or so rounds just to make sure that the gun works and has no problems. Then take it apart and clean and oil it before I put it in the safe till I decide to shoot it again or not. Just my way of doing things. The safe is humidity controlled so I don't fret any corrosion.

 

[Bubbas358]

I look at the OP's question this way.....

If the barrel, slide, or cylinder of a firearm cannot be soaked in a cleaning solution that is designed for firearm cleaning (or a base product of most cleaning solutions: diesel, for example) then that part would not have been properly designed to withstand the actual firing of a round.

Now, as to submerging whole assemblies into a proper solvent bath....I have no problems with that either. This is as long as there are no polymer parts within/attached/or otherwise kept in the solvent. This also goes for sights: painted, plastic, fiber optic, or tritium.....one must use common sense when dunking parts into cleaner.

If the OP is asking if the submerging is safe for completely metallic parts.....generally yes, it is. The problems arise when there is a misunderstanding of what is capable of being used for solvents vs the parts being submerged/cleaned. Just as one would not try to spray a cleaner/solvent onto a really nice paint job/finish/plastic part (sight), one should not try to be careless with the cleaning solvent application.

This statement was made in the understanding that the OP was not going to be using a whole bath of "polymer safe" solvent to clean the parts asked about. That could be another whole thread of discussion.

 

[Bubbas358]

And yes, my guns are tools for me also. No question there.

 

[Hertervillian]

Mobuck, I agree with your tool sentiments.

had a very nice somewhat collectible SIG, I was hesitant to treat it like a handgun was designed to be treated. Part of the appeal as a collectible was the rather delicate special finish K-Kote. That got traded for a nice NMBH .41, my start in this Ruger thing.

I'll admit many of my tools are treated like "torque wrenches".

 

[Laserbait]

What is wrong with spraying and wiping them down with good old WD-40 after shooting. It gets a lot of residue off and protects the metal at the same time, before of course you clean them.

WD40 is not great for guns. When left sitting for a long period of time, it becomes sticky/tacky and will gum things up. Best just use a proper gun cleaner. I usually get CLP. It's not expensive, and works well.

 

[Star43]

WD40 is not great for guns. When left sitting for a long period of time, it becomes sticky/tacky and will gum things up. Best just use a proper gun cleaner. I usually get CLP. It's not expensive, and works well.

I have used WD-40 for over 40 years and have had no problem at all. When I use it, it is primarily for a quick blast if I see any residue, or as I Mentioned, in my post above, to spray quickly on the outside to clean off any residue as to protect the metal, BEFORE I actually clean the gun. WD-40 is not what I use for the actual cleaning. I use Hoppe's #9 bore cleaner and of course the good old Hoppe's gun oil for the lubrication. Again for all of these 40 years that is what I've used for the actual cleaning. But a combination of the two has worked fine for me, with NO problems at all. The secret is to keep the gun clean whether you shoot it or not in my humble opinion.

 

[Hvymax]

Soaking a steel/stainless barrel in a copper solvent shouldn't be a problem. It's when you get into "finished" parts that you can run into problems. There are some chemicals that will remove blueing and painted on finishes. Even chrome because it is frequently applied over a copper base plating.