cleaning guns with mineral spirits

eastwood396

April 10, 2012 10:32

The "official" youtube video from Rock Island Armory says to clean the 1911 by submerging and scrubbing all parts in mineral spirits. Is this advisable for stainless pistols as well? Anybody do this with their guns? Any opinions?

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  JohnnyBGood

  April 10, 2012 10:43

  I've used mineral spirits for 30+ years on all kinds of metal parts (including guns and stainless steel) with no problem. You might want to be careful with plastic and rubber parts. A little bit of MS won't hurt them but no long term soaking.
  
  I have also used a small amount of MS mixed in with soap and water to clean the surface grime off of old gun stocks.
  
  Johnny

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  eastwood396

  April 10, 2012 10:45

  Thanks Johnny!

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  rufe-snow

  April 10, 2012 22:04

  Do it outside or in a very well ventilated area if you decide to go with the mineral spirits. The fumes it gives off are really potent. I tried adding some to my brass tumbler, it stunk up the house and ate up the rubber seal on the tumbler.

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  17tobyracing

  April 11, 2012 09:33

  quote:Originally posted by us55840
  Mineral spirits work fine. I keep it away from plastic or rubber however.
  
  To remove ALL oil residue, Acetone does the job.
  
  
  Non-chlorinated brake cleaner works good to.

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  USN_Airdale

  April 12, 2012 05:13

  quote:Originally posted by 17tobyracing
  
  
  Non-chlorinated brake cleaner works good to.
  
  
  DITTO ^^

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  5mmgunguy

  April 12, 2012 05:35

  Just keep the brake cleaner away from rubber and plastic too!

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  beantownshootah

  April 12, 2012 09:11

  Yeah, you "can" use mineral spirits (aka "paint thinner") to clean and de-grease your gun (blued or stainless), and this will work pretty well at relatively low cost.
  
  But as mentioned, the stuff gives off noxious fumes, stinks up the place, and is also fairly flammable to boot. You don't want to leave rags soaked with mineral spirits lying around. For these reasons, I don't know anyone who uses this as their main/only gun cleaner.
  
  Mineral spirits will also dissolve out all lubricant, so if you go this route, make sure you don't forget to re-lubricate when done!
  
  What ever happened to CLP and the like?
  
  Brake cleaner (aka "gunscrubber") works well too, though as mentioned, this stuff will instantly etch rubber or plastic, so be careful. This is another thing probably best used in well-ventilated areas.
  
  Personally, I mostly use the brake cleaner as a "lazy man" way of blast-cleaning inside gun actions when I am either unwilling or unable to take the actions apart.

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  17tobyracing

  April 12, 2012 16:42

  quote:Originally posted by 5mmgunguy
  Just keep the brake cleaner away from rubber and plastic too!
  
  
  The brake cleaner won't hurt the plastic & rubber as long as you don't leave it on for any length of time. Most modern brake caliper assemblies now contain plastic & rubber components too.

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