Brake Cleaner

scottshotz

scottshotz

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Anybody use brake cleaner to clean bore and or cylinders? I bought a spray can of it at canadian tire, spray it right into the barrel, then use a brass bore brush, then clean with a pad.

Also heard of a product called Break Free but no idea where to find it.
 
Break cleaner is an excellent parts cleaner, however, I'd be concerned about it's long term affect on stock finishes, and plastic / fiberglass.
Also, most evaporate leaving very little residue, a good thing as long as you remember to lube the area, to prevent rust.
 
Some brake cleaners are alcohol based and others are chlorinated hydrocarbons. (Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene, is commonly referred to as PERC)

They are degreasers (especially PERC) and will clean powder out of a gun but not touch metal fouling. PERC is what is used in dry cleaning and I use it a lot for degreasing but not for general cleaning.

As JYC said, if you use it remember to oil everything really well because all of the oils will have been stripped away.

I usually pick up a number of cans at Princess Auto when it is on sale for about $3 a can.

Break Free is a completely different type of product. It is a CLP (cleaner, lubricant, protectant) search this site and there are lots of threads on it. Available at some gun stores.
 
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I use brake cleaner to flush out the action/receiver in guns that are awkward to disassemble, like the Browning A-5. Then re-oil with CLP, awesome stuff. I believe Wholesale sports now carries it.
 
A CLP sounds like a great all-in-one product....in the event one like Break-Free can't be located locally, could a guy use brake cleaner....then WD-40 afterwards? Or better off with gun oil afterwards?
 
WD-40 will work but it tends to leave a sticky residue when left to dry out after several months. (Then you need brake cleaner to get the WD-40 off)

Best to go with a gun oil, but then you are going to get a whole lot of responses about which is the "best" gun oil. Some oils are better for lubrication and others for corrosion protection.

For corrosion protection see below.

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

http://www.thegunzone.com/rust.html
 
scottshotz said:
A CLP sounds like a great all-in-one product....in the event one like Break-Free can't be located locally, could a guy use brake cleaner....then WD-40 afterwards? Or better off with gun oil afterwards?
Click to expand...
In addition to all the good info above,

Talk with Peter, the president of one of your clubs, MVRRC. He sells a very nice line of gun oils for reasonable pricing. He also has bore cleaners that work very well too.

As mentioned above, brake cleaner has some good attributes, but it's deadly on plastics.
 
I use Simple Green to de-grease/clean and if some customers guns are real bad, I will let the parts sit overnight in tank. I then spray Break Free or KROWN T32 and let sit for several hours or even overnight.
 
Remember: Brake Cleaner is a powerful degreaser but you have to re-oil anything it touches after cleaning because any oil protection will have been washed away.
And be very careful not to breathe the vapours: some of these solvents are associated with liver and kidney cancer. Use carefully with plenty of aeration or, better yet, outside.
PP.
 
I have heard of using brake cleaner when hunting in extreme cold to remove all oil etc to get reliable ignition. Just remember to relube once home and don't bring the firearm into warm area where condensation can turn to rust without oil protection. As previous people have said keep away from plastics.
 
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