Carb cleaner instead of gun cleaner for SKS?

dfraser

dfraser

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Hey All,

My days of rebuilding carburators are long over, but I still have cases of carb cleaner aerosol cans and Brake cleaner aerosol cans. Was just thinking, can I use this stuff up on my SKS's and Tokarevs after corrosive ammo shooting?

This would be after using boiling water as the initial cleaning.

Regards,
 
I think I'd rather run a few dry patches through things and then oil them . the carb is good for cleaning grease off I'm sure because I've used brake rotor cleaner to do so but you would want to oil after the boiling water .
 
cement head said:
I think I'd rather run a few dry patches through things and then oil them . the carb is good for cleaning grease off I'm sure because I've used brake rotor cleaner to do so but you would want to oil after the boiling water .
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I always used hoppes after the boiling water but before the oiling. Didn't know that I could skip that cleaner step altogether, just go from water to oiling.

Thanks for your response, cement head.
 
dfraser said:
Hey All,

My days of rebuilding carburators are long over, but I still have cases of carb cleaner aerosol cans and Brake cleaner aerosol cans. Was just thinking, can I use this stuff up on my SKS's and Tokarevs after corrosive ammo shooting?

This would be after using boiling water as the initial cleaning.

Regards,
Click to expand...

They are great products for cleaning after you run the boiling water through to dissolve the salts.
 
I do it all the time on my SKS, followed by wiping dry and oiling, I wouldn't do it on a nicer gun tho, that #### melts shellac and dries everything.
 
dfraser said:
Hey All,

My days of rebuilding carburators are long over, but I still have cases of carb cleaner aerosol cans and Brake cleaner aerosol cans. Was just thinking, can I use this stuff up on my SKS's and Tokarevs after corrosive ammo shooting?

This would be after using boiling water as the initial cleaning.

Regards,
Click to expand...




I do it all the time(brake kleen)
I wouldn't use carb cleaner though
 
The carb cleaner can be effective on frosty bores, but its overkill on your SKS. Yes you could use it, but you can never have enough carb cleaner. Its not like you need to find excuses to use it up.......and yes, dont let it touch the wood.
 
I dose my guns with brake cleaner then fluid film. Its used partly in my industry as a salt neutralizer and not a speck of corrosion in the bores of my Red's. Also, I coat all my rifles in FF for long term storage.
 
I've used brake cleaner to dissolve the cosmoline off the metal (just use heat and rags to sweat out the stock). Works like a hot d@mn to get rid of the cosmo from all the nooks and crannies it seems to work its way into. Pretty much my go-to solvent for cosmoline on all my red milsurps. Better living through chemistry.

Haven't used it for cleaning after shooting corrosive, though. Seems like a bit of overkill.
 
I use brake clean over carb clean. Someone once told me carb clean has some harsher solvents than brake clean that can harm the metal/finish. I don't know if that is true or not, I ere on the side of caution though.
 
I just de-cosmoed my first SKS. I used brake cleaner and boiling water, it took me longer than id care to admit... lol but im sure ill get faster. The brake clean didnt effect the finish at all i kept it off the wood though.
 
If you use carb cleaner, you must thoroughly re-oil every part of your rifle immediately. Carb cleaner will leech all the oil out of your action and barrel, and the un-blued surfaces (bore, bolt, bolt carrier) will begin oxidising.
My first rifle, I hosed down with carb clean at the range, and by the time I got home and took it out to clean it only a few hours later, it was showing rust. Don't let this happen to your rifle.
 
Oh, and brake clean and cosmo soup is a great way to keep the weeds from growing through the craks in your garage apron. One application is good for at least a couple years.
 
I think everyone here is missing the point.
As cement head said, it's good for cleaning grease off an SKS, so the proper way to use all your left over cleaner is to go buy a crate of SKS's and clean all the grease off them with it, then enjoy them as appropriate!
 
Will work on built up carbon deposits that are hard to remove, that's what it is desinged for.

CLP for everything else. I have never used boiling water or ammonia to clean my SKS. CLP does it.
 
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