Ed's Red recipe?

MD

MD

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I mixed up a little bit of ATF and acetone 50/50 on advice here for freeing up a stuck action screw (it hasn't worked).

I then realized I had half the components for Ed's Red mixed up so why not make some?

I see I have some kerosene in the basement, but I have no varsol.

Can I use ordinary paint thinner or white gas?

I'm mixing up maybe one cup total. I didn't have any ATF around (I have a standard) so I had to go to my mechanic buddy and panhandle a remnant in the bottom of a litre bottle.

I have plenty of firearm cleaning supplies for now and don't really need this stuff, it was just an idea. Maybe I'll give it a try in an old Spanish Mauser I've got with a dubious looking barrel.
 
i find eds red works as well as most gun oils for powder fouling and general cleaning. i keep it in a squirt bottle and use for flushing dirty triggers. i use patch out for copper, eds red for everything else.
 
Varsol, mineral spirits, paint thinner... Pretty close to the same thing. You should be ok to substitute or just leave that component out of the mix.
 
FarmerDanz said:
Varsol, mineral spirits, paint thinner... Pretty close to the same thing. You should be ok to substitute or just leave that component out of the mix.
Click to expand...

Kerosene is also fairly similar. I've never understood why Ed's Red calls for both kerosene and mineral spirits/Varsol rather than one or the other.
 
I tell you this, when I first started shooting all I shot was dirty comm bloc surplus guns and dirty corrosive comm bloc ammo. A lot.
My cleaning regimen after a heavy day out was remove any wood, flush the bore, gas system, sometimes the whole rifle in hot water. Then literally dump eds red all over the rifle in a cut down steel drum. Pour the excess eds red back in the gallon container, let the rifle sit for 5 minutes, wipe it down with a rag and good to go for next 1000 rounds!
Whole process was like 10 minutes. Never had a speck of rust and a gallon of eds red would last a full year in this manner. Talk about cheap and effective. I don't shoot corrosive anything anymore so I just use CLP for all.
I would just mix it in standard equal parts of 4 ingredients and never added the lanolin. If you shoot comm bloc surplus it's your best friend Sir.
 
"The original Hatcher formula called for equal parts of acetone, turpentine, Pratts
Astral Oil and sperm oil, and optionally 200 grams of anhydrous lanolin
added per liter." C.E. Harris

Pratts Astral Oil is Kerosene, Turpentine was substituted for mineral spirits to make it safer to use. Sperm Oil was substituted for ATF as they have similar qualities and ATF is more readily available.
 
MD, Ed's Red is like a moonshine recipe.
Everyone has one and each is slightly different.
What has google suggested?
I thought about making a batch but the time and effort of assembling the components was better spent buying some g-96 and Sweets 7.62 or Barnes Copper out if when/needed.

Rob
 
FLHTCUI said:
MD, Ed's Red is like a moonshine recipe.
Everyone has one and each is slightly different.
What has google suggested?
I thought about making a batch but the time and effort of assembling the components was better spent buying some g-96 and Sweets 7.62 or Barnes Copper out if when/needed.

Rob
Click to expand...

Basic on line recipe:

1 part ATF
1 part Acetone
1 part Varsol
1 part kerosene
 
I use it, however I stick a little closer to the original, equal parts of ATF, Acetone, Turpentine, & Kerosene. Nothing I've used to date cleans out plastic wad residue like it.
 
FLHTCUI said:
MD, Ed's Red is like a moonshine recipe.
Everyone has one and each is slightly different.
What has google suggested?
I thought about making a batch but the time and effort of assembling the components was better spent buying some g-96 and Sweets 7.62 or Barnes Copper out if when/needed.

Rob
Click to expand...


Cost by the gallon is five or more times less when compared ounce to ounce in little 4 oz bottles. Cost is less than 40 bucks/gallon = 160 fluid ounces = 25 cents per ounce.

Ed's Red is not a metallic solvent or copper cleaner, nor has it ever been claimed as such.
 
fiddler said:
Cost by the gallon is five or more times less when compared ounce to ounce in little 4 oz bottles. Cost is less than 40 bucks/gallon = 160 fluid ounces = 25 cents per ounce.

Ed's Red is not a metallic solvent or copper cleaner, nor has it ever been claimed as such.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that Ed's Red is used as a metallic solvent or copper cleaner.
I tried to imply and obviously failed miserably that buying the components in my case was and still is not cost effective.
Storing a gallon is more snake oil than I will ever need in a lifetime and thus I am better served buying several bottles of the fore mentioned brands.
If someone wants to play chemist then have at 'er.
Tight Caps and form fitting nitrile gloves.
Rob
 
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