Hornady M16 Hot Tub Sonic Cleaner

I have a heated sonic cleaner and it does a great job. It gets all the inside clean then I throw it into the tumbler to get a beautiful shine afterwards. Works pretty quick and I get a few batches through before changing the solution. Just remember don't use brass solution on gun parts!
 
dmc_82 said:
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but could you use this to clean all the metal parts of an SKS doused in Cosmoline? I have a SKS that I've been trying to figure out how best to clean and this seems like it would work, just not sure if it would or not? Thanks!
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Hot water, dish soap and old toothbrushes are about $449.00 cheaper. Messy though.
Make sure to clean the ring out of the bathtub before your wife sses it!
 
Grumpy Wolverine said:
There is a special solution required by these. If you are using this for firearms, be very liberal with the lubrication and oil covering once you clean them as these things suck every bit of oil out of the metal, so they do require a good slathering in oil afterwards so they don't rust.
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I recommend using Lyman's Turbo Sonic Gun Lube after the cleaning solution for firearms. It disperses any water and solution left over then leaves a thin film that dries. Follow up with regular oil as per manufactures specs. Even then I still lube liberally just to be safe.

I had the Hornady Hot Tub which was great and at an affordable price, but ended up replacing it for a Lyman Turbo Sonic Pro to fit long arms.
 
I use the 2l as well. I run it till the brass is warm. I then use a Drexel with the small round brush to clean the primer pocket and I takes very little time. I usually size some other brass or work on something else while it is in the tub. Most useful for getting the inside of the case and the case neck clean.
 
Did anyone else think about an actual hot tub filled with cleaning solution? Now I'm just imagining how much brass I could clean in mine. Fill er up and crank up the jets.

Though I would likely have to stir it like this guy: :stirthepot2:

On a serious note, that looks pretty awesome.
 
okay so i ordered some Hornady solution from wholesale, got it today... Looked on the back and it says.... WARNING This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause CANCER.... lol ok great! save time on cleaning and get cancer.. cant win!

For the guys with the Lyman solution, does it say the same thing?
 
Rgrabowski said:
okay so i ordered some Hornady solution from wholesale, got it today... Looked on the back and it says.... WARNING This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause CANCER.... lol ok great! save time on cleaning and get cancer.. cant win!

For the guys with the Lyman solution, does it say the same thing?
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Dude, those stupid California cancer warnings are on everything. Our regular old brake clean spray at work has it. You'd have to drink cases of the stuff.
 
CraigNConnor said:
Complete noob to reloading but have ridiculous amounts of fired brass stockpiled.
Would this be a practical tool for the everyday reloader,?
And sorry if this is a stupid question but is it normal for firearms to be cleaned in a tumbler?
Do the micro jests just recirculate a cleaning solution while the firearm is submerged?
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Cleaning gun parts in the sonic cleaner works very well. Better than you can do manually. The sonic action and cleaning solution get into all the nooks and crannies that you and I can't. It also cleans in between parts if they aren't completely disassembled. Just make sure you use the proper gun parts cleaner (from Hornady and others) and NOT the brass cleaning solution. There is a big difference. IMO, you don't need to clean your firearms every single time in the sonic cleaner. I do it periodically and it does make a difference.

I find cleaning brass with the sonic cleaner much more labor intensive. If you want the primer pockets cleaned, you have to deprime the cases first. After they are cleaned then you put them through the resizing cycle. I am always a little paranoid about drops of water remaining in the cases so I rinse them with really hot water to remove all traces of the cleaner and then set them out to dry for a couple of days to be sure. Usually near a source of heat like a furnace vent.

While they will be very clean, they will not necessarily be shiny. I like my cases shiny as I think they feed better in semis- but that could just be me. So i put them in the tumbler for a short time to get them shiny. Once again, this may not be necessary but that is what I do.
I don't know about the micro jets, mine doesn't have them, but sonic vibrations cause dirt, soot and grime to fall free. The bottom of your tub will be covered with fine grit. Being able to adjust the heat of your solution makes a difference as well. Mine come cleaner when the solution is hot.

I know a lot of people make their own cleaning solutions. Nothing wrong with that. Just make sure that anything you add won't damage your gun's finish if cleaning guns or that it won't damage your brass when cleaning brass. I just stick with the commercial ones to be sure. Also, from what I am reading, the commercial cleaners don't take as long to clean. 40 mins and my brass is quite clean including the primer pockets. The Hornady cleaning solutions are not that expensive and they last a good while.

You may also find that you use the sonic cleaner to clean other stuff like automotive parts and other fine stuff that needs a good cleaning without doing any damage. It has really helped me out in that department.

Bottom line: Do you really need it? Probably not if you are just getting into reloading. A good tumbler or vibratory cleaner will meet most of your needs at the moment. There are primer pocket cleaners (manual ones) available that will do the job if you are willing to spend the time on it. I reload for CQB and shoot a lot of .223 every month. I don't clean the primer pockets on this brass. It hasn't made a difference in accuracy or reliability. Hunting and match loads I spend more time on. At the moment you would be better off spending the money on quality reloading equipment. Try and find someone who has one and try it out if you think you really need one.
Just my $.02. :)
 
Rgrabowski said:
okay so i ordered some Hornady solution from wholesale, got it today... Looked on the back and it says.... WARNING This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause CANCER.... lol ok great! save time on cleaning and get cancer.. cant win!

For the guys with the Lyman solution, does it say the same thing?
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Said that on a LPK that I bought for my AR as well. Carry on.
 
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