I was toalking to a co-worker today who said that brake fluid can be used in lieu of regular solvents. He said clean the barrel as normal with solvent and brush, but everything else can be sprayed with brake fluid. He said it serves the same purpose as using it on your car's brakes.....cleans and lubicates.

is this ture?

I think he meant to say Brake cleaner. It's about the same as Gun Scrubber for 1/3 of the price. I wouldn't get any on your grips though.

I only use it to hose out new magazines. Hoppes #9 and CLP is not as harsh.

Blindref, thanks for the correction. I meant to say brake cleaner and not brake fluid.

My mistake........yikes!

quote:

He said it serves the same purpose as using it on your car's brakes.....cleans and lubicates.

Don't believe that last part, at all!!

Brake cleaner will strip out every bit of lube and leave things dry as a bone. It's OK (but just that) as a cleaner if you are completely detail stripping your pistol and want to clean everything thoroughly before relubing for reassembly.

blindref is correct about not getting it on your grips. The one thing that I use it for these days is shotgun barrels with heavy plastic wad fouling. It dissolves plastic amazingly well.

here here for brake clean. i have used it for years to clean out the gun solvent and all the other crud down in the works.don't get it on grips of any kind,its not kind to them at all,rubber it will dissolve. they will need a good lube afterwards for sure.

Doesn't sound like I would want to get any on the hammer stop either.

Personally, with all the products out there that are actually made for cleaning firearms, I don't know why you would want to use brake cleaner. I understand the cost theory, but is it worth potentially damaging my $900.00 pistol to save $3.00 on cleaning products? Not for me.

Brake Cleaner certainly has a place in cleaning guns, but I most certainly wouldn't use it regularly. It's very, very harsh, and not good when you get it on your hands - I wouldn't be suprised if it absorbs into your skin and kills brain cells - I have to protect the ones I have.

Seriously, I don't think stripping a gun down to bare metal each time you clean it is a good thing. You'd be amazed how fast certain parts can flash rust immediately after that brake cleaner fluid dries on your gun parts.

quote:

Originally posted by Highlander357:

Personally, with all the products out there that are actually made for cleaning firearms, I don't know why you would want to use brake cleaner. I understand the cost theory, but is it worth potentially damaging my $900.00 pistol to save $3.00 on cleaning products? Not for me.

+1

Not for me, either.

I'll stick to products designed for firearms.

The whole concept of using brake cleaner made me a bit nervous. I was seeking the opinions and advice of others. If everyone had said "yeah, brake cleaner works great", then I may have considered it a bit. However, with all of the "be carefuls", I will leave the brake cleaner for the dealership to do my brakes, and use gun cleaning stuff to clean my guns.

Thanks for all the input.

I've used ZEP Brand brake cleaner for years. If I'm in a competition and run 120 plus rounds through my Sigs I use brake clean on them, and than lubricate them thoroughly. I don't need a failure or malfunction in a timed competition. I buy the ZEP in gallon cans and use it in a spray container, bought from ZEP. Its not only less expensive that way but it last a long time. Just remember after blowing the gun off wipe the gun down thoroughly with a Silicone Rag. No rust on any of my babies.

Why remove all the protective oil you worked so hard to impregnate the gun with? That will do way more harm then any of the half lube crud that you leave behind during a regular wipe down.

Use brake cleaner on a Hi point, not on a $700 Sig.

As long as it's labeled as non-chlorinated brake cleaner isn't harmful to guns, just be careful with using it on any plastic components.

For those who are freaked out by using automotive products on your guns, go ahead and pay extra for the labeling.

quote:

Originally posted by Txs:
As long as it's labeled as non-chlorinated brake cleaner isn't harmful to guns, just be careful with using it on any plastic components.

For those who are freaked out by using automotive products on your guns, go ahead and pay extra for the labeling.

I am with you Txs, and the cans actually seem to empty before running out of propellant like powder blast and similar products. I do make up for it pricewise using slide guide though, tired of getting tw25b and such on my clothing.

Going back to my Military days, that weapon will be clean boy. It is a carry over from that, and I wish I would have had access to it back then. You need to get all of the grime out of your weapon if you are depending on it. Just a little amount of crud from dirt or gunpowder, at the wrong time, wrong place and your toast. I even use an old dull pocket knife to get in nooks and crannies for build up and residue. To many things can go wrong, like dropping a mag,fumbling a mag,no lock back on slide,bad case ejection and slide not going to full battery. Cleaning with brake clean and than re-oiling is just one more step in a non malfunctioning Sig. I never have jams or malfuntions with my 228 or 229.

Funny how certain topics just never go away. In any case, we got one misconception straightened out, and that is that brake cleaner is a lubricant. Nope, it is the opposite of a lubricant, a lubricant remover. The purpose of brake cleaner is to clean brake parts with a non-petroleum based product, leaving as little residue as possible. That non-petroleum based cleaning is important for brakes.

As far as gun cleaning, you can use a lot things with great success. It clearly should not be a source of distress whether you use a soap like Simple Green or a solvent based product like Hoppe's. The point is to remove burned powder and residue from the moving parts.

In my personal opinion, it is not necessary to extract every trace of oil from the pores of the gunmetal, in order to clean a dirty gun. We'll reserve commentary about barrel cleaning for the moment. Keep in mind that as soon as that metal is bare, it is unprotected and will instantly begin to rust.

In fact, you can use BreakFree or any other gun lube to wipe down the affected areas and never have to remove the oil from the metal at all. Doesn't that make more sense than stripping everything down completely? What, exactly, does the complete removal of all oil from the metal accomplish? The answer is...nothing! Your gun will not function better, longer, or more smoothly if the metal is stripped completely each time you use it.

Of course, if the idea of holding your gun at arm's length and blasting it with a stream of high pressure brake cleaner appeals to you - great! Your gun will be clean. But, it will also be clean if you wipe it down with a little BreakFree and a clean cloth.

Take your pick!
Sparks

Sparks, very well stated.

Brake cleaner is great for a lot of stuff. Not ready to use it on my guns though. Maybe an old rusty surplus gun but not my babies.

I don't use brake cleaner on my guns, any more than I would use gunscrubber on my brakes.