Bought four "Grade 2" milsurp ammo cans from Midway. They have some very minor rust. Only one with a slight bit inside. Not enough to warrant repainting. I was thinking of giving them a good wipe-down, inside & out, with mineral spirits.

They also have typical yellow lettering on them. I don't think mineral spirits will bother the overall green paint, but I wouldn't want to make a smeary mess of that yellow stenciling.

So what do y'all think: Yae or nay?

I have used WD40 and paper towels to clean old ammo cans. Seemed to work just fine.

Mineral spirits shouldn't harm them. Test some on a Qtip. The WD40 mentioned would probably be better to fend off rust.

I'll give it a qualified "yea." You could test a small part of the lettering first. Also, I wouldn't forcibly spray the solvent onto the can, but soak a rag in it first and gently wipe the can down.

I like K-1 when I bought fifty from a guy up in Canada.
I had to use air to get rid of the fine sand first.No worries on paint removal with either product.

Alcohol wipes would also work well.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I'll give it a qualified "yea." You could test a small part of the lettering first.

Yeah, I was thinking I'd do that with a Q-Tip, as shiftyvtec suggested.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Also, I wouldn't forcibly spray the solvent onto the can, but soak a rag in it first and gently wipe the can down.

That was the plan. Got a bag o' rags purchased for just these kinds of jobs.

Ok, thanks for the feedback, everybody.

I'd use Breakfree CLP. It does a very good job at wiping off rust and protecting against rust.

The yellow is stencil paint and is easily removed, I spray brake cleaner on a rag and wipe off the yellow on all my cans. Seems like mineral spirits will do it too.

Mineral spirits will do fine, wd-40, even clp. After you're done cleaning you'll want to clean out what you just used with alcohol.

Just to ensure that the bullets aren't inadvertantly coated with something they needn't be.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
The yellow is stencil paint and is easily removed, ...

I don't care whether it stays or goes, but I don't want it to become a smeary mess.

Experimentation is definitely in order.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
After you're done cleaning you'll want to clean out what you just used with alcohol.

Just to ensure that the bullets aren't inadvertantly coated with something they needn't be.

Won't happen. Everything is boxed. I expect everything will always be boxed. In the event I ever actually get around to reloading: If it isn't boxed, it'll be bagged.

OP, I remove it because I was in Ordnance and the stencils mean stuff, so to keep my ammo cans from telling me something they shouldn’t, like the ammo inside is in clips or is ball ammo or linked, I remove all the yellow.

During my career, I found any type of petroleum based oils or cleaners will smearor disfigure the stencil.

Noted. Thanks. I'll test. I don't mind completely removing the stencils. But I don't want a smeary mess.

ETA: The mineral spirits didn't affect the stencilling in the slightest. (There are both cans with yellow and cans with white.) A very slight amount of green, very slight, came off on the rags and that was it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ensigmatic,

Acetone for complete removal.