Is brake cleaner bad?

Today I finally got around to making a longer ramrod for my T/C .50 cal barrel so I could clean it. This is a new to me barrel and since it's longer than my other two I had no way of cleaning it all the way down. After running about 20 patches down, all of them kept coming out dirty. i remembered reading somewhere that someone used wd40, so I went out into the garage to get some and noticed a can of Brake Cleaner. figured, what the heck. spayed a good bit down the barrel, poured it out, sprayed again and while is was still damp on the inside (brake cleaner evaporates quickly) ran a couple of patches down. Third patch came out perfectly clean. Since brake cleaner breaks down oil and grease rather quickly i know that this should not be used on a regualr basis. Of course, I ran a few oiled patches down afterwards to coat the inside of the barrel. Has anyone else ever used this? Or a better question, Have I done something stupid? The two main ingredients are Heptane and Taluene.

I would remove the barrel from the stock, put the breach end in a bucket of water and use the ramrod with cleaning jag and a patch in a pumping motion to clean. Then run a couple of alcohol soaked patches down the barrel and then oil patch. Brake cleaner does great cleaning car parts, I don't use it on my guns for fear I will mess up the finish on the stocks....

I too was concerned about the stock finish so i should have mentioned I had the barrel off and in the kitchen sink.

Brake cleaner is often used to remove oils and grease from new guns. It does a great job and will not harm metal. But it destroys finishs on wood! :idunno:

I use it all the time and have for decades, no harm yet.
On lock internals also, I am carefull to re-oil the areas that need oil.
But a good washing with brake cleaner and a blast of compressed air really cleans things up nice.

Sounds good to me! Can't see how it could hurt anything with the barrel if you used it everyday...

I've used it for years to help clean my barrels..no issues yet. BUT YES, keep it far away from your finish on your stock...

Folks have covered the gun issues pretty well.

CRC brake clean in the red can contains TCE (which means something along the lines of Trichloroethelene, which is toxic. If you've ever seen "A Civil Action" TCE in the water is a key culprit in the actual case the film is based on. Research cited in the original book notes that inhaling TCE fumes from the hot water in the shower may have been more damaging than drinking the water. The situation in Woburn was, of course, habitual.

CRC in the Green can doesn't have TCE in it, and I have used CRC Red very occasionally for years. Still, I've gotten a lot more careful with it--outside and using a respirator is cheap insurance.

As a auto mechanic/technician for over 40 years I used brake clean on a daily basis. It is a great cleaner and washes away dirt and grime better than anything I've ever used. It does however also really clean up oil as well so make sure to lube up anything that needs it as there wont be any lube left after using brake clean. FRJ

It actually depends on the finish on your gun as to whether brake cleaner will harm it. The original type finishes and the oils are pretty fragile and brake cleaner will “clean” them off, too, right along with the grim and grit.
But more modern finishes will probably not be harmed with just a drop or two. I use it all the time on my car work and gun care. You must re-oil afterwards!
I am going to say, be safe, rather than be sorry. :hmm:

Oh............
It is death on plastic parts new or old! :shocked2:

FRJ said:

As a auto mechanic/technician for over 40 years I used brake clean on a daily basis. It is a great cleaner and washes away dirt and grime better than anything I've ever used. It does however also really clean up oil as well so make sure to lube up anything that needs it as there wont be any lube left after using brake clean. FRJ

Click to expand...

I sure does! That's why I use it.

Brake cleaner will take the finish off your car so act accordingly. It dries without residue so that's why you need to oil afterwards.
We don't discuss inlines but I do use brake cleaner on what we don't discuss because of all the nooks and crannies- on a traditional muzzle loader I think plain old hot soapy water works fine.
There was some talk a while ago about cold soapy water. The reason I use hot- and I mean HOT is that it heats up the barrel and the barrel heat dries out the bore. I then run an oil rag down the bore. Before shooting- always get that oil out of the bore as it will create a tar that is hard to clean up afterwards- depending on the oil you use.

It has been my experience and that of many others that hot water causes flash rusting while cold doesn't. IF you dont get any rusting I guess its allright but why take the chance as cold water works so well.FRJ

flash rusting..... :stir: not again

New Guy, there is nothing wrong with using it so long as you observe some basic precautions and oil after as FJR said. Go here for a discussion on its use including my take on doing it safely:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...268173/post/1132424/hl//fromsearch/1/#1132424

Dont use the TCE based cleaner to degrease an
item that you will be welding. TCE under hi-temp
will break down into Phosgene (mustard) gas.

Wrongpaw

I have used brake cleaner to clean my guns, both black powder and modern, for several years. You are right, it is a great grease and oil cutter and removes crud from your guns very well. But since it is a grreat grease and oil cutter, it will remove all oil and grease from your gun parts and they will need to have a protective coating put back on them. The one warning is that it can damage the finish on your stock so before using it, remove the gun parts from the stock. With these caveats, it is a great gun cleaner.

FRJ- you are right about the concern of flash rusting. You do need to oil right away. On the cold water- I've heard about oils that displace water. My big concern with the cold water is any remaining water in the drum, nipple, etc that could cause rust. Have you had any trouble with that?

Thanks for all the info and input. Guess I'll continue to use it when I think I need it. Once I get this old barrel as clean as it'll get I.m sure good ole water and a few patches will all that will be needed in the future.

You might try a hair dryer to get that gun really dry; I use one and it WORKS great.