Cylinder cleaning???

Eutycus said:

Is there any chemical differance between windex and windshield washer fluid?

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Not sure. I just use the washer fluid because it is cheap and always available in my shop. It dries well and doesn’t leave a residue. I follow up with a coating of Ballistol and before I shoot the next time, I run a dry patch in the chambers.

I use Remington gun oil, a well stocked cleaning kit, Ivory soap chips, and "everclear". Generally, I drop the "dirty" cylinder(s) into a pan of near-boiling soapy water and cook it in there for about 10 minutes, allowing stuck nipples to loosen a bit. Then I remove the stubborn nipples with a NEW nipple wrench... very carefully.. Clean the cylinder and nipples.. dry off. and wipe & swab in everclear to get rid of moisture. Oil all parts lightly and reassemble. That's how they did it and that's the way I do it to this day.

Thanks for reading,
Cliff

Eutycus said:

Thanks Zonie, your last reply got me thinking. In another forum there was a discussion of a cleaner that was a mixture of alcohal and windex. The guy who suggested the mix said to be sure and use the windex that contains vinegar. It sounds like it was the vinegar and not the windex that did the work. The acid in the mix possibly?

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As I said, acid will remove bluing.
Woodnbow is right.
If you visit the Gun Builder's Bench here on the forum you will find that many people who wanted a dull gray etched look on their barrels and other steel parts use vinegar to do it. Yellow Mustard is also something often used to get the same etched look. Why? Because it contains a lot of vinegar in it.

Eutycus said:

Is there any chemical differance between windex and windshield washer fluid?

Click to expand...

I, for one, don't know. But I can say that blue windshield washer fluid works very well. I've never tried Windex, maybe someone else has, and will tell us all about it.

It looks like I got some homework to do. I spotted that one ingredient "ammonium hyroxide". I'm no chemist but that stuff cant be too good on a guns finish.

I use water for cleaning followed by whatever gun oil I have available. Ran out of Rem oil about 2 years ago and was using WD40. Finally found a can of Ballistol on the shelf while visiting family in Michigan in October. Am using that now.

I snap caps before loading.