Carb cleaner on powder....ARGH!!!!!

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Redlg155

New member
Well...I went the cheap route today and instead of picking up another can of Gun Scrubber for $6.97 a can I thought, hmmm...Walmart brand carb cleaner is just .97 a can. Wow...I save 6 bucks. Thats a box of 9mm ammo!:p I had heard somewhere in a forum that Gun Scrubber is just glorified carb cleaner anyway...so why not! (Note*** Using gun scrubber is the only way to get all the unburned powder flakes out of an AR15 lower reciever just short of driving yourself nuts with a pipe cleaner and Q tips for the next hour. I was shooting 9mm, so hence all the unburned powder flakes)

Anyway I spray the stuff in and it has some sort of chemical reaction to the unburned powder! The powder flakes turn a white color and chrystallize. As the solvent evaporates the white chrystallized powder flakes begin to adhere to the parkerizing. Now I've got about 100 white flakes in every nook and cranny of my AR lower. I got lucky and found out that Hoppes#9 will disolve the stuff. Needless to say I had to completely strip my lower, to include punching the pin bolt hold open and uncrewing the mag release to get at all the white flakes.

Soo..lesson learned. I need to stick to the Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber and leave the carb cleaner alone.

Good Shooting
Red
 
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Redlg155

New member
Perhaps the formula that Walmart uses in their cleaner?

I know on most rifles there is little or no unburned flakes of powder in the action. In the case of a blowback 9mm AR the lower reciever has a good quantity of unburned powder. That could be the difference.

Good Shooting
RED
 
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Frohickey

New member
Hmm... I used Carb cleaner on my Sig to clean the slide.
All the stuff came out, but the blueing turned a bit whiter.
The color returned when I put lube on it.

Why is carb cleaner bad?
 
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taco

New member
I use Walmart carb cleaner to clean my ARs uppers, lowers, bolt, carrier, etc. all the time with no problem.

Using a old toothbrush I brush everything loose with a bore cleaner then spray the heck out of everything with carb cleaner. It does make powders into a little white spec but there is usually only few spots so I clean them off with a Q-tip and some RemOil. I follow up with RemOil and give a light coat on everything and let it dry for about an hour. then just lube as necessary with breakfree and assemble.

I don't clean like this after every use. I just do it after firing about 1,000 rounds in the rifle. I usually just use breakfree and old rag to clean it inside and out.
 
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Redlg155

New member
It does make powders into a little white spec
Click to expand...

Good..whew, I thought I had lost my mind for a second there. I kinda panicked when the entire lower turned into a hundred white speckles!

I'm just glad they came off with a little scrubbing and some breakfree.

I'll stick to the gun scrubber stuff. A little more expensive...well actually 6 times as much, but well worth the peace of mind when dealing with my beloved Bushy reciever. Now I would have really freaked had it been a pre ban!! :eek: :D

Good SHooting
RED
 
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Nanaimo Barr

New member
Redlg, Gun scrub is like BRAKE cleaner. not CARB cleaner. two differnt things.

try it with BRAKE cleaner and see what it does
 
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Bogie

New member
If you're gonna strip stuff down, just buy a gallon of Butch's Bore Shine, and keep it in a paint can (preferably a CLEAN paint can). Just strip all the metal off, dunk it, and wait a minute or three.
 
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DMK

New member
I get Prestone Brake Cleaner (bright yellow can) from Walmart. It's basically Gunscrubber for only $1.77 a can. I've compared them side by side. If anything it's not quite as strong as Gunscrubber.
 
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marsh

New member
brake cleaner

The Primus brand brake cleaner at Walmart works quite and for .77 a can, it's hard to beat. Be careful of the Prestone brake cleaner as some of it is half water which could conceivably cause rust problems.

marsh
 
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