Windex Cleans "right now"

[Nav]

Ammonia is an alkali solvent. Vinegar is an acidic solvent. I’m not sure any solvents are good for wood. The alkali in amonia would dissolve the lignin in wood, but if it encounters oil before it his that it won’t. Flooring Mfg.s say to never use straight ammonia on wood floors, but Adding some ammonia to wood floor cleaner is ok.

I think the guys who use it would know and say something if it were screwing up their stocks. It seems to me the cautions about using amonia on steel are exclusively because it’s anhydrous (a water solution) rather than it reacts on its own. Add alcohol to dry the water quickly, and cutting oil to leave a film once it’s dry and there should be no problem…

 

[ernbar]

I also have used generic windex with ammonia for milsurps with corrosive ammo. Make sure it has ammonia. Some doesn’t. I’ve only ever used water for BP. Last feb I took 2 rifles and 3 pistols on a Boy Scout outing. That night I heated water on the fire and had them all cleaned in little time. It’s really not that hard.

I shoot corrosive milsurp 30.06, 8 mm, .303 and 7.62x54 and for years use only tap water and a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid and a few drops of ammonia in a small bottle. After a range session while the metal is still I warm/hot I run several patches till they come out clean then lube. The bolts get wiped and lubed. Been doing this since the late 70’s and my bores are corrosion free.
For BP plain water and Ballistol works great.

 

[Varga]

Then there's always Ballistol and water, Mink oil, Bear oil, GoJo hand cleaner, Dawn and water, Tallow and beeswax, Bore Butter, Spit, Hoppes #9, Bear oil, Olive oil and beeswax, Castor oil, Crisco, Lard, Murphy's oil soap or Natural Lube 1000.

 

[Banjoman]

Does it make a good patch lube?

Also, can I use 4f in the main charge?

Just asking,,,,

 

[ETipp]

Then there's always Ballistol and water, Mink oil, Bear oil, GoJo hand cleaner, Dawn and water, Tallow and beeswax, Bore Butter, Spit, Hoppes #9, Bear oil, Olive oil and beeswax, Castor oil, Crisco, Lard, Murphy's oil soap or Natural Lube 1000.

I mean no disrespect here whatsoever. But I guess I'm not following you on this one.

Considering this thread is about Windex, why would I want to use any of what you posted just to run a damp patch down the barrel at the range between shots?

A damp patch that has Windex on it is very thin, no oil, nothing gooie or sticky, and wipes fouling out of the barrel fast. Just follow up with one dry patch and your ready to load again. No need in having to snap a cap before loading.

When arriving home, do good cleaning with soap and water, dry, oil and put it sleep.

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

You can get CHEEP Windshield Washer Fluid ($1.00 a gallon) at Wally World. (CHEEP) Bring it home and add a shot of Ammonia. I prefer Sudsy Ammonia. That stuff will clean most anything and it keeps your sinuses cleaned out too.
I use it in the W W bottles on the cars. Cuts the road crud very well.

 

[Patched]

I’m with the windshield washer fluid crowd…but I use 2 parts to 1 part alcohol…seems to evaporate quicker than straight WWF or straight Windex…a thinned GoJo original hand cleaner is my patch lube…others are using Dawn dish soap.
Oils and greases make for a constantly changing bore condition and a stubborn mess.

 

[Tenring]

I wrote a piece on using Windex pretty long ago about the benefits of applying it between shots when siting in and as a cleaning agent to keep your firearm in the game so as not to get gummed up wile at the range .I believe i have had a bottle of either Windex or windshield washer fluid with me for the last twenty five years but now one wanted to here about it or use it, the stuff is a real benefit to shooters.

 

[Varga]

I mean no disrespect here whatsoever. But I guess I'm not following you on this one.

Considering this thread is about Windex, why would I want to use any of what you posted just to run a damp patch down the barrel at the range between shots?

A damp patch that has Windex on it is very thin, no oil, nothing gooie or sticky, and wipes fouling out of the barrel fast. Just follow up with one dry patch and your ready to load again. No need in having to snap a cap before loading.

When arriving home, do good cleaning with soap and water, dry, oil and put it sleep.

I mean no disrespect here whatsoever. But I guess I'm not following you on this one.

Considering this thread is about Windex, why would I want to use any of what you posted just to run a damp patch down the barrel at the range between shots?

A damp patch that has Windex on it is very thin, no oil, nothing gooie or sticky, and wipes fouling out of the barrel fast. Just follow up with one dry patch and your ready to load again. No need in having to snap a cap before loading.

When arriving home, do good cleaning with soap and water, dry, oil and put it sleep.

It was rhetorical, as in a metaphor. Sorry to get you all fired up.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

Does it make a good patch lube?

Also, can I use 4f in the main charge?

Just asking,,,,

Yes, and you could use 4f but decrease it by 20%!

 

[ETipp]

No problem, Varga. And you didn't get me fired up.

 

[Eutycus]

Windex is Blue ,I don't like Blue. Blue reminds me of them.

Different shade of blue. General Nathan Forrest's horse , King Philip, didn't like blue either. He tried to run down a couple policemen wearing blue cause he thought they were Yankees.

 

[Felonious]

I use Windex to clean BP guns at home. It works great for me. I think what really makes it shine is the drying agent that pulls moisture out of all the nooks and crannies and doesn't allow for flash rust. Isopropyl alcohol works pretty well too after hot water with soap.

 

[earlwb]

I have been pretty happy with just using some Dawn dishwashing detergent in some water to clean my black powder guns. It works well for me. I like heating up the water real good too. It dries faster so I can oil it up before any rust sets in. Yes I use oil too.

 

[Nav]

I’m with the windshield washer fluid crowd…but I use 2 parts to 1 part alcohol…seems to evaporate quicker than straight WWF or straight Windex…a thinned GoJo original hand cleaner is my patch lube…others are using Dawn dish soap.
Oils and greases make for a constantly changing bore condition and a stubborn mess.

I would think the water-soluble cutting oils (in water) would not make a mess or gum anything up?

Honestly though, the idea of using water to clean guns is something I am still having to get over. For the last fifty years I've always thought of water as the enemy of all metal and to be avoided whenever possible, and even using ammonia in its anhydrous form is a new one to me. Lots to learn.

 

[NorthFork]

I've used Rainex windshield washer fluid at the range for soaking and cleaning my cartriges when shooting BPCR. I do the final cleaning after I get home.

Contains acetone which just loves stock finishes (sarcasm).

 

[Nav]

Acetone cuts carbon like nothing else though...
I'd say it's the most active ingredient in my Ed's Red recipe.

 

[NorthFork]

Then there's always Ballistol and water, Mink oil, Bear oil, GoJo hand cleaner, Dawn and water, Tallow and beeswax, Bore Butter, Spit, Hoppes #9, Bear oil, Olive oil and beeswax, Castor oil, Crisco, Lard, Murphy's oil soap or Natural Lube 1000.

How about just water, cold, with a touch of soap if you use an oil or tallow as a lubricant. Plunge a patch up and down till clean. Then hot water, plunge a patch up and down for a few minutes. Then use a water dispersing oil such as wd-40 to displace moisture. Let drain a few. Then oil or grease. No rust, no fuss and minimal expense. After 30 years this is a winning solution taught by men who died off in the 1970's, and 1980's.

 

[Tenring]

Yes, and you could use 4f but decrease it by 20%!

It’s a cleaner not a patch lube.

 

[IanH]

How about just water, cold, with a touch of soap if you use an oil or tallow as a lubricant. Plunge a patch up and down till clean. Then hot water, plunge a patch up and down for a few minutes. Then use a water dispersing oil such as wd-40 to displace moisture. Let drain a few. Then oil or grease. No rust, no fuss and minimal expense. After 30 years this is a winning solution taught by men who died off in the 1970's, and 1980's.

Exactly the routine I settled on after much trial and error, except I never use hot water and instead, for that same step, use 7:1 Ballistol moose milk to get the soap out because hot water flash-rusts some of my barrels. Then dry patches, WD, etc. When I use Dawn, it is ONE drop in half a liter water bottle, even that is probably too much. When I use water based patch lube, I skip the soap as I assume you do.