Drying parts after cleaning with water?

[Ed_Flecko]

I have an old, Winchester Model 12 shotgun that I will be breaking down to clean. It has been, very likely, decades since it has been thoroughly cleaned.

I'm thinking of taking the small parts (but no screws, small springs, etc.) and first running them through my dishwasher. After that,, I'll clean all parts by hand using something like M-Pro 7 Gun Cleaner or maybe Hoppe's #9 to get everything as clean as possible.

My concern is trapping moisture in some nooks and crannies and promoting rust after the dishwasher bath. In one of the AGI gun videos, I heard an instructor saying to put the parts on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees just to be sure everything is completely dry before oil and reassembly.

Either before or after cleaning with a designated gun cleaning product, should I take something like Hoppe's Moisture Displacing Oil Aerosol and just douse the parts for a final bit of insurance against any lingering moisture?

Thoughts? What steps do you recommend?

Thank you,
Ed

 

[Hall]

Skip the dishwasher. Just soak the parts in a suitable solvent/cleaner for firearms, the lubricate it.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Skip the dishwasher. Just soak the parts in a suitable solvent/cleaner for firearms, the lubricate it.

Thank you for the reply.

I like the idea of submersing the parts into *something* to soak the parts and get into all crevices to dissolve old dirt and grease.

Can you recommend a product?

Ed

 

[K-Man]

If you run a piece of equipment or machinery through a dishwasher, you'll definitely trap water where you don't want it and can't get to it. That includes guns. Don't do it.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Is it safe to soak the parts in something like Berryman Chem-Dip Carburetor before cleaning?

Ed

 

[Hall]

Can you recommend a product?

Is it safe to soak the parts in something like Berryman Chem-Dip Carburetor before cleaning?

Any gun-cleaning solvent. You don't need to submerge the parts either. Put on some rubber gloves, put the loose parts in a plastic container, and get the solvent on all the surfaces of the part and let it sit. Continue re-using the extra solvent, along with new solvent, for each add'l part. Then let all of the bits sit in the 'used' solvent for 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[nomas]

Wear eye protection , and use compressed air to blow any liquid out of the parts .

 

[Rand]

I'd be afraid the dishwasher would flash rust parts.

also who wants that gunk in the dishwasher?

 

[Astro14]

That much water exposure is sure to cause rust on some of the parts. I would stick with solvent.

 

[spasm3]

Water, residual abrasive detergent, too much risk. Use what's made for guns.

Also i would not want to contaminate my dishwasher, potentially with lead.

 

[wsar10]

Is it safe to soak the parts in something like Berryman Chem-Dip Carburetor before cleaning?

Ed

Long time Pew Pew guy here (all kinds from Cowboy action all the way up to those angry black rifles people love to hate).

I learned long ago to not use a harsh parts cleaner unless I am fully stripping, polishing then re-blueing.
I had a classic rifle years back that I got into trouble with using a parts cleaner, it pitted some of the parts and they would not blue afterwards. Ever since then I used Hoppes until I found M-PRO 7. I use it exclusively and on occasion an ultra sonic cleaner. When I reup on MPro its by the gallon...

I have left parts soak in M-PRO for months at a time on certain builds or refurb jobs, with weakly shakes. I have also used FROG-LUBE a few times, but never on tough jobs so I cannot vouch for its effectiveness but the
FROG-LUBE has a heating factor to it which forces metal poor penetration.

I would stay away from H2O all together unless something is Polymer... IF YOU INSIST, I would bake the metal parts in an oven at a lower temp for several hours to MAKE SURE no moisture exists. But it just seems Taboo and very risky, for little reward. I know AMSOIL makes a few products, not sure if they have a solvent or not. I tend to think a CLP would not cut it for what you are doing. I can remember my Dada washing Muzzleloader parts in the Dishwasher, but I don't remember the technic or what was used.

 

[Bob in Utah]

Skip the dishwasher. Just soak the parts in a suitable solvent/cleaner for firearms, the lubricate it.

What he said….

Good aerosol cleaner…good assortment of brushes

Blow it out lightly with air compressor

Let thoroughly dry and then a good lubricant

 

[Shrike9]

Thank you for the reply.

I like the idea of submersing the parts into *something* to soak the parts and get into all crevices to dissolve old dirt and grease.

Can you recommend a product?

Ed

Take a jug of simple green & use it to clean/soak but soaking will speed up the rusting process if you have bare metal or where finish is really thin

Rinse off with stupid hot water, as hot as you can get it & them use air compressor to blow off any remaining water

Lube very good, almost dripping & then in a day wipe & reoil

Use a high quality oil

Slip 2000 products are my go to

 

[Shrike9]

Sidebar: We would dilute simple green with warm water, strip a filthy M60 & throw it all in the simple green water bath and take ac15-20 min break

Then using toothbrushes scrub the 60 and it was a miracle worker, took another 30ish minutes to finish, dry, oil and reassemble the 60

Always passed the armor’s inspection

We did it with M16’s also

 

[Shrike9]

Long time Pew Pew guy here (all kinds from Cowboy action all the way up to those angry black rifles people love to hate).

I learned long ago to not use a harsh parts cleaner unless I am fully stripping, polishing then re-blueing.
I had a classic rifle years back that I got into trouble with using a parts cleaner, it pitted some of the parts and they would not blue afterwards. Ever since then I used Hoppes until I found M-PRO 7. I use it exclusively and on occasion an ultra sonic cleaner. When I reup on MPro its by the gallon...

I have left parts soak in M-PRO for months at a time on certain builds or refurb jobs, with weakly shakes. I have also used FROG-LUBE a few times, but never on tough jobs so I cannot vouch for its effectiveness but the
FROG-LUBE has a heating factor to it which forces metal poor penetration.

I would stay away from H2O all together unless something is Polymer... IF YOU INSIST, I would bake the metal parts in an oven at a lower temp for several hours to MAKE SURE no moisture exists. But it just seems Taboo and very risky, for little reward. I know AMSOIL makes a few products, not sure if they have a solvent or not. I tend to think a CLP would not cut it for what you are doing. I can remember my Dada washing Muzzleloader parts in the Dishwasher, but I don't remember the technic or what was used.

Frog lube is garbage & not with the price

Sonic cleaners with appropriate solutions are always an option but can be rather expensive

 

[97prizm]

I have an old, Winchester Model 12 shotgun that I will be breaking down to clean. It has been, very likely, decades since it has been thoroughly cleaned.

I'm thinking of taking the small parts (but no screws, small springs, etc.) and first running them through my dishwasher. After that,, I'll clean all parts by hand using something like M-Pro 7 Gun Cleaner or maybe Hoppe's #9 to get everything as clean as possible.

My concern is trapping moisture in some nooks and crannies and promoting rust after the dishwasher bath. In one of the AGI gun videos, I heard an instructor saying to put the parts on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees just to be sure everything is completely dry before oil and reassembly.

Either before or after cleaning with a designated gun cleaning product, should I take something like Hoppe's Moisture Displacing Oil Aerosol and just douse the parts for a final bit of insurance against any lingering moisture?

Thoughts? What steps do you recommend?

Thank you,
Ed

The dishwasher isn't a good idea. You don't want gun cleaning residue or any residue in your dishwasher. I'd go the parts tub route.

 

[billt460]

I don't know how much you're wanting to spend, but good size ultrasonic cleaners have come way down in price over the last few years. Amazon lists many of them. A lot of them also have heat.

They also sell non rusting parts cleaner to use in them. Ultrasonic cleaners will remove dirt where you didn't even know it existed.

 

[Boomer]

My 2 cents...after everything is cleaned, dried, apply G96 to everything. I swear by this stuff. I have had long guns in storage for years and
when I took them out they were rust an corrosion free.

 

[demarpaint]

A gun solvent, brake clean, or mineral spirits work well for soaking gun parts to clean. Then take them outside and blow them out with compressed air and apply a gun lube to protect them from rust. I'd pass on a dishwasher.

 

[wsar10]

Frog lube is garbage & not with the price

Sonic cleaners with appropriate solutions are always an option but can be rather expensive

That's really not the case in many applications, Frog Lube being garbage.
My guess is that you (like many) did not use it correctly.

Many years back when FL first came out I was working in the industry and they became a sponsor of our TV series along with Ruger. Therefore I had free range of their products. Myself being into a variety of types of weapons performed various tests using a modified Ruger 10/22, a GLOCK 17 Gen4, a Romanian SAR. My go to for cleaning and oil as mentioned was M-PRO, my go to for the ugly guns is Tetra grease. I removed all previous lubes and properly applied FL and baked it into the barrels, twice as recommended. I cannot recall the real number but FL allowed the barrel of both the 10/22 and the G-19 to run more than 10 degree cooler. The Tetra grease still beat it out on the AK though...
Kalashnikovs get REAL hot and rowdy...