Cleaning live Ammunition with Gasoline...

"Back in the day" automotive air filters were wire mesh & Brillo pad material. Every 5,000 miles you were RECOMMENDED to "wash in gasoline to remove particles trapped in the dirty oil" & then dry & re-oil to use again.:eek:

We decarbonized 2-stroke mufflers with gasoline, a length of chain & a potato!:confused:
Yup! You removed the muffler, pounded a potato onto one end to seal it temporarily, dumped in about a pint of gas & shook/let stand to dissolve the oil & soften the "coke" or carbon.
Then you chained it to a solid post with anchor chain, poured out the excess gas, removed the potato & lit the gasoline-soaked muffler!:D
What happened was the gas air mix was too rich to burn inside the muffler so you got a candle flame at the end, at least till the now hot muffler reached the magic 15:1 air/gas mix internally, then BOOM! the explosion vented from the open ends blasting the baked dry carbon out. Once it cooled down you re-attached for another 500 miles or so.
As long as the chain & post were solid you even kept all your fingers & toes. Ah yes! Those were the days, imagine even suggesting that now:rolleyes:
 
I have worked in the automotive business for only about 10 years now. There were guys who cleaned everything in gas or diesel fuel. It really does get grease and gunk off of anything, including your hands. Not saying this is a safe or smart thing to do but it was and I am sure is still done somewhere.

Recently a guy brought in one of the worst looking carburetors I have ever seen. A gallon of cleaner from anywhere locally was something like $20+. He came in a few days later with a carb that looked brand new. We teased him about not cleaning his old one and getting a new one. Well it turned out he got a gallon of gas and dunked it in for a cleaning. He filtered the gas into his mower can and was done. So I can see it cleaning up a weapon during war time especially when there probably was not many cleaning supplies on hand.
 
jnichols2 said:
NEVER clean ANYTHING with gasoline !!!!!!!
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If that's your opinion, you'll probably be wanting to avoid just about every garage and mechanic in rural America.

I've cleaned more stuff with gasoline that any other cleaning product. Probably more than all other cleaning products, combined.

It's not as if the stuff just blows up for no reason. It's not nitroglycerin. Don't smoke, don't make sparks. You'll be fine.

I drive around with 15 gallons of the stuff under my trunk and have several cans of it strewn around the house/garage too. Dump it into lawn mowers and weed-whackers, shake it to mix in oil, all kinds of stuff. Even use it to light stubborn bonfires.

It's not like playing with live hand grenades.
 
I've used gasoline (and still do) to clean greasy parts. I have a couple of dirt bikes and it works great on chains.

But, I'm very aware of it's dangers and use it outside and I'm careful not to get it on myself, as it will penetrate the skin quickly.

I use cleaning pans to soak the chains in. After I'm done, I leave the pan outside over night so that I don't have to worry about lingering fumes.

I've never found the need to clean ammo with it, as I wouldn't anyways. There's better ways to do it. Unless some of you are buying old surplus ammo, why the need to clean it?
 
If that's your opinion, you'll probably be wanting to avoid just about every garage and mechanic in rural America.

I've cleaned more stuff with gasoline that any other cleaning product. Probably more than all other cleaning products, combined.

It's not as if the stuff just blows up for no reason. It's not nitroglycerin. Don't smoke, don't make sparks. You'll be fine.

I drive around with 15 gallons of the stuff under my trunk and have several cans of it strewn around the house/garage too. Dump it into lawn mowers and weed-whackers, shake it to mix in oil, all kinds of stuff. Even use it to light stubborn bonfires.

It's not like playing with live hand grenades.
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Yes it is!!! gallon of gas has enough explosive power to propel a 4,000 pound car 20 miles. That's more than a whole box of hand grenades.

If the fumes spread, it can be set off by a spark three buildings away. A hand grenade is safe until you pull the pin and release the grip. :D :D :D
 
In his book "Good To Go" Navy SEAL Harry Constance said he soaked his Stoner light machine gun and linked 5.56 ammo in gasoline, then after drying, he sprayed every thing INCLUDING the ammo with WD-40, and he was ready to go out again.

He said that in 2 tours he never had a stoppage.
 
jnichols2 said:
Yes it is!!! gallon of gas has enough explosive power to propel a 4,000 pound car 20 miles. That's more than a whole box of hand grenades.



If the fumes spread, it can be set off by a spark three buildings away. A hand grenade is safe until you pull the pin and release the grip. :D :D :D
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Except it's not confined, so it's not explosive, and I don't know anyone who uses a gallon or typically even a quart to clean parts.

3 buildings away? Uh, no. Maybe a 5000 gallon pond of gasoline might produce fumes like that. No normal amount will.

Are we supposed to call the hazmat team every time we fill our lawn mowers?

Heck, back when I used to drag race, there'd be 100 guys in the pits all draining their street gas and refilling their cars with high-octane, leaded race gas. Must have been 1,000 gallons of gas in that area, all in various states of draining or sitting in a pan or being dumped into a container or being dumped in the gas tank. Nobody ever blew anything up or even caught anything on fire.
 
Back in the day, we used to start our charcoal grill with a splash of white gas and toss a match on it. Worked quite well. Cleans gun parts and car parts very well too.

No, gas is not a bomb waiting to explode three blocks away. It's certainly explosive, and can be dangerous, but it's safe enough if you are careful with it. How do you suppose those big 10,000 gallon tankers manage to transfer the gasoline from the truck to the underground tank at the service station? (Now THERE'S a misnomer today!)
 
Dfariswheel,

Thanks for the clarification. That's what I remember reading. I'll say this much, it seamed to work for him.
 
I remember reading, somewhere, back in the dark ages, that if you detonate a gallon of gasoline vapor, it has the explosive energy of 7 sticks of TNT.

Yes, I've cleaned things with gas. It has its risks. It also works.
You need to take a graded approach to risk. All risks.

(in other words, "lighten up, Francis!")

Clean your weapon with gas in a war zone? sure. Not a problem. after the gunk is gone, and the gas evaporated, wipe down and lube normally and you're good for the next patrol.

Clean your ammo in gas? You can, (I don't know why you would, but your can) but I wouldn't let it soak in gas very long.

The sealer around the primer is a lacquer. The sealer on the bullet is called "asphaultum gum" (or something like that IIRC). Gas will attack these things, but it takes some time. A minute or two soak (or a wipe down) should not have any effect.

Ammo in a combat situation often gets used up on a regular basis. Even if a gas bath does start to affect the sealants, odds are good that ammo will be shot, before it becomes an issue.

Again, graded approach. If I do something that helps my gun run this week, but is maybe bad if I let it sit for 6 months, which do you choose? Sometimes, something that is a bad idea in the long run, can get you through the short run. (and if you don't get through the short run, the long run is kind of inconsequential, now isn't it?)
 
I have used gas to take the gunk left over from warning stickers on motorcycle gas tanks. I knew gas would not hurt the finish as gas gets dumped on it often and it takes very little to get all the gunk off. I would not suggest using it as a cleaning agent but it is effective for many things.
 
i can see cleaning a gun with gasoline,but why ammo.i simple dry towel will clean ammo just fine.
if it cant clean really really dirty ammo it seems like that ammo would be coroded anyway
 
I'm surprised that folks of my generation have lived into their 50s and 60s with all the stuff we did that is now verboten.

Gasoline was the absolute best thing to get pine sap off our feet when we were out running around barefoot all day playing. Now a little gasoline is more dangerous than a hand grenade, barefoot would probably be prosecuted as child abuse, the lack of adult supervision would land us in foster care, and the fact that we played games that had actual winners and losers is psychologically devastating. Our games that involved make-believe shooting would get us thrown out of school on top of all else. Just amazing what we can survive when we are allowed to try.
 
i was scaling the steep cliffs of old 10,000 year old volcano's in western massachusetts unsupervised when i was ten years old.

of coarse these ancient dorment volcanoes ranged from 600 to only 1100 ft above sea level.but pretty adventures for a 10 year old.

one of the volcanoes had a korean war era military base hidden inside the mountain.when you took a trail behind our house you would come to a giant barbed wire fence with armed guards and dogs.

it was likely related to westover airforce base in chicopee.
in the late 80's the moutain was sold to Amherst college and is now used to store books and records and such
 
TailGator said:
Gasoline was the absolute best thing to get pine sap off our feet when we were out running around barefoot all day playing.
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Reminds me of the time when I was about 7 or 8 and rolled in poison ivy. First thing my dad did was make me strip in the drive(middle of bfe) and give me a bath in gasoline. I never needed calamine lotion, and honestly haven't gotten a poison ivy rash since(though I don't roll in it either...) when I've come into contact with some...
 
I was reading "the Sound and the Fury" back in the day and was a bit taken aback by one of the characters cleaning his stained shirt with gasoline. Maybe it was white gas.

I think that cleaning with gasoline was probably more wide spread for lots of things back in the day.

I used to clean layers of Texas road tar off of my bike parts using gasoline back in the 80s. 7-11s were my favorite one stop shops after a bike race: fill up the car, get a 64z drink, clean the bike.
 
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