Seven High
New member
I read the directions on a can of mineral spirits recently. One of the stated use was for firearms. Has anyone used this for cleaning a firearm? If so, how did it work? Anyone use this on a polymer frame semiauto? Any damage?
Mineral Spirits as a cleaner
- Thread starter Seven High
- Start date
orionengnr
New member
I started using "Ed's Red" recently.
--One part mineral spirits
--One part diesel fuel
--One part acetone
--One part automatic trans fluid
No issues on any finish (so far), and I don't anticipate any.
However, I wouldn't drop a polymer frame in a bucket full and leave it overnight, as I don't know what the short or long term effects might be..
--One part mineral spirits
--One part diesel fuel
--One part acetone
--One part automatic trans fluid
No issues on any finish (so far), and I don't anticipate any.
However, I wouldn't drop a polymer frame in a bucket full and leave it overnight, as I don't know what the short or long term effects might be..
Have never seen it labled as such. Good to know !!
Be Safe !!!
I use it as my primary cleaning solvent, all the time. I've had no errosion or corrosion issues. If you look at the lable, it's mostly water. I reuse it until it starts getting dirty. I routinely soak all metal parts and really have no need to soak plastic parts in it. I also wipe down dirty stocks with it and again, it does not attack the finish. As I said, I use it all the time and if ever did any damage, I certainly would state such. ......
Be Safe !!!
While mineral spirits almost certainly works just fine there are less hazardous alternatives. I have been using a material from Mil-Comm called MC25 Degreaser which seems to work well and has no hazardous ingredients and is non-flammable. I will admit that I still have a bottle of the good old Hoppes for tuff jobs, but the MC25 handles most of what I need just fine with basically no fumes or fire hazard.
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
I've been using mineral spirits for decades. Whenever I buy an old gun, I tear it down to the frame, drop everything into a plastic container, cover it with mineral spirits, seal the container, and forget about it a day or two. It loosens, but doesn't often dissolve crud in bores and tight corners. I buy a new can of the stuff every decade or so whether the old is murky or not.
I don't know whether mineral spirits would be safe to use on a nickel-plated gun, (Hoppe's No. 9 isn't, for example, because it contains ammonia,) but it's never harmed blued finishes.
I don't know whether mineral spirits would be safe to use on a nickel-plated gun, (Hoppe's No. 9 isn't, for example, because it contains ammonia,) but it's never harmed blued finishes.
Dfariswheel
New member
Mineral spirits or paint thinner is a useful mild degreaser.
It has limited a effect on carbon fouling and none on copper fouling.
It has no effect on corrosive primer residue.
It's primary use is to remove old packing grease and dried lubricant from surplus guns.
It won't harm bluing or nickel, and doesn't seem to attack the types of plastics commonly used on firearms, although to be safe, don't allow plastics to soak.
There are much better cleaning solvents for normal gun cleaning. Again, mineral spirits are best as a degreaser.
It has limited a effect on carbon fouling and none on copper fouling.
It has no effect on corrosive primer residue.
It's primary use is to remove old packing grease and dried lubricant from surplus guns.
It won't harm bluing or nickel, and doesn't seem to attack the types of plastics commonly used on firearms, although to be safe, don't allow plastics to soak.
There are much better cleaning solvents for normal gun cleaning. Again, mineral spirits are best as a degreaser.
Ballistol; minerial spirits as a cleaning product....
I've never used pure minerial spirits as a cleaner of firearms/parts before & I would not plan to in the near future.
I did, however read the label of the top notch product; Ballistol, www.Ballistol.com which does include a small amount of minerial spirits.
I've used Ballistol on many parts & different items since about 1997.
ClydeFrog
I've never used pure minerial spirits as a cleaner of firearms/parts before & I would not plan to in the near future.
I did, however read the label of the top notch product; Ballistol, www.Ballistol.com which does include a small amount of minerial spirits.
I've used Ballistol on many parts & different items since about 1997.
ClydeFrog
What Standing Wolf said is how I've used mineral spirits for the past quarter century. It's been my experience that many of the new wonder lubes and cleaners are no better than materials that have been around for a long time. I never use anything but mineral spirits, Hoppes No. 9, Sweet's 7.62 solvent, surplus LSA weapons oil, and a good grade or moly grease. None of these are priced like the main ingredient is liquid gold, as is the case with some of the new wonder products. To back me up, I've got a conglomeration of of over a hundred firearms ranging from 1870-2011 that are all functional, clean, and corrosion free.
I don't see any problem with metal parts.A good general plan is keep solvents off plastic.
Petro supply houses sell automotive parts solvent,I suppose it is Stoddard solvent,by the gallon.It cleans good.
I have a compressor and an auto touch up spray paint gun.I have been known to fill the paint gun with laquer thinner to degrease/air blast at the same time.
One thing to consider: Bluing,parkerizing,etc are not rust protection themselves.They provide some texture for an oil film to cling to.Actually,a blue or park job might be given a sealer when it is done.Just because I had some on hand,I melted a little beeswax in turpentine to seal some rustblue work I did.It worked good.
When you soak a part in a volatile solvent,you strip this away.The part may have a lttle oily sheen,but its probably volatile.Soon you will have dry,unprotected steel,prone to rust.
A wipedown won't necessarily get all the crannies.
Something to think about.
Petro supply houses sell automotive parts solvent,I suppose it is Stoddard solvent,by the gallon.It cleans good.
I have a compressor and an auto touch up spray paint gun.I have been known to fill the paint gun with laquer thinner to degrease/air blast at the same time.
One thing to consider: Bluing,parkerizing,etc are not rust protection themselves.They provide some texture for an oil film to cling to.Actually,a blue or park job might be given a sealer when it is done.Just because I had some on hand,I melted a little beeswax in turpentine to seal some rustblue work I did.It worked good.
When you soak a part in a volatile solvent,you strip this away.The part may have a lttle oily sheen,but its probably volatile.Soon you will have dry,unprotected steel,prone to rust.
A wipedown won't necessarily get all the crannies.
Something to think about.
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Thirty five years ago I was taught to take a semi-auto pistol, such as a 1911, and , after removing the grips, place it in a container and cover with mineral spirits. Gets all of the dried lube out of the innards and after drying lube it and you're good to go. Never hurt any guns I've done it with. Never on a plastic frame though. I don't know that it would hurt it but I don't want to be the one to find out the hard way. 
I think there is some confusion creeping in here with regard to gun cleaners used for removing cosmo, old grease & so on & bore solvents, used to clean the bore after firing.
Just to clarify I use denatured, or mineral spirits for cleaning & degreasing rifles that are being restored & so on but not for bore cleaning after shooting.
Just to clarify I use denatured, or mineral spirits for cleaning & degreasing rifles that are being restored & so on but not for bore cleaning after shooting.
Despite its common use, Paint thinner is mostly 'Stoddard Solvent' and is a witches brew of similar boiling point petroleum products.
It is pretty far from a 'pure' mixture.
It will work adequately as a degreser (though it will leave some residue behind) and is safer than using gasoline.
Thinks like 'Varsol' used to be easily available and had a cleaner composition based on a narrower boiling point range.
It is pretty far from a 'pure' mixture.
It will work adequately as a degreser (though it will leave some residue behind) and is safer than using gasoline.
Thinks like 'Varsol' used to be easily available and had a cleaner composition based on a narrower boiling point range.
montelores
New member
Balliistol
Here's a great website about Ballistol:
http://www.firehawktech.com/Ballistol/index.html
From the MSDS sheet:
"Carcinogenicity:
No NTP publication. No IARC monograph. Ballistol-Lube is based on medicinal grade mineral oil (CAS# 8042-47-5), whi~h h~s
been classified "Class 3" by the IARC, This means that there is insufficient evidence for this substance to cause cancer In ani-
mals or humans. BALLISTOL-Lube does not contain any substance currently known to be a carcinogen.
"Acute and Chronic Health Hazards:
No LD-50 oral could be determined for Ballistol-Lube with rats and rabbits. Manufacturer classifies product as non-toxic.
BALLISTOL-Lube does not contain Benzene or Kerosene."
"• BALLISTOL: ITS BIRTH
In 1874, Friedrich Wilhelm Klever, an attorney with interest in economy, founded the Klever Company” in Cologne, Germany. He began producing oils and greases from coal and eventually bought a coal mine so he would not run out of raw materials. At the turn of the century the imperial German Army (the Wehrmacht) began to look for an all-around oil. The idea was to maintain the metallic parts of the soldier’s rifle but also to protect the wooden stocks and his leather gear. The soldier was to use the same oil for the treatment of minor wounds, sores and scratches. Friedrich’s son, Dr. Helmut Klever, had become a professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. He set out to develop what the Army wanted. In 1904 he succeeded to produce a special oil which he named BALLISTOL, from the word ballistic and the Latin word for oil, ‘oleum’. Thus the descriptive meaning of the word BALLISTOL is: ballistic oil. It soon became obvious that the new wonder Oil had truly amazing capabilities. The Army tested it and adopted it in 1905 and it stayed in use until 1945. But the word had spread and within a decade hunters, boaters, motorists, hikers, mountaineers and outdoorsmen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland convened to the new miracle oil."
I am a recent convert to Ballistol. It works rather well as a simple solvent and lube.
If you read the site about its uses, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
I'm beginning to like the odour, too.
Monty
Here's a great website about Ballistol:
http://www.firehawktech.com/Ballistol/index.html
From the MSDS sheet:
"Carcinogenicity:
No NTP publication. No IARC monograph. Ballistol-Lube is based on medicinal grade mineral oil (CAS# 8042-47-5), whi~h h~s
been classified "Class 3" by the IARC, This means that there is insufficient evidence for this substance to cause cancer In ani-
mals or humans. BALLISTOL-Lube does not contain any substance currently known to be a carcinogen.
"Acute and Chronic Health Hazards:
No LD-50 oral could be determined for Ballistol-Lube with rats and rabbits. Manufacturer classifies product as non-toxic.
BALLISTOL-Lube does not contain Benzene or Kerosene."
"• BALLISTOL: ITS BIRTH
In 1874, Friedrich Wilhelm Klever, an attorney with interest in economy, founded the Klever Company” in Cologne, Germany. He began producing oils and greases from coal and eventually bought a coal mine so he would not run out of raw materials. At the turn of the century the imperial German Army (the Wehrmacht) began to look for an all-around oil. The idea was to maintain the metallic parts of the soldier’s rifle but also to protect the wooden stocks and his leather gear. The soldier was to use the same oil for the treatment of minor wounds, sores and scratches. Friedrich’s son, Dr. Helmut Klever, had become a professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. He set out to develop what the Army wanted. In 1904 he succeeded to produce a special oil which he named BALLISTOL, from the word ballistic and the Latin word for oil, ‘oleum’. Thus the descriptive meaning of the word BALLISTOL is: ballistic oil. It soon became obvious that the new wonder Oil had truly amazing capabilities. The Army tested it and adopted it in 1905 and it stayed in use until 1945. But the word had spread and within a decade hunters, boaters, motorists, hikers, mountaineers and outdoorsmen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland convened to the new miracle oil."
I am a recent convert to Ballistol. It works rather well as a simple solvent and lube.
If you read the site about its uses, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
I'm beginning to like the odour, too.
Monty
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