Switching lubricants

C

CZ9Joe

New member
I've heard good things about Ballistol and I'm considering switching over to using it in my firearms from now on. I've been using Hoppes for years. What should I use to get rid of all traces of Hoppes when I make the switch? I've heard the two of them shouldn't be mixed. Do I use rubbing alcohol?
 
Why not just try it and see if it works...? You're not going to hurt metal wiping it with alcohol.

Alcohol will certainly cut through most oils and leave bare metal if that's what you're trying to achieve. I'd be careful to keep the alcohol off of finished wood grips, stocks, etc. as it could affect the wood finish.
 
If you really want to remove any current oil spray it with Gun Scrubber or non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Then be sure to re-oil.
 
re: Alcohol...
Isophropyl Alcohol comes in 70%-91%-99%... the difference being the dilution, or water content.
You can get 70 or 91 at most drug stores... 99% is usually a mail-order item (Amazon or E-Bay at $7+ per 16oz).
I use 99% for cleaning... very effective... But as buckhorn mentioned, use it on metal but be careful with
wood/plastic/rubber grips! Also, make sure you re-lube generously, the 99% pretty much cleans it all off!
 
well there is just isopropyl alcohol then there are isopropyl rubbing alcohol and ethyl rubbing alcohol..so you still did not answer the question. which one to use to degrease the gun?
 
Not a chemist so I can't get too specific but...
The higher % Isopropyl alcohols are basically used as a solvent (like acetone)... higher % = less dilution and will evaporate very quickly!...
Ethyl grain-alcohol is the 'drinking stuff'...
'Rubbing' Alcohol is more of a generic term?...
Again, not a chemist, best I can do!...
But for cleaning pistolas, 91% or 99% Isopropyl is an excellent solvent and will work.
 
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well there is just isopropyl alcohol then there are isopropyl rubbing alcohol and ethyl rubbing alcohol..so you still did not answer the question. which one to use to degrease the gun?
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Alcohol of any type will clean oil from a gun.

The difference in types of alcohol is that methyl alcohol can be poisonous through either ingestion or absorption; while neither isopropyl alcohol nor ethyl alcohol are poisonous through absorption.

Some rubbing alcohols have a lubricant in them which is generally silicone.

The lower the concentration - the more water in the alcohol.

91% isopropyl will work just fine.

Ethyl (drinking) alcohol will also work - in fact, you can go to the liquor store and buy Everclear and it will work to clean a gun. When you're done cleaning the gun, you can mix some of the Everclear with fruit juice for an adult beverage...

Or, as suggested - get some Gun Scrubber or other gun cleaner and use that.
 
Isopropyl is safe for pretty much all plastic and rubber parts. It leaches oils and stains from wood... Or can do so.

Rubbing alcohol us diluted Isopropyl alcohol.

Ethyl alcohol is the drinking kind. It would work too in pure industrial form.

But you usually will not find pure Ethyl, as it's driving label and dangerous at that level.

Denatured alcohol is Ethyl alcohol that has been made undrinkable by adding another solvent like acetone or Isopropyl alcohol.

Alcohols tend to be the least dangerous solvents to use.
 
I've never seen rubbing ethyl alcohol (ethanol, CH3-CH2OH), but it would have to be denatured by adding toxins (probably acetone or other ketones) to make it nonpotable. I use 90% rubbing isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol, CH3-CHOH-CH3), because it's readily available at the local pharmacy, it's cheap, it works well, and it evaporates quickly. It hasn't effected my plastic grips.

Per Wikipedia, isopropanol seems to be an excellent choice:

Isopropyl alcohol dissolves a wide range of non-polar compounds. It also evaporates quickly, leaves nearly zero oil traces, compared to ethanol, and is relatively non-toxic, compared to alternative solvents. Thus, it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving oils.
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In laboratories I've used acetone and ethanol for cleaning glassware. They work great, but don't get acetone (the key ingredient in nail polish remover) on plastic.
 
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But you usually will not find pure Ethyl...
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Sure you can - you just have to pay federal and local alcohol taxes. Everclear is 190 proof (95% alcohol) pure grain, ethyl alcohol. It's so pure - you can drink it...

Denatured ethyl alcohol is 200 proof (100% alcohol) and is denatured with methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) - which is also an organic solvent.

I use Everclear as part of a mixture of distilled water, Everclear, and 1-2 drops of photo wetting agent (Kodak PhotoFlo) as an optics cleaner for cleaning the font corrector plate on a telescope.
 
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Key take-away...drug store rubbing alcohol is 30% water.
I do not want to rub down anything made of steel with water.
I would use diesel fuel, charcoal lighter fluid or any petroleum based solvent before I would use rubbing alcohol.
Even WD-40, and it is not often I would use that for anything.
 
Acetone, kerosene, mineral spirits and lanolin. All good for gun cleaning all on the same aisle in the hardware store.

I think a though stripping is completely unnecessary.
 
hickok45 uses rubbing alcohol to clean new guns in you tube video....don't know which exact kind of rubbing alcohol,,,
like some poster said they won't use it because rubbing alcohol in all concentrations - 70, 90 even 99 percent has water in it which is bad for metal then....why is he using it?
 
Key take-away...drug store rubbing alcohol is 30% water.
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Rubbing alcohol has water in it so it doesn't evaporate quickly when used on the skin.

You can get isopropyl alcohol at the drugstore that is 91%. That means it's 9% water...

91% isopropyl alcohol evaporates so quickly that the small amount of water in it is hardly an issue on metal. The original question was about using it to clean the oil off of a gun to lubricate it with a different lubricant - meaning - the gun is going to get cleaned and then immediately lubricated.

I do not want to rub down anything made of steel with water.
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There's not enough water in 91% isopropyl alcohol to cause rust on steel - especially if it's immediately lubricated after cleaning.

Pretty sure this is getting way over thought
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Ain't that the truth...

Let's take something totally straightforward and make it as convoluted as possible while reading all sorts of speculative outcomes into it...
 
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I've heard the two of them shouldn't be mixed.
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I've never heard that and I've never had any problem mixing them. Did your source explain where that information originated or provide some rationale?
 
Sure you can - you just have to pay federal and local alcohol taxes. Everclear is 190 proof (95% alcohol) pure grain, ethyl alcohol. It's so pure - you can drink it...

Denatured ethyl alcohol is 200 proof (100% alcohol) and is denatured with methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) - which is also an organic solvent.
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Thats not "pure" ethanol... its part water.

I mean 100% ethanol... Its not readily available.


Denatured alcohol avoids liquor taxes because you can not drink it... its toxic... made so by the other solvents added to it. I have seen it denatured with acetone and isopropyl.


Key take-away...drug store rubbing alcohol is 30% water.
I do not want to rub down anything made of steel with water.
I would use diesel fuel, charcoal lighter fluid or any petroleum based solvent before I would use rubbing alcohol.
Even WD-40, and it is not often I would use that for anything.
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This demonstrates two important misunderstandings on your part about "rubbing alcohol"...

One, there are mixes readily available that are only 9% water...
Two, Isopropyl alcohol is fully miscible in water, and forms an azeotrope with water.


The last points are important...

Miscible means that they readily mix thoroughly, in all proportions, into a homogeneous solution.

Azeotropes are solutions in which the components can not be separated by distillation/evaporation. Meaning, as the alcohol evaporates, it takes the water with it. Different proportions of water and alcohol means different rates of evaporation... at the levels of rubbing alcohol, the mixture evaporates pretty quickly, with the higher concentrations of 91% being the fastest. There will be no water left over once the part drys... Also, the water is locked up with the alcohol, and can not really cause rusting. Besides that, the water used is completely pure. It is the impurities in most water that causes corrosion. (BTW, completely pure water is poisonous... well not poisonous in the traditional sense, but it leaches the vital organic compounds out of your cells, and kills you that way)


hickok45 uses rubbing alcohol to clean new guns in you tube video....don't know which exact kind of rubbing alcohol,,,
like some poster said they won't use it because rubbing alcohol in all concentrations - 70, 90 even 99 percent has water in it which is bad for metal then....why is he using it?
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I just answered this. :D



I have access to the 99% stuff, and use it for cleaning on rare occasions. Mostly I use it to speed up the drying of brass that I ultrasonic clean and then rinse with water.


This has gotten deep... but if the OP desires to strip the old lube, then he has easy options.
 
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