Ultrasonic cleaners?

[Summersteel]

Just curious if anyone has ever used an ultrasonic cleaner on any of your gun cleaning?

[robertrwalsh]

I used them at our department's academy for training range guns. Worked well if you can afford the machinery to tank barreled rifle actions and buy BreakFree by the case. I suspect they work just fine in smaller operations but have no first-hand experience on which to base an opinion.

[cmj8591]

I've got a cheep Harbor Freight cleaner that I use sometimes. It does a great job getting into the nooks and crannies. Just be careful what you use for a cleaner. Some of them will eat aluminum. I got a gallon of Simple Green designed especially for aircraft and have not had a problem on anything I've used it on. You can find cleaners on Amazon and there's lots of info on the web about using it.

[stansdds]

Yes, be careful with aluminum!

[GBertolet]

I bought a SharperTek 6.1 L cleaner. It's a mid priced one. 3 transducers, with a 12 X 6" tank. I originally bought it for shop use, to clean small engine parts. I later bought the gun cleaning accessory kit for it. It does an excellent job on cleaning guns. They should be field stripped before cleaning. be sure to remove the grips if possible, especially if they a re wood.

Guns clean best, when the solution is hot. Most cleaners have a heater. Around 140 degrees temp is best. The kit I purchased, also supplies a plastic tub that you fill with oil, that sits down in the cleaning solution, that you place the cleaned gun parts in. You do this after you rinse, or blow off the cleaning soultion. The ultrasonic waves transfer from the cleaning solution, into and through the plastic container, to the oil and gun parts. It's pretty neat on how it works.

You must oil dip or spray the gun after cleaning, as the ultrasonic waves remove the oil from the pores of the metal, and rust will start almost immediately.

All the solutions for cleaning and oiling came with the kit, and are suitable for firearm finishes. Be very careful on using other cleaning solutions, as they can damage finishes and aluminum. One thing you can use is Dawn dishwashing detergent, mixed with hot water. It is cheap, environmently sound, and does work, but not as well as the patent solvents do.

I find it is a PITA to use this cleaner every time after I go to the range. After a session of cleaning, I have oil dripping out of the gun for quite some time from the oil bath. The supplied oil is very thin. It is more of a rust preventative oil than a lubrication one. I use the cleaner mostly at the end of the season, to get ready for next year.

The ultrasonic cleaners work great also, for cleaning cartridge cases, using appropriate solutions.

[GBertolet]

Here is a nice article, with some good info. Ultrasonic Cleaners