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Best cleaning solvent, Ed's Red?

S

Sclays

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Stumbled into a gun cleaning video. Two guys both agreed that Ed's Red is the best. They offered up the formula for this home brew cleaner: equal parts:
Automatic transmission fluid
Mineral Spirits
Acetone
Kerosene (refined)

Mixed the stuff up and tried it out.
Works great.

These guys claim that the recipe is 30 or 40 years old and widely known. I'd never heard of it.
 
I heard of Ed's Red many years ago...on the internet, of course. ;)

Never bothered to mix up a batch. I buy my gun cleaner ready to use. :)
 
You can mix small portions. I made it a few times only to clean some mil surplus rifles and shotgun bores.

It works but I find it smells and is very "messy" to use.

Dislike the smell of tran fluid anyway.
 
I doubt that any commercial producer has ever done as much research and development work on firearms cleaning products than the US military. If you want really good stuff at very reasonable prices watch on-line sources and gun shows for GI surplus "Rifle Bore Cleaner MIL-C-372B & AM 2 6850-00-224-6657", manufactured for Uncle Sam by Phipps Product Corporation, circa 1960's to 1970's. Usually seen in 1/2 pint or 1 pint OD green metal cans. Typically a buck or two per can.

Nothing better for heavy fouling and removing copper residue in the bore, bolt, gas cylinders & pistons, whatever. This is what we used in the Army for pistols, rifles, machineguns, all of the small arms.
 
When I shot Bullseye in the 1980s the local shooters touted two cleaners: Ed's Red (referred to by some as "red juice") and Marvel Mystery Oil. Both seemed to work well on cleaning and lubricating my Model 41, 52 and Government Model. (Since I only shot cast bullets I hadn't tried it on copper deposits in a barrel). I later read that Ed's Red was a variation of an old government arsenal cleaner that substituted transmission fluid for whale oil and was supposed to work well in rifles on copper jacket fouling. I believe Brownells sells the stuff by the jar if you don't want to mix your own.
 
FYI, power steering fluid is almost identical to automatic transmission fluid, but has no red dye.

Acetone is nasty stuff. It will remove firearm finishes, and no doubt causes cancer if you live in California.
 
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I've used a variety of cleaning stuff. Some works a bit better than others but they seem to pretty much work as advertised minus 20%.

The only thing that REALLY delivers is what I use to clean my suppressors of lead. "The dip" hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. Drop the baffle in a mason jar of it and it starts smoking! It's awesome. The downside is that the product is lead acetate. Bad stuff. Wear gloves and leave it outside to do it's thing and ain't nothing works better for lead removal. Nothing.
 
I don't know how dirty some fellas let their guns get before cleaning them, but I clean them after each shooting session and they are never so dirty that I have a problem cleaning them with almost any cleaner. For the last 40 years I've been using Rig #2 Oil which is a cleaner, lubricant and rust inhibitor and has proven itself to me time and time again over the 40 years. For newly acquired guns that are really filthy I use good ol' Hoppes #9 (cleans better than the Rig#2) and then convert back the the Rig#2 when the gun has been properly cleaned. When I am at the Hunting Lodge and some of the fellas are using Remoil I'll just use that as it works very well too. In fact, MOST of the popular gun cleaners, lubes and rust preventatives work very well for 99%% of all our needs.

I too have heard Ed's Red works quite well at cleaning however I am not thrilled about the smell, toxicity, and mess that comes with it. I also prefer an all in one type cleaner that also lubes and prevents rust - don't know how well Ed's does that. The other qualities that I like about the Rig#2 is that it will NOT harm wood, plastic, paint, Bluing, Nickel, rubber etc that is commonly found on firearms. I know Acetone does not like some things found on guns.

I suppose if you own a commercial Gun Range and go through gallons and gallons of cleaners a year, the Ed's might be a very efficient and cost affective way to go, but most of us don't use those huge quantities that would change our life styles. I suppose there are some who just enjoy producing their own Brand-X and tweaking the formula to their personal spec's. Nothing wrong with that as long as you enjoy it.
 
Acetone won't hurt bluing but might affect some wood finishes. Its greatest hazard is its flammability. Plain old mineral spirits (paint thinner), all by itself, works about as well as anything else on the market. That is what the military uses at their ranges for general gun cleaning, including bores - They call it PD-680, just a high flash point form of mineral spirits.
 
I mostly use WD40. Kerosene and some lubricants. I use a copper lead solvent for the barrels.
 
I started brewing up Ed's Red when my supply of 1960s GI bore cleaner got low (down to my last case or so). Gets the job done well enough and doesn't cost a dollar an ounce.

I like this stuff for nasty carbon buildup. https://www.slip2000.com/slip2000_carbon_killer.php

Gotta admit that I like the smell of Hoppe's #9 though. Like a time machine, it takes me back to my childhood...
 
For several years I have been using PB Blaster. It is one great cleaner and costs very little. It is available in one-gallon cans at your auto parts store. The gallon can comes with an auxiliary squirt bottle. This is great stuff!
 
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