Would it be safe to use Gumout Carb cleaner on to "flush out" the garbage that is left behind when you use solvent?

What about on a nickel finish?

I of course would oil/grease afterwards.

Not on anything plastic.
A lot of it holds up, but I have melted things with other carb-cleaning specific sprays.
Nickel might be ok unless it is already flaking.

Actually scalding hot water works better than anything. It will clean and degrease and make the surface hot enough the water evaporates. Then spray it down with a light coat of oil.

Based on the MSDS info, I would say that is about as harmful and dangerous to you as it is to your gun.

Perhaps something designed specifically for guns like Remington Action Cleaner, Gun Scrubber, Break Free Power Blast or Hornady One-Shot?
Be sure to follow label directions and warnings.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

This was about the only way I found to get my weapon clean enough to pass inspection.. Pouring boiling water through a trigger group will flush it out like nothing else.

One other thing that I have found it is good to be cautious of with the gun scrubber type aggressive cleaning products is that some of them will lift the white dots right out of your sights if you get some on the sights when spraying.

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DAV Life Member

Been using it for years, no problems.

They will also remove duracoat that isn't fully cured or wasn't prepped properly

I love it!!!!

Using it on the garbage .22 autos build up flushes most of it right out..

But yeah, paint, plastic, and wood finishes can get damaged easily with it, I only use it on stuff entirely made of metal with no paint.

I've never used it as a post-clean cleaner, only a pre-clean cleaner.

I've used brake cleaner and it seems OK.
Not as caustic as carb cleaner.
Any thoughts?

I collect the old all brass fishing reels. The only plastic material
on them are the crank handles. I use the spray and they also
sell a gallon can, complete with parts basket. Works excellent
on cutting the grease and crud in these old reels. I use it on
gun parts, like bolt and trigger assemblies. Like mentioned in
other posts it will react with plastics and stock finishes. I would
not want to get it on the wood even if not concerned about the
finish. It's a good product if you use it for what intended.

Birchwood Casey makes a good cleaner in two different flavors. The one that is less harmful to plastics and wood still seems to work very well cleaning out years of neglect.

1. I use it all the time on my Glocks, no damage to polymers, no discoloration. The sights are tritium so I cannot say that regular sights will not be stripped off.

2. I use it a lot on the S/W revolvers for a quickie clean if the range session was small or gun isn't really all that dirty. Just remember that revolvers have a side plate that covers all the guts so either take the slide plate off or at least spray at an angle that will allow the cleaner to drain out (it breaks up alot of gunk. It has caused no discoloration of the orange front sight insert.

Aside from the dangerous health hazards to the user from the contents inside the can, Gumout Carb Cleaner, and other similar products, by design, strip all of the surfactants and lubricants from the metal surfaces. This leaves the gun with no barrier to moisture and other contaminants, thereby contributing to the formation of rust, and degradation/wear due to metal to metal contact without sufficient lubrication.

Along with the recognized health and flammability hazards to the gun owner, this is another reason why manufacturers, including S&W advise not to use these products. If you look at the ingredients in the MSDS, and check the warnings in the S&W owners manual, this is obviously a formulation that should not be used on firearms.

MSDS for Gumout Carb Cleaner........http://ilrc.ucf.edu/documents/ILRC%2...2000000128.pdf

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I have never used it to clean out gunk in guns but I have used it to clean dies, even using tumbled brass after a few thousand rounds gunk builds up, this stuff knocks it out, wipe out with a clean rang then runnng a few rounds of RCBS brass lubricant seems to relube them just fine.

I've used it for years on guns and car parts. Mine are all blued or stainless steel, I would keep it away from plastics and the "new" clear finishes S&W is using on their Air-weight revolvers...those finishes are not durable.
But gum out is a great degreaser and cleaner...just strong.
Gary

Wow, I haven't seen * carb * cleaner for a cpl years, all that's on My local shelves is Gumout Fuel Injector and throttle body cleaner.

I do use environmental formula brake cleaner and Gunscrubber interchangeably, when I feel the need for such products. ( Which isn't routine cleaning.)

Don't know about most guys here, but for the very few amount of times I use a gun-scrubber product I have no problem spending the 8 or 10 bucks they charge for the Birchwood-Casey brand stuff that was actually meant for cleaning guns. At least I KNOW it was developed specifically for that usage.

I sure as heck make sure the gun is completely disassembled so no other material that they use on guns like rubber, wood, etc gets sprayed. Also since these type of cleaners remove all oils and rust preventatives from the metal, all areas must be exposed so that they can be re-coated with a lube and rust preventative.

Since I am not a Chemist or Chemical Engineer I have no way of knowing not only the exact ingredients that they put into these chemicals, but the proportions that they use. So unless you clean guns professionally, I would personally recommend a product made and sold for such purpose.

YMMV.