how do you clean grease off of a gun?

[Omega21]

After Action Report: how do you clean grease off of a gun?

I have a carbine that's been sitting in grease for about 18 years. I'd like to start using it again but have no idea how to clean the grease off. This is not cosmoline, it's just heavy duty Hoppes brand grease I put on when I was deploying to Bosnia. It's in every nook and crany of this gun. Is there something like Gun Scrubber I can use? Thanks for any advice...

 

[ObsceneJesster]

I just got done cleaning the factory grease off of my Norinco. I used Break Free, some hot water and mineral spirits. It came off pretty easy. It was probably on the rifle since the early 90's.

 

[Omega21]

When you say Break Free do you mean CLP like this:

Also, no issues with mineral spirits taking off the finish on the gun?

Thanks!

 

[Boom Boom]

Bag o' rags and Ballistol.

 

[stu929]

Mineral spirits.

 

[Wheaton Hills Sportsman]

If you are not concerned with the finish I have used Oven Cleaner on cosmoline, if you are worried about the wood it still works on the metal parts but you will want to apply a protective layer of oil right away.

 

[Dan_G]

WD-40 does a good job at removing grease on car parts and cleaning them. Not sure how well it would work on a gun.

 

[Omega21]

Wow, hadn't thought about WD-40! I definitly am concerned with protecting the finish so the oven cleaner is out. I'm told the mineral spirits will not mess up the finish...

 

[stu929]

Used mineral spirits on all my M1s did not hurt the wood or metal finish.

 

[Pinecone]

WD-40 is mainly mineral spirits.

Cheaper to buy straight mineral spirits in gallon cans from the paint section of hardware or home stores.

 

[LargemouthAss]

I have had nothing but good experiences with mineral spirits.

 

[JavaDan]

Brake cleaner worked for me on a P38 I had to recently treat. Follow with boiling water and hair drier then a Balistol bath.


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[Omega21]

I have had nothing but good experiences with mineral spirits.

LargemouthAss - I like your avatar. Looks like station 1 on TTVIII at Graff... but it's a really small picture.

Gonna buy a tin can of mineral spirits at HomeDepot tomorrow along with a big can of WD40 and rags. Hope it's good weather, I'll be in the driveway scrubbing!

 

[august1410]

Hot water and Dawn dishwashing soap. It does, indeed separate grease.

 

[rj1974]

I have used simple green and hot water . Then blow everything out with compressed air .

 

[KRONIK27]

Just Disassemble it and put it in the Dishwasher with some Cascade Dishwasher Cleaner. I am sure your wife will Thank you later for the New Dishwasher. My Yugo SKS came out squeaky clean. Boiled the Bolt assembly in a Pot of Dawn Dish Detergent. Rifle shoots like a Dream.

 

[Hokie]

I use Slip2k degreaser to get the grease off all my guns.

 

[Omega21]

Ok - thanks for all the feedback! Here's my after action report. I spend the last 2 days cleaning.

hot water is by far the way to go with this! After working on the top cover and bolt assembly of the carbine with Ballistol, WD-40, CLP/Break Free, mineral spirits and three different brands of "gun scrubber" and lots and lots of rags, brushes, etc. It all worked fine, but was a lot of effort. The Ballistol actually dries pretty thick so I then had to 'gun scrubber' the Ballistol off, and re-lube the components with Rem-Oil. That said (this was my first experience with Ballistol) I love Ballistol as a heavy lubricant!

Do for the frame, trigger assembly and a few small components, I just rinsed with hot hot water out of the tap and brushed with a M16 cleaning brush. Worked like a charm! I then used compressed air to clear out the nooks and cranies, blasted everything with gun scrubber, and oiled liberally with Rem Oil (to get any remaining water displaced with the Rem Oil) and Wilson Combat gun oil.

This project tool way longer than I anticipated but was a lot of fun. Next time, I'm following KRONIK27's suggestion and putting it in the dishwasher!
Thanks again everyone!

 

[newq]

If you are not concerned with the finish I have used Oven Cleaner on cosmoline, if you are worried about the wood it still works on the metal parts but you will want to apply a protective layer of oil right away.

Just a word of caution some oven cleaner will take aluminum annodizing right off. Easy Off brand will strip the aluminum bare in less than a minute. On the bright side if you like the polished aluminum look use easy off and then rinse it off followed by a CLR bath followed by another rinse and you are ready to polish aluminum with no sanding!

 

[ken792]

A bucket of kerosene or diesel that you're going to be using to burn stuff or kill yellowjackets with anyway.