Sonic cleaners for gun parts (i.e. ar bolts)

[Horty]

Will a small Hornady sonic cleaner clean small gun parts well? I am thinking of using it for ar bolts and pistol barrels, maybe even a pistol slide.

 

[Jeff T.]

I have been wondering the same thing. It seems like a good way to ensure you get all the small areas clean that I can never seem to get all the grime off. I wonder if it would have any effect on a Fibre Optic site on the slide?

 

[Wormydog1724]

I use one for AR BCG's, brass cases, wife's wedding ring, .22lr suppressor baffles, and just anything that will fit in it. It works well at getting oil and grime off but the baked on carbon still needs to be scraped. But the sonic cleaner loosens it up.

 

[RyanReed]

Be careful what fluid you use. A buddy dropped his P3AT in and when he pulled it out, it partially stripped the finish off the slide. He used a degreaser instead of the US cleaner.

 

[jtischauser]

I have that $80-100 Hornady sonic cleaner and a gallon of the Brownells cleaning solution. I stick every gin part that will fit including a bunch that dont in that thing. It does all the hard work for you. I need to find one with a repeat button on it So I don't have to keep going out to restart the damn thing every ten minutes.

 

[jtischauser]

It will melt your fiber optic front site too.

 

[Jeff T.]

It will melt your fiber optic front site too.

Thank you for the warning!

 

[Jeff T.]

It will melt your fiber optic front site too.

Will it bother the front Fibre Optic site if I stand the slide on end, in there so only the back of the slide in is the liquid, say up to the ejection port, where the front site is above the cleaner?

 

[charger arms]

Also, don't mix solutions. I found out the hard way that if you mix Brownell's US Cleaning solution with another solution; it eats the finish off your P22 and SilencerCo Can. It also changed the color of the finish on my YHM 556 Can that was in the same mix. But, since they were torture test demos, I wasn't too pissed. If it was my Kimber that gets in teh bath from time to time. I would have kicked my own ass. I think a big part of the problem with the P22 was it was made from "pot metal" Zinc slide.
I have been using one for years without problems until I did that. Make sure you don't use Simple Green or anything harsh. Stick with the Cleaners made for guns.

 

[WillR]

Hornady makes concentrated solution. One for gun parts and one for brass. They work pretty good. Just put in a cap full and go. Make sure to oil parts very well as the metal pores will be completely stripped of oil after the bath.

 

[drmitchgibson]

Will it bother the front Fibre Optic site if I stand the slide on end, in there so only the back of the slide in is the liquid, say up to the ejection port, where the front site is above the cleaner?

You can put the slide most of the way in. It's the heat that's generated that melts the FO. I always put my Glock slide in mine, leaving the front end sticking out. I cleaned that manually. Also, you don't need any special cleaners. The liquid is just a medium for the ultrasonic waves, and a format for cavitation, which breaks up the filth. Use motor oil. It has detergents in it, it cleans very well, and your parts come out lubed. I hang my parts in a perforated steel basket over the cleaner so that the excess oil can drain back into the pan of the machine.

 

[DurningDefenseCustomsLLC]

They are pricey and you have to watch what you clean with and put in them.

I have a 3.5 gallon parts cleaner from steve's that cost me 49.99 bucks and I use mineral spirts to clean with, doesnt hurt finishes and will lift all the crap off the gun, also the 3.5 gallon space allows for a complete pistol or rifle reciver.

that my 2 cents.