The "hot water" thing

[Romulus]

I heard that back in the old days, hot water was used to clean the crap from firearms. I have a pistol and a couple of shotguns, all parkerized, and they are quickly accumulating loads of crap, gummed up solvents, even phosphor-bronze particles from scrubbing regimens. Can I run these items under hot water, maybe some dishsoap, scrub them down, then douse in wd40, some fresh CLP or whatever? I just want the crap to go away...

Thanks

[Jim V]

Hot, soapy water will not harm yor Parkerized(tm) firearms. Dry well and relube.

[BigG]

Hot water was used on guns before noncorrosive priming was developed. The salts deposited by the old primers would attract water from the air and rust holes in the bores even under an oil coat. Also Black Powder residue is extremely filthy and water is prolly the ultimate solvent for that too. Hot because it helps to dry itself by heating up the metal. Go ahead, give your guns a bath. They'll thank you for it. If you can remove the wood, so much the better. HTH:D

[Ledbetter]

A very good product to use in conjunction with your hot water is Simple Green, an organic degreaser. Use the hottest water you can so that most of it evaporates quickly off the metal.

[Romulus]

Thank you all, and I'll give Simple Green a try as well.

[Romulus]

Thank you all, and I'll give Simple Green a try as well.

[Paul B.]

:D Romulus. I don't know it hot water will do the trick, but I'll bet Mpro's MP-7 will. (1-800 yes 4mp7) Really good stuff. Clean your guns thoroughly with it in the same manner as you normally would. Then, use a good copper remover like Sweet's 7.62 to remove all copper fouling. Use the MP-7 to remove all the Sweet's and oil the bore well. (MP-7 will remove all oils and solvents. Oiling after MP-7 is a must.) After any shooting session, run a patch soaked with MP-7 through your bore first, then your regular solvent. MP-7 will remove powder residue faster than regular solvents.
No, I don't own any stock in the company. I'm just one hell of a satisfied user.
Paul B.

[LIProgun]

For several years I used hot soapy water to clean black powder guns, with great success. I picked up using Simple Green and water for heavy cleaning and degreasing from the American Gunsmithing Institute video series. Works very well; easy on the hands and nose; safe for the sink and sewer.

MPro7 is excellent, IMO. But Simple Green and water is much cheaper. However, I've never compared them side-by-side as nitro powder and carbon fouling solvents.

[Romulus]

Thank you all, once again...