Has anyone ever heard of using this?

bspillman · September 1, 2015, 01:30 PM

I just had a gunsmith at a local shop here tell me to use 1 part motor oil 1 part transmission fluid and 1 part power steering fluid to clean surplus rifle barrels. I could see using the transmission fluid and motor oil but not sure about steering fluid. Has any one ever heard of or used this mixture?

colbad · September 1, 2015, 01:37 PM

Once spilled power steering fluid on car paint....took it right off.

bspillman · September 1, 2015, 01:45 PM

Yea Colbad, I agree. I was thinking it would do the same to bluing.

Nodak1858 · September 1, 2015, 01:56 PM

Sounds like some variation of Eds Red. I'd Google Ed's Red and use that. Works well but will not help for corrosive ammo.you could use good old water followed up by normal solvent and then lube.

gyvel · September 1, 2015, 02:43 PM

That's a bit odd. Some vehicles use the same fluid in both the transmission and the power steering system.

colbad · September 1, 2015, 03:19 PM

I do have to admit that the spill I referred to occurred when I was younger...about 35 years younger

However, it was a lesson I never forgot. May be different chemical composition now, but definitely a concern. Perhaps it might have been brake fluid??

g.willikers · September 1, 2015, 03:35 PM

Brake fluid will definitely do that.
Power steering fluid has changed over the years.
Some older cars did use the same stuff in the power steering pump and the auto transmissions.
It depended on the make and model.
Not sure about the modern ones, though, with all the electronics.
Some gunsmiths might be living in the past, so take their advice with some hesitation.
Very much depends on what it is that needs cleaning.
Corrosive salts, copper fouling, lead fouling, cosmoline, powder residue, rust, old dirt, all need something different.

Gunplummer · September 1, 2015, 03:52 PM

Been using AT Fluid for tough carbon for years. Works well and is cheap.

FITASC · September 1, 2015, 04:01 PM

Ed's Red has acetone among other ingredients similar to your stuff. As above, Google it, make a gallon, pass on half to your kids.

Chris_B · September 1, 2015, 04:16 PM

"Bluing" (which encompasses several processes) and "paint" are not remotely similar.

Paint is essentially pigments suspended in solvent.

Bluing is a conversion coating stemming from oxidation. Some methods are minimally effective and some are very effective. It's an extremely thin layer on metal that is "passive" regarding things like water, and bluing is a 'passivation' process.

If you ever got into old cars, you may have used various products that turn rusty ferrous metal into magnetite (only on the extremely outer surface). That's basically rust bluing, although a firearm gets multiple layers and is then oiled.

That is not to say that a material which will attack paint will not also attack a blued surface.

1903springfield30-06 · September 6, 2015, 12:40 PM

I just use that stuff in the spray can called wipeout. Seems to work good and is what it is used for.

T. O'Heir · September 8, 2015, 12:43 PM

What'd he say he was cleaning out?
Milsurp rifles are no different than a commercial hunting rifle, except that some have been rode hard and put away wet. Like g.willikers says, everything that has been done to 'em needs a different product.
Apparently some vehicles still use transmission fluid for power steering. Like Oddball said, "I just drive 'em. I don't fix 'em.". snicker.

September 1, 2015, 01:30 PM	#1
bspillman Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2011 Posts: 559	Has anyone ever heard of using this? I just had a gunsmith at a local shop here tell me to use 1 part motor oil 1 part transmission fluid and 1 part power steering fluid to clean surplus rifle barrels. I could see using the transmission fluid and motor oil but not sure about steering fluid. Has any one ever heard of or used this mixture?

September 1, 2015, 01:56 PM	#4
Nodak1858 Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2009 Location: N. Dakota Posts: 435	Sounds like some variation of Eds Red. I'd Google Ed's Red and use that. Works well but will not help for corrosive ammo.you could use good old water followed up by normal solvent and then lube. __________________ We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

September 1, 2015, 02:43 PM	#5
gyvel Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2009 Location: Northern AZ Posts: 7,172	That's a bit odd. Some vehicles use the same fluid in both the transmission and the power steering system. __________________ As always, YMMV. __________________________________________ MIIAA SIFE

September 1, 2015, 03:35 PM	#7
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Brake fluid will definitely do that. Power steering fluid has changed over the years. Some older cars did use the same stuff in the power steering pump and the auto transmissions. It depended on the make and model. Not sure about the modern ones, though, with all the electronics. Some gunsmiths might be living in the past, so take their advice with some hesitation. Very much depends on what it is that needs cleaning. Corrosive salts, copper fouling, lead fouling, cosmoline, powder residue, rust, old dirt, all need something different. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.” Last edited by g.willikers; September 1, 2015 at 03:41 PM.

September 1, 2015, 04:01 PM	#9
FITASC Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2014 Posts: 6,446	Ed's Red has acetone among other ingredients similar to your stuff. As above, Google it, make a gallon, pass on half to your kids. __________________ "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa

September 1, 2015, 01:37 PM	#2
colbad Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2012 Posts: 506	Once spilled power steering fluid on car paint....took it right off.

September 1, 2015, 01:45 PM	#3
bspillman Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2011 Posts: 559	Yea Colbad, I agree. I was thinking it would do the same to bluing.

September 1, 2015, 03:19 PM	#6
colbad Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2012 Posts: 506	I do have to admit that the spill I referred to occurred when I was younger...about 35 years younger However, it was a lesson I never forgot. May be different chemical composition now, but definitely a concern. Perhaps it might have been brake fluid??

September 1, 2015, 03:52 PM	#8
Gunplummer Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 2010 Location: South East Pa. Posts: 3,364	Been using AT Fluid for tough carbon for years. Works well and is cheap.

September 1, 2015, 04:16 PM	#10
Chris_B Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2007 Posts: 3,101	"Bluing" (which encompasses several processes) and "paint" are not remotely similar. Paint is essentially pigments suspended in solvent. Bluing is a conversion coating stemming from oxidation. Some methods are minimally effective and some are very effective. It's an extremely thin layer on metal that is "passive" regarding things like water, and bluing is a 'passivation' process. If you ever got into old cars, you may have used various products that turn rusty ferrous metal into magnetite (only on the extremely outer surface). That's basically rust bluing, although a firearm gets multiple layers and is then oiled. That is not to say that a material which will attack paint will not also attack a blued surface.

September 6, 2015, 12:40 PM	#11
1903springfield30-06 Junior Member Join Date: September 4, 2015 Location: USA Posts: 9	I just use that stuff in the spray can called wipeout. Seems to work good and is what it is used for.

September 8, 2015, 12:43 PM	#12
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	What'd he say he was cleaning out? Milsurp rifles are no different than a commercial hunting rifle, except that some have been rode hard and put away wet. Like g.willikers says, everything that has been done to 'em needs a different product. Apparently some vehicles still use transmission fluid for power steering. Like Oddball said, "I just drive 'em. I don't fix 'em.". snicker. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!