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Any one use Simple Green on Shotguns?

M

MossyMilDot

.270 WIN
I have not, but read a few do soak parts in it?

I do have a mason jar of Simple Green to clean my gun cleaning nylon brushes (toothbrushes). This works great.
 
I witnessed some inventive GIs who used Purple Power (man that was one harsh cleaner) on their individual and crew-served weapons, and I think I saw some simple green in the laundry room wash basins a time or two.
 
we used it all the time in the manufacturing process to get machine oil off of gun parts but haven't used it to clean powder fowling . probably work pretty good as long as you oil up after. If we didn't blue parts we cleaned right away, they would rust pretty quick
 
FYI cleaning Aluminum Anodized parts with simple green can spot or remove the anodize. I was cleaning some blue anodized parts a while back at work and got distracted with phone call...came back and oh bummer.
 
good call, I also washed anodizing off an nice set of handlebars that were on my dirt bike with Superclean
 
Sorry to revive such an old thread, especially for my first post but I wanted to share my experience. I recently purchased a Hornady Hot Tub sonic cleaner and along with this I also purchased the Hornady brand gun cleaner and a gallon of Simple Green HD (the purple stuff that is safe on metal, specifically aluminum and stainless). The hot tub holds ~2.5 gallons of solution.

Once I got it all and mixed solutions and tested them I came to these conclusions:

1. The Simple Green HD is indeed safe for everything I threw at it. No issues with anodized aluminum, stainless steel, plastics and/or polymers, or carbon steel.

2. The Simple Green HD does a decent job at cleaning and degreasing.

3. The solution mix of SGHD that works best is the 1:3 ratio, serving 10 cups of SGHD to 30 cups distilled water, yielding 2.5 total gallons of solution.

HOWEVER...

At that ratio, its actually less expensive to use the Hornady solution at a 1:40 ratio. To keep it simple I mix 1 cup of Hornady One Shot Gun Cleaning Solution to 39 cups of distilled water, again yielding 2.5 total gallons of solution.

I thought I'd save some pennies using SGHD but as it turns out, that is not the case.

Also, there are several brands of sonic cleaning solution for guns so one can likely find less expensive options than Hornady. Lyman? L&R? I'll test when I use up what I have on hand and share the results.
 
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I think the important thing to point out is that saying "Simple green is not safe on aluminum," is way too ambiguous. Specifically, the original Simple Green formula was found to weaken aluminum in a very specific military requirements test and if left unattended for a great deal of time can erode anodizing. However, Simple Green has several formulas that are indeed perfectly safe on aluminum and any other metal and or polymer. In my note above I'm specifically referencing Simple Green Pro HD, which is purple in color, not green. And they have an 'aircraft' safe formula that was developed to address the shortcomings of the original formula on aluminum and anodizing.

All that being said, I found that it's still less expensive to use the Hornady brand cleaner unless you use a weaker ratio of the SGHD to water. Then it may not clean as well.
 
RangerDoc said:
Sorry to revive such an old thread, especially for my first post but I wanted to share my experience..
Click to expand...

RangerDoc~ Welcome to the forum and than you for contributing already. Look forward to hearing from you more~
 
Never had to use such strong cleaners on my 500. But the magazine tube spring and follower seemed to be getting slower/weaker lately, so unscrewed it last weekend to clean it. No rust, just gummed up a bit over the years., Washed it out with warm soapy water, then put a Brillo Pad on a piece of dowalling rod, chucked in my battery drill. Dunno if you guys have the brand name "Brillo Pads" in the USA, but they are stainless steel wool pot scrubs, made up of stainless steel wire or "ribbons".
Did a super job of cleaning the mag tube, and after washing again with warm soapy water, and drying, I am trying out STP Son of a Gun as a lubricant in there.
Ran a hundred rounds through her at clays this morning, and worked perfectly.
 
RangerDoc said:
I think the important thing to point out is that saying "Simple green is not safe on aluminum," is way too ambiguous. Specifically, the original Simple Green formula was found to weaken aluminum in a very specific military requirements test and if left unattended for a great deal of time can erode anodizing. However, Simple Green has several formulas that are indeed perfectly safe on aluminum and any other metal and or polymer. In my note above I'm specifically referencing Simple Green Pro HD, which is purple in color, not green. And they have an 'aircraft' safe formula that was developed to address the shortcomings of the original formula on aluminum and anodizing.

All that being said, I found that it's still less expensive to use the Hornady brand cleaner unless you use a weaker ratio of the SGHD to water. Then it may not clean as well.
Click to expand...

I have used Simple Green for many years on many firearms. I have never found it to cause any issues with any finishes or metals. I might add though, with any chemicals or soaps, they all have a purpose. Simple Green is whatr I found to be the safest for the "treasures" as well as the waterfowl workhorses. I strip all the parts seperate and soak them for a while.. If they are really sludged up, I soak them for a longer time. THEN, ( VERY IMPORTANT ), immediately rinse the parts in HOT water to remove any and all residue of the "soaps".. then immediately blow dry the water. Then the parts are ready for any necessary mechanical cleaning, inspection and final lubrication.. Most important is to rinse the cleaner off immediately, and blow dry the "universal solvent" off, ( WATER ). In my business, I often use the simple green to remove or neutralize all the wild and crazy cleaners used by others..

FRED
 
Regarding aluminum and the cleaning of aluminum:

As a young engineer, I was a product application specialist and die designer in an aluminum plant for some years.

When typical aluminum is extruded, cast, or forged and machined, it always contains surface pores.

To seal the aluminum, before Anodizing, it is boiled in water, and this causes the surface of the aluminum to seal up by shrinking the pores. Anodizing or hard coating seals it further, and for a lasting finish parts are usually clear coated or painted.

Any cleaning method, whether a chemical, abrasive, or otherwise, which breaks into the surface of the aluminum even a little bit, opens the pores.

In the open oxygen-rich atmosphere, these miscroscopic pores immediately fill with soft aluminum oxide, and soon you will actually see blooms of oxide on your aluminum parts.

The other thing to note is that die marks were removed before boiling etc, by a caustic etch process.

Lye is used and it eats aluminum fast, but any cleaner with caustic properties will eat aluminum.

To test this, mix a bit of cleaner with a drop of vinegar. Any caustic will cause immediate foam as gases release. The more vigorous the reaction the more caustic is the cleaner.

Caustics do the same thing on Steel by the way. But they eat aluminum maybe 100x as fast.

When I was working my way through school, I worked at a shop that had a "hot tank". Keeping it hot meant the chemical reactions were more vigorous, and your parts came clean quickly.

One mechanic was working on an old boat & put an aluminum porthole frame in the hot tank.

The next morning he was running around trying to find out who took his antique porthole. :mad:

Well it was taken completely, by hot boiling lye, and turned to grey sludge at the bottom of the tank.
 
I second the Hornady degreaser. I use it as low as 80:1 on my knives, guns and such.
Smells better than Simple Green too, yuck!
 
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