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Ultrasonic Gun Cleaner


Gold Canyon Kid #43974

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Wrote this report in 2009 as I recall when I first got my ultrasonic cleaner. Note prices have gone up a bit since I wrote the article. I have to call it up on my computer whenever I need to clean my guns, because somehow I lost the instructions for the cleaner and it allows me to do it the same each time. Thought someone considering an alternate way to clean your guns would find this of interest. Sorry, I had no way to just post a link. Here goes:

 

 

I purchased an L&R Ultrasonic Handgun Cleaning System from Midway USA. The model I purchased is their least expensive model HCS 200. It does not have all the bells and whistles but it does the job. Cost was about $310 plus tax and shipping as it was on sale. The unit comes with everything you need to clean two batches of guns (for my first batch I cleaned 11 handguns). The kit comes with enough cleaning solution to mix up two batches or two tanks full of cleaner. It comes with enough of the lubricating solution to fill the tank and have some left over and I expect to reuse it. Each time you clean guns you will probably have to use new cleaning solution as the old solution after I was done was very dirty. To clean your guns, in my case I had 11 Ruger single action guns to clean, the only thing you have to do is remove the grips. I did no precleaning on the guns except two where I did do my normal bore cleaning to see if the ultrasonic cleaner would get them cleaner. More on that later.

To start, you mix up the cleaning tank chemicals. Pretty simple, dump in the measured cleaner (8 oz-one bottle) and then just add hot water. For the second tank the lubricating tank, you just add the lubricating fluid (an oil mixture). This less expensive unit does not have a built in timer so I used my wife’s kitchen timer. I ran all my 11 guns through the cleaning tank and after they were all cleaned I then ran them all through the lubricating tank. Both tanks use the ultrasonic vibration and heat the fluids inside. There is a tab on the cleaning tank to tell how full to make the tank for cleaning. There is a stainless wire basket that is used in both tanks to hold your guns. For my Rugers I removed the grips, cylinders and base pins, and cocked the guns to open up a little more of the internals. Two of the guns had 6 ½ in barrels which did not fit perfectly in the cleaning tank with about a 1/6 of the bottom of the grip sticking out. Note that the price on different models goes up dramatically with increased tank size, so I tried to get by with the smallest unit. I started each cleaning cycle with the grip and action in the fluid and barrel tip sticking out of the tank and cleaned for a few minutes. I then flipped the gun and had the barrel down and the bottom tip of the grip sticking out for about 10 minutes. The rest of the guns were all 4 5/8 inch barrels and they fit completely under the cleaning (and lubricating) fluid.

After the gun was in the cleaning fluid for the time required-I used 10 minutes (as specified in the directions), I removed the guns and soaked them in a pan of clear water (as specified). While doing this, I started the next gun cleaning. I then took the gun in the water out and sprayed the outside of the gun off with an air hose nozzle, and into the insides as the cracks and hammer allowed. I dried it the best I could, same for the cylinder and base pin. I then stored them barrel down on a towel to dry until all guns were cleaned. When I dumped the cleaning fluid tank when I was done, I found the bottom to be almost completely covered with a thin layer of carbon, lead, dirt, etc. making it difficult to see much of the stainless tank bottom. These guns were really dirty with more than a thousand rounds through most and hundreds through the least used. It had been since before Winter Range since they were completely cleaned.

When all guns had gone through the cleaning process about 2 hours, soaked in clear water, dried with air, and left to drip onto a towel, it was then time for the lubrication process. A second tank, leaving the first tank full with cleaning liquid was then used to lubricate the guns. The cleaning liquid tank was topped off to a tab supplied to an exact level. The lubricating tank then sits on top of the cleaning tank with the bottom of the lubricating tank resting about a half inch into the cleaning tank fluid. A gallon of lubricating fluid was supplied and I probably needed a little over half the lubricating fluid to fill the lube tank to the proper level. This allows the lubricating tank to get the ultrasonic motion and heat to function without draining out the cleaning tank. Again the stainless wire basket was used to hold the gun to be lubricated. I then ran each cleaned and air dried gun through the lubrication tank for 10 minutes of ultrasound and heat. When complete, each gun was dried on the outside with a rag and set with the barrel down to drip lubricating fluid and let the lubrication fluid leave as best as it can. The purpose of this step is to lube all the internals of the gun (that you did not have to take apart to clean). I then started the next gun through the lubricating cycle. While the next gun was being lubricated, I used that time to oil the parts of the Rugers I normally oil, cleaned the barrels one more time with gun cleaner, just to see how dirty or clean they really were and assembled the guns and grips. It took almost 2 hours to lubricate, oil and assemble all 11 Rugers.

I found the barrels did have material in them after cleaning and lubricating that had to be removed with a patch. Some of this might have come from dirty fluid or it could just be loose material that did not get completely washed out while the guns were in the cleaning tank. It looked a lot like lead and the directions on the unit said it would not remove lead but would loosen it so it could be easily removed. I ran one swipe through each barrel (as mandated by the directions) of Hoppes #9 (my choice) then a couple of dry patches and by the second one they were virtually white. I did the same with each chamber in each cylinder and found a little more loose lead like stuff. This stuff really came out easy and the cylinders were cleaner then when I normally have to chuck up a wire brush in my drill to get out the ring from shooting 38 spls in a 357 and 32 S&W Ls in a 32 H&R Mag. There was no material in the barrels that I could see with a light. The outside of the cylinders is the cleanest they have ever been.

Overall I found that the stainless guns were the cleanest they have ever been and remember this cleaner is also cleaning and lubricating deep down inside the gun where I normally do not clean except when the gun is completely disassembled, maybe every couple of years. The ultrasonic cleaner did a real good job getting the gunk off the cylinder fronts. I did see a couple of guns that still had a little carbon spotting around the very rear of the barrel at the cylinder gap (about 90% had been removed during cleaning) and a small bristle brush supplied with the kit took it off easily. If I would have left the guns in the cleaning tank a couple of minutes longer this step would probably not have to be done. I think this probably had more to do with how dirty the guns were to start. I did see a little of the painted surface flake off on the aluminum grip frame of one gun but these were mostly 25-30 year old Rugers with a whole lot of wear and tear.

In summary, is it possible to get the guns this clean without the ultrasonic cleaner, probably but you would have to completely disassemble each gun, a lot more than just removing the cylinder and base pin. It took me a little over 4 hours to completely clean and lubricate 11 handguns, not bad for the first time using the system. Would I recommend the ultrasonic gun cleaner, probably not if I only had two guns to clean, but with more than one shooter and shooting different guns, it sure does a good job and was almost fun to use. It appears the premeasured cleaning solution is less than $5 to fill a tank. I expect to reuse the lubricating solution many times. The cleaner can be found on the Midway USA web site and at the cleaner manufacturers web site www.LRultrasonics.com

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