windex vinegar and cleaning

[Mack in N.C.]

hello cleaned my renegade today.........1st time trying windex w vinagar.......cleaned barrel great but some ran down outside and got to scope mounts.......my question is should i take the mount off to clean under it?  vinagar is acidic and i dont want gun to rust under the mounts......mount fits tight so i doubt much got under it..also spayed it with wd 40 to drive out vinagar......i know i am a worry wart but i hate rust..........should i remove or not...thanks mack

[Encore28]

Mack,
It will be fine-I wouldn't worry about it.
Encore28

[Rustyinfla]

I've always used just plain hot soapy water. I'm not sure I'd want to use vinegar. I've seen other people use it to take bluing off of a gun altogether and give their gun an antique look. It seems like vinegar might be a little rough on the bore. I tried peroxide once and that was a major mistake as far as I was concerned. It took me about a month to get that barrel shooting right again. Anything that's rough on the bore is something to think twice about in my book.

         Rusty <><

[lakota]

I recall reading a Mike Venturino article about how he loves to use the Windex with vinegar to clean his black powder cartridge guns. I myself have always had good luck with the hot soapy water method. However the windex would be good for cleaning at the range and while camping etc. I think I may pick up a bottle.

Scott.

[roundball]

hello cleaned my renegade today.........1st time trying windex w vinagar.......cleaned barrel great but some ran down outside and got to scope mounts.......my question is should i take the mount off to clean under it?  vinagar is acidic and i dont want gun to rust under the mounts......mount fits tight so i doubt much got under it..also spayed it with wd 40 to drive out vinagar......i know i am a worry wart but i hate rust..........should i remove or not...thanks mack

If you power flushed it with aerosol WD40, it should be fine.

For that same reason, anytime I finish cleaning a muzzleloader I always powerflush everything where water ran...into and under the sights, tenons, underrib, etc...it's worked for years with no rust ever forming

[New Hampshire]

Ive been using Windex w/vinegar for a bit now and I am totaly pleased.  I also use it to wipe in between shots at the range.  I meter it from a bottle I got from work and count of the same number of drops every time to get as consistent as possible.  A lot easier and cleaner than the soapy water method.   After the bbl is cleaned I run Ballistol down the bore as the finishing touch.  Ive yet to see any bluing distortion (or removal) on my gun yet.

Brian

[Slamfire]

I use it to wipe between shots at the range, just to hold down the build up of BP fouling. I use hot soapy water for serious cleaning, and follow it with rubbing alcohol. Bore Butter is my rust preventer, patch lube and exerior waterproofing.  

[lostid]

I agree with the posters abouve not to worry much about your mounts.
 A good "water" flush of the area affected by vinegar and an oil applied after should be fine.
 Go ahead and use your gun through the season and care for it as usual.

 I don't tend to trust WD-40 as a long term protection for my guns but it will get me though the week-end. WD is after all watersoluble. A low viscosity lubrecant made for guns like Hoppes #9 or even better LPS 2 or 3 is even better. The idea of preventing rust from iron is to not allow the H2O to comprimise the metal composite, ya wanna get the H out of the O and not let the O mix with a bunch of C's, how do ya do that? cover all of the E with a bunch hcc's. now do I understand that? NO! Kindda!,
 In laymans terms,,wash it off goodley,,dry well,,then oil. Good ta go.

[Mack in N.C.]

thanks for all your replies.......roundball, i see you live in nc...where?...send me a pm if you wish..thanks mack

[hillbill]

hot soapy water, the hotter the better, then lay the barrel on the wood stove overnight. old hillbilly method. load and hunt or oil and store the next morn.

[Birddog6]

hot soapy water, the hotter the better, then lay the barrel on the wood stove overnight. old hillbilly method. load and hunt or oil and store the next morn.

Well, everybody cleans them a lil different, but IMHO if you wait to oil that barrel, the bore has already started to rust.............

You clean that barrel with hot soapy water & dry it & not imediately oil it ?   within 30 minutes it will have flash rusted & overnight it will have rusted & etch the bore most likely.....  Happened to me on a barrel about ? 1979 or 1980 I guess.

Here is a test you can do.  Take a piece of Bp rifle barrel & saw it lengthwise to split the bore.  Clean it really good in hot soapy water & dry it & just put it under a microscope & watch the rust start to form in about 10 minutes. (Do it outside when it is humid out & you can actually See the rust start with the naked eye in 10 minutes)  Now go back at 30 min, then go back every 2-3 hours & see what happens. By 24 hours it will be etched & it will take 2-3 days of bore lapping to get it out, IF you ever do get it all out.........

You can clean one with Hot or Cold soapy water, but you better dry it Good & Oil it  "Right Then" if you don't want it to flash rust......   Then swab it again the second day & again the third day.....  I prefer cold water but some guys like the hot water method.  Main thing is you get it clean & dry before oiling.

 You would be simply amazed of how many emails I have gotten over the past 10 years of guys wanting to know how to get rust out of the barrels because they cleaned them & didn't oil them well or didn't go back the second day & reswab them.  I am not talking about on or two, I am talking about dozens of inquiries......

Dn't take a chance on the bore.........be safe, clean it, dry it & OIL it........  If you are going to hunt the next day it takes all of 2 swabs  (2 minutes) to get the oil out of the bore.......

Birddog6