OxyClean? Don’t judge me.
 

Several years ago I opened my trusty Stanley thermos and discovered that I had put it away months prior with coffee still inside. I poured out the liquid but there was serious crud and staining. No matter what I tried I could not get it clean. I called Stanley Customer Service and after the rep gave me hell she chuckled and told put in some OxyClean, fill it with warm water, and let it set overnight. The next morning it was clean as the day it was made.

Recently I picked up a Mix Master M1 Carbine that could use a good strip and clean. I don’t have s sonic cleaner so I started thinking about OxyClean. Any reason not to? If it works as well as it did on my thermos the parts will look new.

Thanks.

well

i don't think the thermos liner will rust

True. But won’t a light coat of quality oil prevent that? This is why I ask.

Run a test with some nails first.

William

....or a shotgun of another make.





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Contact Mix Master's customer service department and ask what they recommend.

Try using it on a Mossberg. Lol

Check out the OxyClean on the underside of the bolt. If it does not deteriorate the finish clean the metal parts with it. Military finishes are much more durable than the commercial finishes. After you scrub your metal parts take them in the hottest shower water available and rinse them off. The water evaporates almost immediately and your weapon is ready for oiling. This system was used by our basic training platoon on about 40 M14's with results that pleased the armorer the following day.

If you use a water based chemical do just as Craig said. First test it on your finish, then go as hot as you can and oil right away. For an assembly like a carbine bolt I would get the special tool and disassemble it before a water based cleaning to prevent any moisture from remaining inside. I would avoid using it in the bore to keep water out of the gas piston assembly which should not be dissasembled unless there are issues.
Personally I would not used water based anything except for routine cleaning of a black powder arm, but that is just me.

OxiClean is an oxidizer and is based on some form of peroxide. If you mix it with water for your cleaning I'd guess it would rust carbon steel. I'd use it maybe to clean a muzzle loader but it would be a fast cleaning. I use Oxiclean on all sorts of stuff and it is truly amazing. I recently used it to remove a 15yr old dark beer stain from a light colored carpet that no other stain remover would touch. It does work incredibly well on cleaning the black residue out of coffee and tea pots; there's nothing better. Basically it will clean anything that can be oxidized so it will work very well on old oil residue.