HELP!!!
- Thread starter dkirk18
- Start date
HansGruber
Ronin
Looks like you scrubbed too hard…
You could try just wiping it down with oil/cleaner, but…
You could try just wiping it down with oil/cleaner, but…
RickAnderson
Custom
The pictures aren't clear enough. Did some of the bronze from the brush transfer to the surface and stain it brass/bronze color?
Switch to a nylon brush and something to help lift the metal out. Like the oil/cleaner....
Bore Solvent is designed to lift copper and lead fouling out of the bore with a brush (bronze is mostly copper), so it might work on your bronze stains and lift the bronze out.
Switch to a nylon brush and something to help lift the metal out. Like the oil/cleaner....
Bore Solvent is designed to lift copper and lead fouling out of the bore with a brush (bronze is mostly copper), so it might work on your bronze stains and lift the bronze out.
RickAnderson
Custom
Did you try bore solvent? Scrubbing with simple green can't hurt.
I just did it to my XD-M slide that I'm prepping to cerakote, the degreasing over 24 hours started a little rust. I grabbed the closest metal brush that happened to be brass, and it turned the brush area all brass color.
But, since I'm cerakoting it, I will be sandblasting it soon. So I've done nothing to remove the brass stain, it will be taken care of with the blasting.
I just did it to my XD-M slide that I'm prepping to cerakote, the degreasing over 24 hours started a little rust. I grabbed the closest metal brush that happened to be brass, and it turned the brush area all brass color.
But, since I'm cerakoting it, I will be sandblasting it soon. So I've done nothing to remove the brass stain, it will be taken care of with the blasting.
dkirk18
Operator
you my friend are AMAZING!!! thank you so much...i was so bummed out. it came right out...looks like it did before...I didn't think that brush would cause that. I was just trying to get the gunk off...but now I know. thanks again!
TEXASforLIFE
Ronin
It looks like the light from the flash, but apparently there's a color change.
Pitdogg2
Professional
Bore cleaners that remove copper will eat up your normal bronze bore brush. I've become a huge fan of the Real Avid bore brush, jag and patch kits. They are incredible. They will not transfer metal like a brass or bronze brush. In the past I used stainless steel bore brushes and the cheap harbor freight stainless steel brushes you get in either a kit of several sizes with the nylon brushes. The blue scotch pads for use in teflon pots and pans are also very good to remove stuff without harm to your finish.
https://www.realavid.com/product/bore-max-speed-jag-patches/
www.realavid.com
If you have a Bass pro or Farm and Fleet near you they carry a large selection of Real Avid gear.
The stuff is incredible good the patches are really reasonable and you can buy just the patches in large packs when you run out. It's super simple to use and one of the few patch, jag and brushes that punch way above others I've used in the past.
https://www.realavid.com/product/bore-max-speed-jag-patches/
Bore-Max® Speed Brush® – REAL AVID®
www.realavid.com
If you have a Bass pro or Farm and Fleet near you they carry a large selection of Real Avid gear.
The stuff is incredible good the patches are really reasonable and you can buy just the patches in large packs when you run out. It's super simple to use and one of the few patch, jag and brushes that punch way above others I've used in the past.
dkirk18
Operator
the bronze brush I used wad from a set of Allen brushes I got...I'll never use another one...I took em all out of kits...this had me bummed out all night until I found out how to fix it...I like the Real Avid stuff...Bore cleaners that remove copper will eat up your normal bronze bore brush. I've become a huge fan of the Real Avid bore brush, jag and patch kits. They are incredible. They will not transfer metal like a brass or bronze brush. In the past I used stainless steel bore brushes and the cheap harbor freight stainless steel brushes you get in either a kit of several sizes with the nylon brushes. The blue scotch pads for use in teflon pots and pans are also very good to remove stuff without harm to your finish.
https://www.realavid.com/product/bore-max-speed-jag-patches/
Bore-Max® Speed Brush® – REAL AVID®
If you have a Bass pro or Farm and Fleet near you they carry a large selection of Real Avid gear.
The stuff is incredible good the patches are really reasonable and you can buy just the patches in large packs when you run out. It's super simple to use and one of the few patch, jag and brushes that punch way above others I've used in the past.
RickAnderson
Custom
Honestly it was just a guess on my part, BUT, it just made sense, bore solvent was designed to remove copper fouling off the surface of a bore. And that is pretty much what you have on the surface of your slide.
And yes, its easy to do, I just did it myself, you brush it and don't even notice until you look at if from another angle, and suddenly there is a brass tint to the entire area you brushed and its not wiping off. But in my case, since I'm blasting it soon to cerakote it, so for me, meh, the blasting will get rid of it......
And yes, its easy to do, I just did it myself, you brush it and don't even notice until you look at if from another angle, and suddenly there is a brass tint to the entire area you brushed and its not wiping off. But in my case, since I'm blasting it soon to cerakote it, so for me, meh, the blasting will get rid of it......
RickAnderson
Custom
I am just learning that brass and bronze brushes will transfer metal to the other surface, but have been using them for years. I guess it really depends on the surface your brushing. In my case it was degreased and dry slide coated in what appears Melonite. I might be wrong. But the surface has a flat texture, brought out even more by being degreased and dry, meaning it might be rough surface that could trap miniscule particles.
That is the downside of flat paint, it traps dirts and stains. I'm guessing something similiar is going on with brass brushes, the right kind of surface will trap the tiny particles of brass that will sluff off the brush.
Yep, I have tons of them for everything, they are incredible. I use them mostly for dishes and auto work, I don't stock them in any of my cleaning boxes for firearms, but I might change that. I wouldn't hesitate to use them on firearms.
They really scrub well, like more abrasive pads, but they are not abrasive and won't damage the surface.
blues_hawk
Operator
I know it's possible I'll get labelled old school for bloviating all this but that's fine.
(I don't usually spill this bit) I was trained by an old navy corpsman macv-mcb5(who "never went to Laos" but somehow knew all the seals(and worked on the first m60 converted minigun for them) and was later port range master - where I came along catching hot brass behind the safety line at the age of 6. He always joked about using one wet patch, two dry and then shoot it once, but in reality used the same methods I do now. I'll keep my opinion in first person so folks won't feel targeted. (triggered?) lol
I always break the gun down to keep solvent and gunk from getting where it isn't, to prevent wood from soaking it up and to check for anything down the action(lint in the ccw). I've also been a fan of ptfe dry lubes(dryslide) since before plastic guns became a thing.
I don't do the copper cleaner and brushes very often in mine but I'm not usually running thousands of rounds through them these days and use cast lead handloads when I do. I can't recommend using any heavy water based detergent like simple green or purple power as it's rust waiting to attack instantly imo. It pulls all the oils out and starts the oxidation process. Cerakote probably survives it but a bore would not fair well. Again, this is just my opinion and ymmv. No offense intended.
The muzzleloader gets boiling clean water with a funnel and a cork in the breach end then mops/patches, oil/bore butter. Works better than any of the pepto bismol smellng crap I've bought. I do this after testing and again after every deer.
My post range kit is still Hoppe's #9 and a mop, then one wet and as many dry patches as it takes to come out clean.
Hoppes vs. ruger's fake CCH "finish" (smh) Ruger still owes me for two of those.
(I don't usually spill this bit) I was trained by an old navy corpsman macv-mcb5(who "never went to Laos" but somehow knew all the seals(and worked on the first m60 converted minigun for them) and was later port range master - where I came along catching hot brass behind the safety line at the age of 6. He always joked about using one wet patch, two dry and then shoot it once, but in reality used the same methods I do now. I'll keep my opinion in first person so folks won't feel targeted. (triggered?) lol
I always break the gun down to keep solvent and gunk from getting where it isn't, to prevent wood from soaking it up and to check for anything down the action(lint in the ccw). I've also been a fan of ptfe dry lubes(dryslide) since before plastic guns became a thing.
I don't do the copper cleaner and brushes very often in mine but I'm not usually running thousands of rounds through them these days and use cast lead handloads when I do. I can't recommend using any heavy water based detergent like simple green or purple power as it's rust waiting to attack instantly imo. It pulls all the oils out and starts the oxidation process. Cerakote probably survives it but a bore would not fair well. Again, this is just my opinion and ymmv. No offense intended.
The muzzleloader gets boiling clean water with a funnel and a cork in the breach end then mops/patches, oil/bore butter. Works better than any of the pepto bismol smellng crap I've bought. I do this after testing and again after every deer.
My post range kit is still Hoppe's #9 and a mop, then one wet and as many dry patches as it takes to come out clean.
Hoppes vs. ruger's fake CCH "finish" (smh) Ruger still owes me for two of those.
dkirk18
Operator
me too! I was super bummed out...I didn't know the bronze brush could transfer...I wasn't scrubbing hard at all...just some light passes over the end of the slide...I'm gonna post a pic of the after...
dkirk18
Operator
RickAnderson
Custom
I didn't think Simple Green was a Detergent based cleaner, but I don't really know. It is supposed to be cut with water, so yes, it is safe to assume that most bottles you purchase have at least some water in them.
Simple Green is banned for aircraft because it is bad for aluminum. It has something to do with how alkaline its PH balance is. (AR-15's have aluminum receivers as well lots of other parts of the rifle, lots of pistols have aluminum frames)
Yet it is used in automotive that has lots of aluminum without any damage.
I think the difference you see here is, if the Simple Green is rinsed and flushed away, it won't won't damage the aluminum. Which is fine for Automotive, but the High Level of Systematic Safety of Aviation has banned it simply on the risk that it could seep in to places on all aluminum aircraft, and not get flushed away and thus do damage.
I use simply green all the time on all sorts of things in all sorts of applications, it is my Go To cleaner. I have never encountered it causing rust.... ....until recently, to degrease my slide and some of its parts for cerakoting, I immersed them in a tray of simple green, then got involved in other projects and forgot about them and let them soak for several days, instead of the hour or hours that is usually all that is necessary, I pull them out and find rust, not bad, but these are on coated treated parts... It looks like the few rust spots grew out of tiny unseeable by the human eye scratches in coating/treatment. So this confirms what you say.... ....I'll only add its not as likely to cause rust as water, and won't if you flush it out or neutralize it after use, but it is possible...
People talk about using Hoppe's #9 to clean this or that or the entire weapon, I always point out, it is called Bore Solvent, not Firearm Cleaner. That doesn't mean you can't use it as a solvent as needed, this thread is a perfect example, it means you shouldn't make a habit of it to use it to clean everything all the time.
Since there are schools of thoughts that cleaning of firearms is different than everything else, it has been taken too far sometimes (especially from the Military). The military decided to dumb down cleaning to only using the same thing as the lubricant and protection. Which works, its just not as effective. They didn't want servicemen damaging the weapons experimenting with different ways of cleaning, and even good ways can damage the weapon if you do it right. While cleaning with the same lubricating oil, you can't screw it up.
When you do household cleaning, you never rinse or wipe away the solvents or nasty detergeant you use, you just leave lie on the surface? Of course not. People cleaning their car with detergents and soaps, or cleaning parts with solvents or degreasers, just leave those products on the paint or on the part? Of course not, you rinse them away or flush them out.
In my firearms cleaning box is the common cleaning and protecting products, like CLP, Bore Solvent, etc, it also has spray bottles of Simple Green, Denatured alcohol and even WD-40. I use the latter as appropriate, in fact the alcohol is for flushing out the simple green if I use it so it doesn't seep into nooks and crannies to remain and do damage. I don't use the Simple Green on my AR-15 because of all the aluminum, that could suffer worse damage than steel if any is left behind. WD-40, since its a mild solvent, to spot clean a stain, and to wipe down the exterior metal of firearms as corrosion protection.
So I use Simple Green on Firearms, as well as Denatured Alcohol and WD-40, sometimes even soap and water, along with all the other more common cleaning and lubricating/protecting products specifically for firearms. BUT, AND THIS IS KEY, I use them appropriately and in a thought out systematic process. Not as a mindless, replacement of one for the other. Like the guy that decided simple green is such a good cleaner, he wipes down his firearms with it before putting them in the safe, Huh? Simple Green is NOT a substitute for gun oil, you're using it totally wrong!
I have been building two 80% frame pistols and cerakoting them. I have taken individual parts from a completely disassembled weapon and cleaned them in the sink with hot soapy water, then thoroughly dried them and treated them with a protectant oil product. It works very well, especially when you have parts covered in particles from filing. That doesn't mean a good way to clean a firearm, even field stripped, is in the sink with hot soapy water, no matter how well you dry it, water will get trapped in the assembled parts and rust will start.
SimonRL
Hellcat
Wow! That’s quite a difference. I’m glad you were able to sort this out.