Am I just paranoid, or is using an explosive like gasoline not a good idea for gun cleaning, especially in an enclosed space?

I don't think gasoline is technically explosive. At worst it would be a deflagrent and at best flammable. In any case many of the good solvents are flammable and chemically nasty; and it is ill advised to use them in an enclosed space.

As far as cost saving stuff... I haven't used it for any gun stuff, but Starting Fluid takes grease off like nobody's business! Blows axle grease right out of clothing. Definitely use outdoors. I have to stay upwind, as it make me nauseous, so I don't use it unless I have to.

Hoppes #9 is pretty durn flammible. It'd surprise me is it were much less so that gasoline. Sure, of course you should take fire preventative measures when using solvents.

I don't suppose we have a chemically educated person here who can really tell us about flash points and such? My first impulse was , 'gasoline, are you insane?' but then I thought, 'well, paint thinner is pretty darn flammable too'.

In any case let me put in +1 vote for Ed's Red; it works as well as anything I've tried, and you can mix it up by the gallon for a tiny fraction of whatever it is you might buy at the gun store.

Then let's start debating lubes. My 1911 seems to work fine with 5W30 motor oil.

Gasoline is only explosive if mixed with air - vaporised. Gas vapor exploding is what makes a car engine go. If you have good ventilation, you're fine. If not, you're asking for trouble.

Personally, I wouldn't use gasoline for two reasons. One, pump gas has additives, I don't know what they are. Two, it really burns my skin. I just got out from under a car where I had some gas soak into my t-shirt and that sucked royally.

Uh, actually, I am a chemist. Did a little research, and found that Hoppe's FP is 59 degrees F, i.e. below room temperature. So, yeah, it's highly flammable. Nevertheless, I know gasoline's is about -40 to -45F. Far easier to light on fire. Still, as long as there is no point of ignition. there can be no fire. Don't smoke while you clean your guns.

Now, as to paint thinner. Most paint thinner is a grade of petroleum distillate known as "Stoddard solvent". Slightly heavier in grade and lower in flash than commercial gasoline. Sometimes this is labeled "Varnish Maker's and Painter's (labeled "VM&P") Naphtha".

Hoppe's has a NFPA rating of 3, as does gasoline. Paint thinner, just 2, same as kerosene and diesel fuel.

So, yes, they are a bit more flammable. But mixing with the heavier components mitigates this somewhat, and in any case, one should always be careful about fire in the area of organic solvents.

The primary reason for the substitution of diesel for kero or gas for paint thinner, is that these car products also contain detergents and other cleaners, which aids me in my objective, which is cleaning guns. But that's just me.

Thanks for the education.

One question I have, though, is if these homemade cleaners made with inexpensive common chemicals work so well, why haven't we seen someone start selling them commercially? They could sell them in bulk at half the cost of others and still make money.

Liability, marketing, overhead, liability, etc... is my guess.

Maybe some of the existing products did start that way. Then the business grew, and with it costs grew- for facilities, machinery, advertising, salaries, HAZMAT FEES, etc...

Ever Try Simple Green to clean a really skunky Auto? I used to shoot bullseye powder - I had to use simple green to get the residue off.

Marketing and overhead don't really count, since any commercial product shares those items, more or less.

Liability is the one I wonder about -- if (and I'm not challenging the actual chemists here on this point!) the homebrew cleaners really are more dangerous than packaged ones, perhaps the reason they aren't sold is that, well, maybe they are more hazardous to use than the existing chemicals.

Just a guess, mind you, but I'm always a little concerned when some simple, obvious solution to a problem doesn't exist in a commercial space. It usually isn't because sellers want to work harder to produce a lesser product, but there's something "not right" about the simple, obvious solution..

Brownells carries Eds Red believe it was $7.99 for 4 ounces plus shipping. To save you the mess of mixing it yourself, If you use it to clean your guns how is it any more messy to mix it yourself? Never really figured the cost but believe somewhere under $10 a gallon=128oz

Isnt Polydunkit supposedly the same thing as Eds Red and sells for
IIrc $40 a gallon

Does the ground walnut from the pet store clean out the primer pockets better than the corn cob media?

Most of my reloading is for bolt rifles, so the brass doesn't get that dirty - except the primer pockets.

The pocket is cleaner than when the tumbling started, but for a really clean pocket, nothing beats a brush.

The rice as cleaning media in a tumbler is cheap and works pretty good on straight wall cases with large primer flash holes. I just tried it on some pistol cases that have small flash holes and what a pain. The rice sticks in the small flash holes and you can't just push it out, you have to break it off with a small screw driver, then you can use a small diameter tool push it out. Again, what a pain, if you are going to try it, don't try it with any brass that has small flash holes and I don't even want to find out what kind of jam it may create in a bottle neck case because of it's shape. Lesson learned.

Have used a few bags of the ground walnut shells that I buy at a local pet store, labeled as lizard and snake bedding. Works well for me.