my Seekins rings came in with a light coat of oil. What’s the best way to get it off without taking off paint? Alcohol, acetone?
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Cleaning scope rings
- Thread starter Woolsocks
- Start date
True. I guess the same goes for the aluminum scope tube. Brake cleaner, then?
Dishwashing liquid in warm water. Cheap n good, and doesn’t booger anything.
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,702
- 20,402
I mean, leave it on there? Or just rub at a medium pace with an old rag?
Dawn dish soap and warm water, use a soft or microfiber cloth to scrub, rinse in hot water, dry with a soft rag.
Never be afraid of soap and water on any part of a firearm. Just be sure you rinse the soap away and get it dry afterwards. If you use real hot water to rinse, it will dry faster. I do this when degreasing for Duracoat. Warm and moving air will also speed the process.
If the part(s) should be lubed, apply once the stuff is dry. WD-40 is Water Displacement formula number 40. I like to use Naptha on triggers. Zippo Lighter fluid is Naptha but you can get a gallon at one of the big box home supply stores for what you pay for a few ounces of Zippo fluid. I use Naptha for other stuff firearms related too
Never be afraid of soap and water on any part of a firearm. Just be sure you rinse the soap away and get it dry afterwards. If you use real hot water to rinse, it will dry faster. I do this when degreasing for Duracoat. Warm and moving air will also speed the process.
If the part(s) should be lubed, apply once the stuff is dry. WD-40 is Water Displacement formula number 40. I like to use Naptha on triggers. Zippo Lighter fluid is Naptha but you can get a gallon at one of the big box home supply stores for what you pay for a few ounces of Zippo fluid. I use Naptha for other stuff firearms related too
lighter fluid is excellent for flushing out a trigger still in the stock and gun.
in reference to my comments, what is the problem with the oil? are you prepping them for coating/paint? if not, i like a little oil on the surface of my metal parts and its why i suggested just wiping it off.
My groups are walking around. Trying to eliminate the variables. Also found that my usual 18 inch/lbs of torque for the bases is low. Should be 32 in/lbs per the rifle manufacturer. Could see either of those causing problems with a higher-recoil gun.
So, when I took the things apart, there was tons of wipe-out under the base. Guess it migrated up through the screw holes. Will putting loctite on the threads avoid this?
Gave this a try. I did get a little rust on the screws. Guessing that won’t hurt their function, though.
Ugh. Now you need to clean that rust off. Try some WD40 or CLP with a brass bristle brush. Afterwards, label the brush so you don’t use it on anything steel, as you might get rust on that.
Then for other cleaning, seriously, acetone. For example, fill a little glass bowl, throw screws in there, grab screwhead with small pliers and rub screws with q-tips or use paper towels. A little acetone isn’t going to kill you, otherwise women would be all dead from removing nail polish. Which is acetone.
(But if you’re going to use a lot of acetone, like for cleaning a cast iron tablesaw, use a respirator with appropriate filter and butyl gloves. Most glove material acetone will pass right through, including nitrile.)
Anyway, if acetone scares you then use 99% rubbing alcohol found on Amazon, or 91% at Walgreens. Doesn’t work as well, but hey.
Don’t leave either acetone or rubbing alcohol open for a long time as it turns to water, I believe.
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How in the hell are you getting Wipe Out up in the scope base????? You really have to try to do that. You are doing something wrong in your cleaning regime. Are you using a small tube to put into the chamber and spray the Wipe Out down the bore? I am guessing not and you need to. You can find a small piece at most places like Lowes or Home Depot. Push it in the chamber and hold it in there while spraying and watching the foam come out the muzzle and then wait another few seconds so it doesn't expand back into the action from the chamber. Rifle should be on a slight downward angle so everything runs out the bore when cleaning.
As to your question, just take some 91% alcohol and wipe down the inside mating surface of the rings to take out that little bit of oil and you are done. No need to give them a bath or some crazy cleaning. Do the same to clean the oils off your ring screws also. Simple process.
Noted. I do use a hose, but I’ve been intentionally letting it foam into the chamber a bit to get the chamber clean as well. With the magazine out there’s a good 4 inch gap the foam would need to cross before there’s a risk of getting stuff in your trigger.
Sounds like I’ll stop letting it foam into the chamber. Regardless, I don’t like the idea that things can migrate up through those holes. One can disassemble and clean most parts of a rifle, and should if you hunt in the rain a fair bit. I wasn’t planning to take my scope off and clean under it every season though. Would rather make it so stuff can’t get under there. Hopefully loctite will seal them up. I’m not hearing any other suggestions.
Its not that hard to remove oil from metal....as mentioned, a few solutions are isopropyl alcohol and acetone...only caution about acetone is to be VERY careful to not get it on any finishes or material that you don't want stripped cause that stuff is a solvent for a lot of stuff.
Personally, I always have a can or two of Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber on the bench. Yeah...brake cleaner is cheaper but I find this stuff to work well and apparently not be too toxic or smell. Frankly, to just clean up manf oil from rings, any commercial gun solvent will do nicely.
Personally, I always have a can or two of Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber on the bench. Yeah...brake cleaner is cheaper but I find this stuff to work well and apparently not be too toxic or smell. Frankly, to just clean up manf oil from rings, any commercial gun solvent will do nicely.
Use the liquid version of wipe-out, which is called patch-out. Same manufacturer. Way less messy.
They are "Hygroscopic". They will absorb moisture in the air.
I'm the furthest thing there is from being a chemist, but I don't believe either of them will "turn to water", per se.
Yeah, I’m a dumbass. Lol
Your explanation is better. Basically they lose potency as they add more water from the air.
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No, not finding fault......
And, I don't want to go down this rabbit hole very far, but I think one would have to leave a container of either Acetone or Alcohol open for a good long time for it/them to absorb an appreciable amount of water. Meaning, I don't think 5 minutes is going to hurt anything, particularly for what you are suggesting that the OP do with the Acetone or Alcohol. But, the less time that the containers are open to ambient air, the better.
Yeah, I was talking about leaving it open on the bench semi-permanently. I sorta do that with CLP; it has one of those little flip-up caps.No, not finding fault......
And, I don't want to go down this rabbit hole very far, but I think one would have to leave a container of either Acetone or Alcohol open for a good long time for it/them to absorb an appreciable amount of water. Meaning, I don't think 5 minutes is going to hurt anything, particularly for what you are suggesting that the OP do with the Acetone or Alcohol. But, the less time that the containers are open to ambient air, the better.
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