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View Full Version : Ed's Red cost me $258



JonB_in_Glencoe
03-12-2011, 09:10 PM
I've read a few threads about Ed's Red Gun cleaner.
This is a popular Link I will add in case any reader has never heard of it before.
http://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsmjd/tech/eds_red.htm

I decided to mix a small batch today.
I had everything, except the Acetone.
I ran to the hardware store to get a quart ($8) and
met a former co-worker and friend who is a skeet shooter,
I haven't seen him in a couple of years.
I was telling him of my new Hobby of casting boolits.
He tells me, "I have some casting stuff I'll sell ya"

well $250 later... I bought all his stuff.[smilie=w:
a dirty Lee 10lb bottom pot
a funky small ladle made of formed sheet steel with plastic coating on handle
a RCBS 45-300 FN (GC) 2 cav. mold
a Ideal 457193 1 cav mold
a Ideal 40 cal RB 1 cav mold (tough to read stamping 380 or 390 ?)
a unmarked "OLD STYLE" one piece including handle 50 cal 1 cav. RB mold
a Lyman 450 Lubesizer w/ratchet
.45? lubsizer die (I assume it's .457)
.430 lubsizer die
2 top punches
a box of RCBS 45 cal gas checks (for the 457 I assume)
a .457 Kake cutter
a unknown die for Lyman 301 ? (it's stamped "Lyman 457 B S CH" )
a tube of Lyman "Ideal" bullet lube
a tube of Hodgdon alox bullet lube
a Lyman Iron Ingot Mold (I always wanted on of those to pour my Lyman #2 alloy into)
about 40 lbs WW Ingots
about 60 lbs mystery Ingot (I think it is nar pure...Finger nail scratch test)
about 20 lbs of cast boolits for 45-70 they look full of junk.
He told me he smelted WW's in the pot, after which, the boolits always had
black speckles in them, He didn't like them anymore and quit casting,
that was 20 years ago.
OH Yeah, He threw in 100+ 30-06 brass (some new primed)[smilie=w:

I'll probably be sellin' the molds, and the 457 stuff.
they are soaking in the Ed's red right now as they were quite dirty
and maybe some rust spots.

ANYWAY, BACK TO ED'S RED.
I heated 13 oz of Dextron III gently just so the 1/3 lb of Randyrat Lanolin would melt, it was probably about 140º.
I let that cool back to room temp.
I added 13 oz of K1 and 13 oz of some Old Gum Turpentine I had, instead of the Mineral spirits. Then I added 13 oz of Acetone.
I really like the smell of this stuff.
I cleaned two revolvers, one was quite dirty...It works great.
feels good on the hands to (must be the lanolin)

WHY 13 oz you ask ?
I only had 4 old steel (one pint size) cans with good steel caps to store/use it in.
I plan to share some with friends.

A very good day :guntootsmiley:
Jon

stubshaft
03-12-2011, 10:17 PM
Sounds like one of those "Lead Pushers" to me.[smilie=l:

JesterGrin_1
03-13-2011, 02:28 AM
You do not have to use the Acetone.

I made mine without it and it works great thus far for cast boolits. I like it for as you said cleaning stuff and for cleaning a dirty bore. :)

Walter Laich
03-14-2011, 11:28 AM
I've run into some of those 'deals' that cost a bunch of $$ but usually turns out well in the end

geargnasher
03-14-2011, 01:46 PM
The acetone is mainly for dissolving plastic wad fouling in shotguns, but I put it in there anyway because it's a non-polar solvent (I think, maybe it's polar, who knows!) and it balances the other three somewhat. The acetone evaporates out constantly so eventually it will be gone anyway, I add a splash every once in a while to freshen it up.

Gear

richhodg66
03-14-2011, 03:35 PM
"The acetone evaporates out constantly so eventually it will be gone anyway, I add a splash every once in a while to freshen it up."

I didn't know this. I mixed up my first batch a year or so ago and I can still smell acetone in it pretty strongly when I open the bottle, however, that could be misleading as the stuff does smell very strong and a very small amount in the mix could have me believing it's still full strength.

I keep it in a sealed bottle (empty Hoppes #9 bottle), and cap it tight as soon as I'm through wetting a patch. How long at this rate will it take to lose the acetone and it's effect?

gnoahhh
03-16-2011, 09:38 AM
A looooong time, in my experience. I mix it up by the gallon, keeping the acetone in the mix because I shoot a lot of shotgun. I give maybe 1/2 away and store the rest in a brown glass gallon jug that came with acetone in it for use in our labs. (I never knew there to be such a thing as "laboratory grade" acetone. Probably a marketing scam to suck a few more bucks out of us.) Anyway, by the time I have to mix another batch, the dregs of the old batch still smells "acetoney". (How's that for a scientific answer!)

10 ga
03-16-2011, 12:10 PM
Since you're gonna sell some of the stuff I'm sendin a PM. Hopefully before some of the vultures that lurk about smell the goodies. Good score on the PB too. 10 ga

Lee
03-16-2011, 12:48 PM
It's polar, unlike me, who has occasionally been accused of being bi-polar:veryconfu

TCLouis
03-19-2011, 10:41 PM
gnoahhh
Several more grades of acetone beside the common solvent and laboratory grades depending on final use.

It is all acetone, only the level and type of contamination varies.

richhodg66
03-20-2011, 12:26 AM
I haven't used it on a lot of shotgun fouling yet, but it works well for rifles and handguns. Cheap too. That's good to hear about the acetone cleaning plastic wad fouling, I really didn't know that was what the acetone is for when I made my batch up.

Firebricker
03-20-2011, 08:29 PM
I saw Brownells has Eds RED now and wow it looked expensive. I learned about Eds right here on CB and I know I've saved a lot mixing it by the gallon instead of store bought solvent. FB

MajorDude
06-28-2011, 09:19 PM
I've run into some of those 'deals' that cost a bunch of $$ but usually turns out well in the end

I ran into one of those pushers last winter, and that deal is going to cost me thousands if I wind up having to buy guns to fit all that oddball ammo!

1874Sharps
06-28-2011, 10:21 PM
I do not know anything about Ed's Red. What is K-1? Also, is the lanolin anhydrous and where is it purchased?

btroj
06-28-2011, 11:43 PM
I know is borderline blasphemy but I don't like Ed's red at all. It works as a cleaner but the smell isn't very pleasant and it dries out my hands horribly. I have not found it to be any better than commercial solvents. I can get GM top engine cleaner for 10 to 15 dollars a can and it will last me for a few years so the cost savings isn't enough to justify the hassle of making and storing it.
Just my opinion but I don't use it, not even the pint 1 was given by my FIL.

JonB_in_Glencoe
06-29-2011, 09:08 AM
1874sharps,
K-1 is a grade of Kerosine used in space heaters.
you can get Lanolin from "randyrat" here on castboolits or possibly the local drug store.
Jon

1874Sharps
06-29-2011, 05:40 PM
Thanks, Jon!

GREENCOUNTYPETE
07-14-2011, 02:46 PM
i tried , all it cost me was the lanolin and the mineral spirits , i was at the store for the mineral spirits to clean paint brushes anyway so i suppose it just cost me the lanolin

made a half gallon i should be set for a while now.