Ultra sonic pistol barrel cleaner

[pjames32]

I purchased a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner to clean my brass. With lemi shine and dawn it seems to work well.
I'm wondering what solution I could use to clean semi auto pistol barrels.
Input please!
Thx
PJ

[ffries61]

I use the Lyman solution for ultrasonic cleaners, it works real well on my semi-auto parts, though I always clean the barrel with traditional methods first.

Fred

[AggieEE]

If you have copper fouling in the barrel add some sudsy ammonia liquid to your cleaning solution. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation, outside is better, as it will out gas ammonia like crazy. If you have lead fouling I think some vinegar will dissolve the lead but it may attack the bluing so try it on a junker barrel first. If you have a pan just big enough to put the barrel in and have it fit in the ultrasonic. Put some kroil in the pan where it covers the barrel then float the pan in the ultrasonic with soapy water as a transfer medium. It should help the kroil to get under the leading. If just plain old dirt/grease soapy water should do just fine.

[KenH]

Aggie (or others), "IF" the barrel and Kroil are in a pan floating in the ultrasonic cleaner, what is the purpose of "soapy water" vs just plain water? Since soap breaks down the surface tension of water, does that allow better transfer of ultrasonic energy?

Ken H>

[pjames32]

Thanks for the input. Mostly I'm lazy and do have a few that lead barrels.
PJ

[dragonrider]

I have an HF unit also and I put any gun part in it that will fit, barrels included. They come out nice, very clean. I use simple green as my solution.