Ed's Red

[joeb33050]

Ed's Red and Cast Bullets
I've never made a batch of this bore cleaner/preservative, mainly because the batch size is about a gallon, and I use ounces of bore cleaner per year. A gallon is more than I have room for and more than I'll ever use.
I wanted to try some of this stuff, so I asked for a sample and got a few ounces about two years ago, from a volunteer. I put the name of the volunteer and all pertinent info "somewhere where I can't lose it", and now I can't find it. (Whenever I do come upon "somewhere I can't lose it" I'll be able to retrieve a great deal of stuff.)
Anyhow, I've been using the Ed's Red along with Kroil, Marvel Mystery Oil and Odorless Paint Thinner for about two years, and the Ed's Red is about gone. It was no better nor worse than the other solvents.
I can clean a cast bullet rifle so that patches come out clean after brushing, but it takes a lot of work and brushing and patches to get there; and I've never found the benefit. I clean with patches made from paper towels, brush infrequently and not much, and accuracy seems as good as when the major cleaning is done. I always leave the bore with a coat of Marvel Mystery Oil, and can't remember the last time a bore rusted on me.
I believe that cleaning a cast bullet rifle after shooting is mandatory, because once an uncleaned bore corroded (a bit) on me.
Some say that they don't clean for years at a time.
Kroil cleans a cast bullet rifle too well. I can, on demand, clean with Kroil and then lead the barrel with a few shots. Fortunately, Kroil on a tight patch, so that it squeaks as it is pushed through the bore, will remove leading. When I clean with Kroil I always follow up with Marvel Mystery Oil.
Ed's Red has the squeaky quality, as does odorless paint thinner. Marvel Mystery Oil doesn't squeak.
Both Ed's Red and odorless paint thinner will remove lead from the bore when used with a very tight patch and pushed through the bore; neither does as well as Kroil.
After patching and brushing a bit with a Nylon brush and patching again, I've left each of these in the bore for a day, and never got a dirty patch out. I can't get any of them to dissolve any fouling in the bore, if there is any fouling in the bore. There must be,
since brushing with any of the three will leave the next patch dirty.
Ed's Red is said to have some preservative properties due to the lanolin. I'm fortunate to live in an air-conditioned condominium, so rust has not been a problem.
I shoot only cast bullets. I just looked at my rifles and pistols to check, and none has ever had a jacketed bullet through the bore as long as I've owned them. Therefore, I don't know how Ed's Red works with jacketed bullets.
I use Unique, IMR4198, 4227, 4895, SR4759, AA#9, and a few other powders very rarely. Some 90% of my shooting is with IMR4227, SR4759 and AA#9. So, I don't know how Ed's Red works with other powders.
I lube with the NRA formula 50/50 beeswax/alox in the lubrisizer and Darr lube for pan lubing. I don't know how Ed's Red works with other lubes.
I've cleaned cast bullet rifles with #2 home heating oil, gasoline, kerosene, soapy water and about anything wet and likely. As far as I have been able to tell, no cleaner I've tried, including Ed's Red, is significantly "better" than any other. For me, a can of Kroil, a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil and a bottle of odorless paint thinner are all I need.

[jonk]

I've found that none of the above will really dissolve copper fouling for jacketed, though some like kroil might slowly loosen it by getting under it.

Ditto on lead fouling.

You must have some nice bores if you never have to do anything other than a tight fitting patch to remove leading... :)

[dromia]

What I like about Ed's Red is it oils as well as cleans and I'm a big fan of it, still to each his own.

In my "J" word rifles I use Eds Red and household ammonia patch and patch about, works very well and is cheap.

For old, clogged barrels I'm a big fan of Wipe Out products.

[Pawpaw]

I don't really clean my Pb firearms unless I'm using black powder. In the one rifle that I shoot only cast bullets with smokeless, it hasn't been cleaned in years. It's the Model 94 that rides behind the seat of the truck and it's been a pleasant partner for about five years now.

From my experience and Junior's experience, the barrel of a cast bullet rifle, when everything works like it's supposed to, takes on a seasoning like a black iron pot. Nothing sticks to it and it doesn't rust. I call it black bore condition and it suits me just fine. I could scrub it off with a brush and make the bore shiny, but then I'd lose all that good seasoning.

[unclebill]

if any of you need some ed's red.
about 3 years ago i made 2 1/2 gallons of it.
i have enough for the rest of my life.
pm me and i'll give ya some.
bill

[Shuz]

I use Ed's Red and only make 4 ounces up at a time. The point is that the ingredients are mixed in equal parts. In my case, the "parts" are 1 ounce each. By the way, I do not add the lanolin.--Shuz

[carpetman]

The four ingredients for Ed's Red mostly come in quarts so I made a gallon. I store it in a Coleman fuel container and keep it in my storage shed. I made my batch a few years ago and as best I can tell it's as good now as when first made. I did give a neighbor a jar of it. I keep an old Hoppes jar full of it in my garage where I do my gun cleaning and refill the jar as needed. Probably the gallon was no more cost wise than 4 Oz of Hoppes. I did add the anhydrous lanolin to mine and have no complaints about it.

[buck1]

I am a fan of Eds Red for cast boolit shooting wo/lanoline. It seems to work at least as good as #9 on cast. Its not as good as Shooters Choice (my favorite), but its not bad at all.
It has one thing on its side that most others do not, and that its cheep wile still being good. Plus I just like the fact that like my bullets and lube, and ammo in general ,I get to make it!
As for rusting between cleanings my Lithium based lube leaves a nice film in the bbl after each and every shot. But I too finish with marvel on a patch just for good measures and to keep the sun from catching on fire.
Joeb , that was a good review . Thanks for posting it and I agree and ejoyed it as well....Buck

[felix]

Dang, Buck! We need to set fire to the sun. I heard on PBS the sun is going cold this winter, because of black spots, or whatever. Sun Spots, actually, are they supposed to cool things off? ... felix

[cbrick]

Some like to make things themselves, some would prefer to purchase what they need. Ed's Red is a cleaning solution that can be easily made at home and in a quantity that is far cheaper than commercial products. Here is the article that C. E. Harris wrote about his cleaning solution including the recipe and mixing instructions.

Ed's Red by C.E. Harris (http://www.lasc.us/EdsRedBoreCleaner.htm)

Rick

[Shiloh]

I've been using Ed's Red for about three years now. I mixed it up in an empty Coleman Fuel can without the lanolin.
There is about about 1/3rd of it left in the large can with the balance in a pint Hoppe's #9 bottle, and a squeeze bottle in my range supplies.

As stated in a previous post, Ed's Red works as good as anything else to clean up after cast bullets. I have an ancient bottle of Sweets 7.62 that is as pungent as when it was new for copper fouling. If I use Sweets, I do chase it with Ed's Red. It seems that I read somewhere that Hoppe's was mostly kerosene with some other aromatics in it. If someone knows for sure let me know

The ATF in Ed's Red leaves a nice protective sheen on the bore or other metal surfaces that I clean with it. It was money well spent and a VERY economical cleaner/powder solvent.

Shiloh

[DLCTEX]

joeb33050: I think I sent you the Ed's Red, if it smelled like turpentine, it was probably mine.I used the items I already had on hand, and the original formula contained turpentine, IIRC. I used the lanolin, and have had no rust problems with any bores or exterior metal rusting, but our climate is relatively dry. I have been using the foam copper remover for jacket fouling, and find it works well. I mixed a quart when I made it and have given enough away that I need to make a new batch. I will probably not use turpentine this time, as my wife finds it objectionable, I rather like it. DALE

[anachronism]

I've been using ER for many years. I'm on my second gallon of it. The first one only lasted about 3 years, but I use it for cleaning everything on guns. It cuts through powder fouling and lube residue as fast as the store-bought brands, maybe faster. When the guns are all clean, I spray them with brake cleaner & wipe them off. Then I take a patch with ER & wipe everything down. Then I wipe off the excess with a reasonably clean cloth. My guns have no rust on them anywhere. I live in a humid state and need all the help I can get. I also use it to clean my reloading dies & presses. Once again, no rust. I'll bet it's even good on pancakes! :)

[13Echo]

I've been using Ed's Red for about a year. I followed the recipie except elected to use turpentine like the original Frankford Arsenal formula and I did add lanolin. It is an excellent cleaner and solvent and functions quite nicely as a gun oil as long as I'm careful with the stock finish. It is not a copper solvent and not particularly good at removing copper fouling but it does remove leading in my blackpowder rifles with a tight patch. I like it and now use storebought only for copper fouling.

Jerry Liles

[monadnock#5]

When I made up my batch of Ed's Red, I substituted Marvel Mystery Oil for the ATF. Not because I'm smarter than Ed, but because MMO is what I had on hand.

I found out later the best use for Ed's Red when I bought a Yugo SKS that had been immersed in the Comm Bloc equivalent of cosmoline. Ed's Red and a couple of rolls of paper towels along with lots of elbow grease, made that rifle shootable within three hours.

I'm with anachronism on this subject. Anything in the gun/reloading/auto dept. that needs cleaning short of degreasing, Ed's Red is superior in both price and performance.

[unclebill]

yep,
i forgot to mention.
ive cleaned cosmo off of 11 milsurps with ed's

[JeffinNZ]

Don't Brownells sell it commerically? Pretty sure they do.

[Shiloh]

Don't Brownells sell it commerically? Pretty sure they do.

Yup.

$7.99 for four oz. For several dollars more, you can make up a gallon.



Shiloh

[joeb33050]

joeb33050: I think I sent you the Ed's Red, if it smelled like turpentine, it was probably mine.I used the items I already had on hand, and the original formula contained turpentine, IIRC. I used the lanolin, and have had no rust problems with any bores or exterior metal rusting, but our climate is relatively dry. I have been using the foam copper remover for jacket fouling, and find it works well. I mixed a quart when I made it and have given enough away that I need to make a new batch. I will probably not use turpentine this time, as my wife finds it objectionable, I rather like it. DALE

Thanks, I don't know if it's turpentine, but it does smell strong.
joe b.

[Navahojoe]

I made up a gallon about two years ago and added lanolin (said it was better for your hands), and am still working on using it up. It works, with effort.
But lately I have been using "Breakfree CLP" on my .22 rifles and all handguns. The Breakfree CLP seems to work faster and with less effort. It removes powder fouling, lead, copper wash in the barrel off .22 bullets , and supossed to lube and be a preservative all at the same time.
The folks over at Rimfire Central seem to like it very well. I haven't been using it long enough to tell you about the lubing qualities or the preservative business, but, according to their website,BreakFree, that is, US Armed Forces use it for everything from cleaning weapons to snake bite. [smilie=1:

Not a recommendation from me yet, just telling you folks about it. If you like it, use it. If you don't like it, don't use it. Simple as that :twisted:
Youall have a good day now, ya hear?
regards,
NavahoJoe

[selmerfan]

I use Ed's at the start of a cleaning session. It seems to get the carbon out well, maybe not as good as GM TEC, but it still works well. It is also a FANTASTIC cleaning solvent for greasy car parts, or anything else that you want cleaned up in a hurry.
Selmerfan

[jonk]

Ed also suggests leaving it in the bore, i.e. wet after cleaning. As I normally oil the bore anyhow I often do so, but only on guns I plan on storing horizontally. If vertical I find it is too thin and too wet and runs out slowly. Even then I only do so after corrosive primers.

[725]

+1 for Ed's Red. Use it for normal maintainence, cleaning after the range, and storage. Frequently I apply after firing when the barrel is hot and let it soak until I get home to do a correct cleaning. Makes life easy.

[Rooster]

How is it against corrosive residue? Do I still need a water damped patch?

[dominicfortune00]

Dang, Buck! We need to set fire to the sun. I heard on PBS the sun is going cold this winter, because of black spots, or whatever. Sun Spots, actually, are they supposed to cool things off? ... felix


Actually the lack of sunspots is causing things here to slightly cool off.