Modified Ed's Red

[WRideout]

Don’t know about lamp oil. I know it’s close to mineral spirts or kerosene. The first batch of Ed’s red I wanted to make I needed kerosene. Local store quit carrying it. So untill I could get some I mixed up a very small bottle of atf and lamp oil. It worked great for gun oil .i have heard lamp oil is a more refined kerosene but don’t know but it’s close

I had some lamp oil on hand, so I used that too.

Different subject, when I worked in the crime lab, we used to keep acetone in plastic wash bottles. Acetone has a very high vapor pressure, so if we left the wash bottle closed up overnight, it would empty itself out, through the nozzle. After I came in to find the bottles empty a couple of times, I figured it out. I keep my Ed's Red in empty glass jars with metal lids. They work fine, but over time, the acetone seems to evaporate out, based on odor.

Wayne

[DonH]

I just leave the acetone out. Original purpose for the acetone was to cut plastic wad fouling in shotguns. opr to speed the action of the cleaner if you clean at the range between match stages. Don't add it if you don't need it. If you are patient and let it soak a while it does the job.

From the horse's mouth, or keypad, the original intent of the acetone:
A stage in production of nitrocellulose powder is "lacquer". That's right, the stuff high-end guitars are finished with. The acetone was included in the bore cleaner to cut carbon residue left in the barrel from burning nitrocellulose "lacquer".

Ed's Red was developed to reproduce the old red mil-spec bore cleaner. Harris's ingredient list duplicates the original list except with modern product names. The exception is the original contained sperm oil which is no longer available. According to Harris, Dexron ATF was developed as a "synthetic" sperm oil.

FWIW, the acetone stays in my Ed's Red and hang the smell

[Patrick L]

I mix it both with and without, use the one with for shotguns. Obviously that one gets stored in a glass bottle, with a gasket that gets checked frequently and replaced when needed. Otherwise, yes the acetone will evaporate out.

[Nueces]

I find that omitting the acetone leaves me with a wonderful bore cleaner and gun wipe. I keep a small quantity of acetone in an OEM can, so I can mix a bit in when needed. Haven't needed it yet.

[keithfan]

I always understood that Coleman Fuel (white gas) is the same thing as lighter fluid. I use Coleman fuel in my Zippos` because I always have some, and I don`t want to pay for lighter fluid in tiny, little containers.

[Petander]

Don't you use lanolin?

I find it a nice ingredient,just added some more to a little "bedroom bottle".

I use the original formula with turpentine,haven't found a need to modify.

[Ring3]

We used Coleman Fuel in place of lighter fluid in our hand warmers years ago. It worked fine. Nostalgic thinking about that now. Haven’t seen one of those warmers in years.

I use Ed’s Red with Acetone. Never had any issues doing so. Stuff works as good or better than any thing else I’ve tried. Older friend of mine put me on to Ed’s Red years ago. He was a WWII vet who shot a lot. Swore by the stuff for cleaning and lubricating.

Next batch I may try without and/or some of the alternative ideas posted here.

[WRideout]

BTW: If anybody wants to buy small quantities of acetone to use, plain nail polish remover is just acetone. I guess you could use the oily stuff too, and it wouldn't hurt anything.

Wayne