Cleaning Firearms with Ultrasound

Cleaning firearms is one of the more involved applications for ultrasonics, mainly because it requires a two step chemistry process. That said, it is a whole lot easier to restore and clean firearms with an ultrasonic cleaner than doing it the old fashioned way with a manual gun cleaning kit.

Obviously remove all bullets and drop into an ultrasonic tank with a mixture of 4-6 ounces of OmegaBlue per gallon of water. Using De-Ionized, Distilled or Reverse Osmosis water will give you better cleaning action. Heat the bath to 120˚F.

Let the components soak for approximately 5 minutes. Activate the sound waves to remove the balance of the residue – 1 to 5 minutes. If you have any wood stock, reduce the exposure in water to less than 2 minutes total. Wood and water don’t mix well for extended periods of time. Use a green 3M pad to spot clean if necessary.

Remove items and rinse in warm, free flowing water and blow off excess moisture using compressed air. Place the metal components into an indirect cleaning pan (metal basket-no holes) filled with a 10% mixture of Omega Rust Protectant and water. The indirect cleaning pan is placed in the ultrasonic tank in a double boiler fashion set-up. Run the ultrasound for 1 minute to penetrate all areas.

Remove the components and blow off excess moisture again with compressed air. Please do not rinse in water after the Rust Protectant step. Using a heat gun or blow dryer after this step ensures the firearms is dry. Lubricate the barrel and mechanism with a light gun oil. Learn more here. Have fun target shooting!