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   Date: 01-10-98  19:26                Message #: 249           AirNSun
   From: Ed Harris                      Status: PUBLIC
     To: All                            Ref #:  0
Subject: Ed's Red Revisited             Conf: Firearms (72)
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"Ed's Red" - - Revisited
By C.E., "Ed" Harris
Since I mixed my first "Ed's Red" (ER) bore cleaner five years ago,
hundreds of users have told me that they find it as effective as
commercial products.   This cleaner has an action similar to military
rifle bore cleaner, such as Mil-C-372B.  It is highly effective for
removing plastic fouling from shotgun bores, caked carbon in
semi-automatic rifles or pistols, or leading in revolvers.  "ER" is not
a "decoppering" solution for fast removal of heavy jacket fouling, but
because is more effective in removal of caked carbon and primer residues
than most other cleaners, so metal fouling is reduced when "ER" is used.
I researched the subject rather thoroughly and determined there was no
technical reason why an effective firearm bore cleaner couldn't be mixed
using common hardware store ingredients.  The resulting cleaner is safe,
effective, inexpensive, provides excellent corrosion protection and
adequate residual lubrication.  Routine oiling after cleaning is
unnecessary except for storage exceeding 1 year, or in harsh
environments, such as salt air exposure.
The formula is adapted from Hatcher's "Frankford Arsenal Cleaner No.18,"
but substitutes equivalent modern materials.  Hatcher's recipe called
for equal parts of acetone, turpentine, Pratts Astral Oil and sperm oil,
and (optionally) 200 grams of anhydrous lanolin per liter into the
cleaner.
Some discussion of the ingredients in ER is helpful to understand the
properties of the cleaner and how it works.  Pratts Astral Oil was
nothing more than acid free, deodorized kerosene.  Today you would ask
for "K1" kerosene of the type sold for use in indoor space heaters.
An inexpensive, effective substitute for sperm oil is Dexron III
automatic transmission fluid.  Prior to 1950 most ATF's were sperm oil
based.  During WWII sperm oil was mostly unavailable, so highly refined,
dewaxed hydrofinished petroleum oils were developed, which had excellent
thermal stability. When antioxidants were added to prevent gumming these
worked well in precision instruments.
With the high demand for automatic transmission autos after WWII, sperm
oil was no longer practical to produce ATFs in the needed quantities
needed, so the wartime expedients were mass produced.  ATFs have been
continually improved over the years.  The additives contained in Dexron
include detergents or other surfactants which are highly suitable for
inclusion in an all-purpose cleaner, lubricant and preservative.
Hatcher's Frankford Arsenal No. 18 used gum spirits of turpentine, but
turpentine is both expensive and also highly flammable, so I chose not
to use it.  Much safer and more inexpensive are "aliphatic mineral
spirits," which are an open-chain organic solvent, rather than the
closed-chain, benzene ring structure, common to "aromatics," such as
naptha or "lighter fluid."  Sometimes called "safety solvent," aliphatic
mineral spirits are used for thinning oil based paint, as automotive
parts cleaner and is commonly sold under the names "odorless mineral
spirits," "Stoddard Solvent" or "Varsol".
Acetone is included to provide an aggressive, fast-acting solvent for
caked smokeless powder residues.  Because acetone readily evaporates and
the fumes are harmful in high concentrations, it is recommended that it
be left out if the cleaner will be used indoors, in soak tanks or in
enclosed spaces lacking forced air ventilation. Containers should be
kept tightly closed when not in use.  ER is still effective without
acetone, but not as "fast-acting."
"Ed's Red" does not chemically dissolve copper fouling in rifle bores,
but it does a better job of removing carbon and primer residue than most
othert cleaners.  Many users have told me, that frequent and exclusive
use of "ER" reduces copper deposits, because it removes the old impacted
powder fouling left behind by other cleaners.  This reduces the abrasion
and adhesion of jacket metal to the bore, leaving a cleaner surface
condition which reduces subsequent fouling.  Experience indicates that
"ER" will actually remove metal fouling in bores if if it left to
"soak," for a few days so the surfactants will do the job, when followed
by a repeat cleaning.  You simply have to be patient.
...continued to part 2...
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