Shotgun action (unstripped) - to give a whiz in the ultrasonic or not?

[bakereloadprune]

Hi all, I have a AYA Yeoman O/U (special edition) that I'm going to refinish the stock on. Not worth much (acquired from a Holts sealed bid a few years back), which is why I'm not thinking of taking it to smith for a full strip & clean, but I like it and shoot relatively well with it and want to keep it going for some years to come.

When taking the stock off the action, I had a good nose about inside. Years of dirt and grime around, not horrific but at the same time not ideal (I think). I'm contemplating on giving it a freshen up as my wife's o/u recently went in for a repair and came back gleaming and silky smooth, where I think it had a full strip and clean with the repair. I could go round with swabs and give it a sweep of sorts, but that feels a bit weak. My idea would be dunking the whole assembly in the ultrasonic for a clean as I'm quite certain that if I take it apart, I might not be able to put it back together! After that, give it a light oil and leave be.

Given the huge amount of knowledge current (and in past threads) I have acquired from here, I was hoping to seek some opinions on the idea and questions below.

- Is it a good idea to put the whole action into an US for a bit? Or is there another simpler/safer way its done in the trade - I read in a past post about boiling washing soda....but nothing in the action is blued I think? I was also thinking a can of brake cleaner and quick scrub with an old toothbrush might also do the trick?
- If I should go down the US route, I clean my reload brass in fairy+citric...would that be OK or too harsh for a SG action? I could get some SeaClean I keep reading about
- To finish off when dry a light spray of oil, let it sit for a day or more, then a wipe down to avoid pooling?

Appreciate any advice, as always - thanks in advance and apologies if this sounds like a foolish idea: I'd like to know either way!

BRP

 

[Tim.243]

I think the spray brake cleaner and fold up some tissue paper so you don't wash it to other places, bit at a time with the t brush

 

[enfieldspares]

In the trade the stripped action and its parts were boiled in water with a good dose or ordinary washing soda crystals. The sort you buy in a green packet from the supermarket and mix with boiling water and pour down the kitchen sink to clear out any grease. I haven't stripped or boiled and action for maybe ten years plus now but found that the cheap (new) chip pan and its mesh basket were a good "at home" way to do it.

 

[old 30-06]

My vote is for brake cleaner. Really gets rid of the muck and grime. Plenty of tissue to soak up the excess and give it loads. It will clean it up very nicely and you can follow up with some spray gun oil. Very quick, easy, and cheap.

 

[jthyttin]

If you want to use brake cleaner, you can buy it in can for about £5 per liter and just sink the whole thing in sealed container.

Sinking in diesel or something similar might also work, either combined with brake cleaner or used alone (for longer time like few days). Diesel is affordable (sic) and quite effective in loosening all kinds of gunk.

 

[6mmAI]

As said break cleaner or petrol and a airline

 

[nun_hunter]

Brake/carb cleaner would work but I'd personally use the Napier gun cleaner/lube. Its designed to dissolve all the likely oils and greases, flush them away and leave a fine film of oil afterwards. Most importantly its safe for wood and varnish so if you do leave residue it won't have adverse effects.

The important thing to remember with either product is to not use it sparingly but blast it in to flush crud away almost rinsing the action out.

 

[nun_hunter]

As said break cleaner or petrol and a airline

An airline is great but be careful there aren't any loose parts! I found out the hard way when doing this to a semi auto shotgun and blasted a roll pin and spring across the garden!

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Get it in the US cleaner the hit it with a solvent or brake cleaner.
Then light oil
Better if stripped but you will still get more out with the US

 

[kenbro]

I once put a Parker Hale .22 RF mod. In my US….went in black and came out very pale grey.
Ken.

 

[John Gryphon]

We used to rinse our auto shotgun actions out with simple petrol.

 

[andyk]

I did a Baikal action by submerging it in white spirit and then meths to clean that off. Seemed to work reasonably well.

I’d be wary of the ultrasonic. I’ve never found mine has damages something in the strict sense, but it can alter the finish quite badly.

 

[enfieldspares]

We used to rinse our auto shotgun actions out with simple petrol.

Thank you for this commonsense view. +1 if you aren't going to do a full strip and clean. +1.

 

[GWP]

I used cellulose thinners just fill a tin and soak for a couple of hours or overnight a quick brush off with a paint brush and another dunk to get rid of anything loose let dry and a light oil use a good gun oil and a pigeon primary wing feather striped to the last inch or so very little oil is required

 

[John Gryphon]

Thank you for this common-sense view. +1 if you aren't going to do a full strip and clean. +1.

We were fox hunting in those days Richard, six days a week driving patches of bush, doing dens (yes earths ) with terriers and walking up to them in windy nights with a m/bike battery. We shot foxes on foxes on foxes and every 'now and then' due to un burnt powder in the actions (autos) we did the petrol caper. Easy and quick as, some may be horrified...I know some ha ha.

 

[paul o']

S/U if your going strip n deep clean and re grease or carb it if your just chasing the crud away. your choice there are many ways to to skin a cat.

 

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

I'd strip it the ultra sonic it.

I did my beretta silver pigeon after it started having problems, job done!

They look complex but once your in them you realise they really are not that hard to strip and put back together. Do all my own guns now

 

[Bowland blades]

Diesel / Kerosene is a brilliant penetrating and cleaning , Its terrible on the wood and such . If you clean in action you will miss things that need sorting . I would take anything like this that i lacked tools required or knowledge on how to strait to a professional.
Meanwhile do the job you do to pay them . I do a few restorations have from my teens but learning when to send something out and when to do it yourself revolves around the tools you have and your time against their time . Its like doing an oil change on the truck , sure i can do it but i then need rid of a load of old oil filter etc which means a ride out to dispose of the waste

 

[Smellydog]

I think the spray brake cleaner and fold up some tissue paper so you don't wash it to other places, bit at a time with the t brush

Not the wife's tooth brush!

How do we know the toothbrush was invented in Stoke on Trent?










Because if it was invented anywhere else it would of been called a teethbrush!!

 

[bakereloadprune]

Thanks to everyone for their input. Yesterday I ended up giving the receiver half a can-full of brake cleaner and working around it gingerly with a toothbrush/teethbrush. Safety glasses invaluable (for anyone reading this in the future), as well as giving what I could delicate wiggle and jiggle as I went along. Wonderful amount of grime and sludge came out and gave it a quick blast of canned air before misting and wiping over the whole unit with naiper gun oil. Leaving it at an angle for a couple of days to ensure there's no pooling, another quick blast of air before putting it back into the stock.

Also noticed in the nose around after cleaning that the ejector trip rod has broken, though it still functioned last week...thankfully ASI have one in the post for me later today!

Will see how the action feels after another round of clays - hopefully job done. U/S is backup if anything feels at all crunchy after some cycling, but right now it all feels nice and smooth.

In the meantime, I'll be getting a set of punches as they'll be invaluable if/when I go for a full strip and clean myself.

Thanks again all.
BRP