GM Top Engine Cleaner

Ammonia is a gas at normal temperature and pressure. It dissolves very readily into water to form ammonium hydroxide also known as aqua ammonia. At about 28% ammonia gas has saturated water and no more can be dissolved into it. That is as strong as it can get. This concentration was commonly used in blue print machines and was/is very cheap. When there was such a thing as a blueprint (before computer plotters) you could by a gallon of aqua ammonia for 2 bucks. Anhydrous ammonia is ammonia compressed or chilled until it is a liquid and stored in a pressure tank like propane is. Anhydrous ammonia can be used as a refrigerant like freon. When used as a fertilizer for its nitrogen content it is injected into the ground as a gas where it dissolves into the present moisture and becomes aqua ammonia.

Ammonia is corrosive on copper and zinc (bullet jacked alloy) but not on steel which is why it is useful as a bore cleaner.

Ammonia should not be mixed with chlorine or chlorinated hydrocarbons. The problem is that compounds will be formed that are corrosive on steel and or toxic to people. Automatic transmission fluid, Kroil, carb or cylinder head cleaners, motor oil and some bore cleaners contain chlorinated hydrocarbons to improve their solvency. Bore cleaners that contain ammonium hydroxide or ammonium salts will not contain chlorinated hydrocarbons and therefore remain bore safe.

As Hovis correctly points out, ammonia gas is flammable but must be mixed with the right amount of air to support combustion. LEL (lower explosive limit) is the least concentration of ammonia gas in air that will burn is about 16%. There is just no way to get there starting with aqua ammonia or bore solvent. Like ammonia, glycerin is a component of some explosives but it is still safe to use yourhand cream.

Greg
 
Listen to what Greg said....

I did forget about the warning of Chlorine or Chlorinated Hydrocarbons. Bad thing happen when they mix. I mix and put my cleaning fluid in jugs like chlorine come in but never...ever...let any amount of the two mix. That's the reason I believe you not suppose to mix brands of pipe cleaners.

Most companies that use Ammonia in bore cleaners (as with most industries that use it) buy it in concentrate for easy storage, transportation and cost. My understanding is that Sweet's 7.62 is basically dawn dishsoap and 29% ammonium hydroxide at a 2:1 ratio (dawn being the 2).

I've heard of people using dawn and white ammonia at a 1:1 ratio.

BUT !!!!! Beware, ammonia is nothing to take lightly or to play with if you don't have a very good grasp of what is going on. The stuff can KILL YOU.

Now, I would have to check into the legal aspect of it but if someone needs some Ammonium Hydroxide to make cleaner with, then I can help but can not ship this stuff. If you let me know ahead of time and can meet me at a shoot, I can bring you some. I use it for more than making bore cleaner but I still have a lifetime supply.

Hovis
 
The great thing about ammonia is that its toxicity is quite low and it is corrosive on human tissue. What you say! How can this be good? Well, in the concentrations available in household ammonia or bore solvents the human organism's aversion to the consequential discomfort from exposure, particularly to the moist tissues like the eyes and nose, guarantees that a dangerous dose will never be acquired.

Not true for some other chemicals that are used in some bore solvents as an alternative to ammonia or others yet that have a talent for penetrating skin and getting into the bloodstream. Their mild odor would mislead the casual observer to deduce less danger from their actually much greater toxicity.

Not true for anhydrous ammonia either. Anhydrous ammonia boils at -28 F and like propane, exposure to skin produces frostbite. Worse is the caustic effect on skin. Since it is stored under pressure a sudden leak can spray and really ruin your day. Farmers need to use due caution when handling anhydrous. They do in fact have the most dangerous job. But we don't clean rifles with anhydrous ammonia.

By comparison, aqua ammonia doesn't have much potential for human injury. Just don't mix it with chlorine bleach. The Germans did that in WWI and it was ugly.

Greg
 
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28% ??

Whatever comes in the brown bottle is almost unusable indoors unless you have some kind of breathing apparatus. All you have to do is remove the cap to see what I'm talkin' about. You would be well advised to just take my word for it instead of trying it out yourself. Please see Bob Kingsbury's post above!
 
Barrel Cleaner

Went to SD to shoot Prarie Dogs. The guide we were with brought along a spray bottle of the Orange Citrus Cleaner.
Spray the first two patches and you would be amazed what black stuff comes out.
In New York City they use the citrus cleaners to remove all of the graffeti that the local artis put on the trains--appears to be pretty powerful
 
I Don't Ignore Anybody

I like to hear from all my defectors. Like the brain dead keep writing. That's you Francis.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
German,

I'm not aware of any incompatibility between Kroil and Shooters Choice. They share some commonalities. If folks believe that one improves the effectiveness of the other then go for it.

As a general principle, I like the idea of using products developed by experts for the specific application at hand. Packaging liquid floor wax as a firearms rust preventative, brake fluid as a bore cleaner or mixtures of citrus hand cleaner and green liquid soap for carbon removal are examples of misapplication of commercial products in the firearms realm. Some other home brew "breakthroughs" include mixtures that include ATF, Marvel Mystery Oil or motor oil. These types of solutions include unintended consequences.

Greg
 
Bob,

Hoppes and aqua ammonia won't mix without an emulsifier. If they would there is nothing in Hoppes that is incompatible with ammonia.

28% aqua ammonia is a problem in and of itself. On your hands it will quickly de-fat your skin. Just cracking the cap on a bottle of it will release fumes that will find any imperfection on your hands make you promise yourself to get some Platex dish gloves. If you're downwind and get a snort it will shift military tear gas training into the interesting experience category. The worst thing would be obscuring that lovely Hoppes essence of banana that sends us all to our wonderful firearms-centric outdoor memories.

If you want copper removal get Butches or Montana Xtreme. The worse it smells the faster it works. Keep the cap on tight and don't store it in your dispensing bottle.

Greg
 
Everybody,

While some bore solvents are more problematic than others, no bore solvent can improve your health through exposure. A box of 100 nitrile gloves is about 10 bucks. And a few of them packs realy small. I use them part of the time even with the products that I consider "safe".

Greg
 
When I worked in a large refrigeration plant we used ammonia as a refrigerant. I found the leaks by moving my hands around until I felt the sting. I think that we were supposed to use sulphur sticks.
Butch
 
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