If you polled gun owners, you would probably find that most say one of the most tedious parts of owning a gun is cleaning it.
The traditional way involves messy and smelly chemicals and oils, taking apart the weapon, and painstaking scrubbing at each individual part and the inside of the barrel with wire brushes.
Thankfully, with the advent of ultrasonic cleaning, you can choose whether you want to clean your gun in the time-consuming traditional way or simply let the ultrasonic cleaning device do all the hard work for you–in a fraction of the time and more effectively. In fact, ultrasonic cleaning is 16 times more effective than manual methods of gun cleaning!
How Does Ultrasonic Cleaning Gun Cleaning Work?
Ultrasonic cleaning uses the power of sound waves to achieve its incredible effects. Ultrasonic sound waves are generated by the device and pass through a liquid bath, which is often a detergent or oil solution. When the sound waves impact the immersed object to be cleaned, they produce millions of tiny bubbles. When these cavitation bubbles collapse, they release jets of intense energy, dislodging dirt and grime from every surface of the object to be cleaned. Ultrasonic cleaning is used across many industries, and it has revolutionized gun cleaning.
How to Clean Your Gun Using Ultrasonic Cleaners
One common question is whether ultrasonic sound waves could potentially damage gun parts, especially rubber and plastic. Hard polymers are generally safe in ultrasonic cleaners, and many law enforcement agencies are subjecting tritium night sights to ultrasonic waves without any damaging effects. Experts, however, discourage the cleaning of any soft polymer or rubberized items, such as pistol grips, in an ultrasonic system.
Simple field stripping of the gun into its main component parts is usually all that’s required to ensure a good, thorough cleaning with an ultrasonic device. If you follow the basic teardown procedure in the owner’s manual, then you can achieve a fast, professional cleaning without the added labor or expense of complete disassembly of the gun.
Steps to Clean Your Gun with an Ultrasonic Device
Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. First, plug the device in and prepare the solution to be poured into the tank, following the label instructions on the ratio of solution to water. Once you immerse your gun, turn on the machine. Most firearms clean up nicely in 15 minutes or less, though if there is an unusual amount of carbon buildup, you may need to clean the gun for up to 30 minutes. Of course, this is still far less time than would be needed for traditional cleaning methods.
Once the time is up, take the gun out of the bath and inspect it. If there is still grime or fouling, you can either spot clean it by hand or run the ultrasonic cleaner longer. You may notice a sludge collecting at the bottom of the tank. This is normal. You can install a filter in tank which will catch this sludge, allowing you to collect and reuse the detergent solution.
Ultrasonic Lubrication Process
Once the cleaning is completed, it’s time for step two in the ultrasonic cleaning process – lubrication. Since the gun has just been deeply and intricately cleaned, the unprotected bore and intricate workings inside the frame need some penetrating lubrication to protect the surface metal from rust. Fortunately, there is an ultrasonic solution to this issue: a lubrication solution.
Ultrasonic lubricating solution not only oils all the gun’s parts but the ultrasonic action makes sure the oil evenly and thoroughly coats every surface. To lubricate the gun, just pour the premixed blend of solvents and water-displacing oil straight into the tank so all parts are covered, and turn on the ultrasonic cleaner for roughly 10 to 15 minutes.
Once the gun is lubricated, drain the tank again (saving the lubricating solvent for reuse) and allow the parts to fully air-dry. When the lubricating solution dries, it’s advisable to add additional lubricating oil on all high-use moving parts to prevent wear or damage.
Although some may prefer the time investment and effort involved with cleaning their guns by hand, there is a faster and more effective alternative. In fact, ultrasonic cleaners provide the fastest, easiest, most effective firearm cleaning system available.
Want to know more about gun cleaning with ultrasonic cleaners? Contact the experts at Omegasonics and find out more at 888-989-5560 or email us at
