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Charles L. Cotton wrote:

stevie_d_64 wrote:But you have a Stainless semi-auto right???

I do, but this is happening on my blue guns as well.

I'm going to experiment a little tonight by spraying some metal has Ed's Red on it, some that is bear metal and some that has #9. I think SJRTX's comment about the ingredients is on point, since it has happened only with Prestone Break Cleaner. Maybe their secret sauce is the problem.

Chas.

I think he is right as well...

If you don't get the same result, try doing the mix on a neutral surface like glass...Try adhiering a light coating (layer) of the Ed's Red stuff on Pyrex, and let it set...Then spray or apply the Prestone to it...See if it beads up, flakes or crystalizes like it did on the guns...

Just a wild thought...

Charles L. Cotton wrote:The specs are small, white, hard flakes about 2/3 the size of a flake of Unique powder.

Regards,
Chas.

Something else that hit me...

That sounds like the reaction is forming crystals of some chemical composition...Which may have the ability to "etch" or marr some forms of finishing on metal surfaces...

But you have a Stainless semi-auto right???

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

gigag04 wrote:would they blow out with compressed air?

Nope, they're tough little buggers!

Chas.

See...Now I have a concern...They are either congealing then hardening over a short period of time before you wipe the surfaces down, removing them...

Or the intermixing causes them to congeal and form adhiesive qualities, forming their own inhierant challenges...

Charles L. Cotton wrote:The specs are small, white, hard flakes about 2/3 the size of a flake of Unique powder.

Regards,
Chas.

Do the specs appear (or congeal/form up) when you actually spray the brake cleaner on the pistol?

Or do they form up "after" you finish spraying, in a short period of time?

There's something about chemical reactions in regards to (liquid) surface tensions and viscosity that make me wonder what is actually happening here...Like I said chemistry was not a strong point with me...

When it comes to some liquids; lubricants and solvents when intermixed tend to do some funny things...They sometimes do exactly the opposite of what you intend them to do as a single application or purpose...

I'm not saying you have a problem, its just that what you describe makes me think it may have the potential to be a problem if you didn't wipe it all down as good as I know you do...Some of those globules may become an attractant for dust and other grit obviously...

But figuring out why this is happening is whats fun, and challenging at the same time...

I'm not sure what those white specs are...It may be a chemical reaction between the two products that when they interact may develop these "specks"...

Are they more like smears, or are they tangeble like small "globs" of product...

You say they can be removed by scrapping them off with a tool???

But they only appear after you wipe the gun with a towel...Is that towel a deep ply bathroom towel, or is it more like a lesser "lint" producing "dish" type towel???

I'm thinking somethings coming off the towel maybe...Like fabric softener residue...But then again you shouldn't use fabric softener on towels anyway...But thats just me...Actually the wife got onto me about that...

If its a towel that is washed in the clotheswasher, then maybe somethings happening with the detergent "residues" left on the "clean" towel that maybe reacting to the products you are using on the gun...

I'm a little weak on the chemistry involved with all of the combinations of things you are using in this process...

But its sounding like to me thats whats happening...My first reaction would be that if you are able to clean it all off, and still get the firearm to a condition where you are happy with its function after cleaning...

I'd be happy with the process you have...

There may be a chemist amoung us who could take what you say, and tell me I'm full of it...

And come up with some sort of explanation why you get those smears or globs of stuff on your guns...

I do recall a discussion a few years ago on PDO about a product called "Dunk It", I heard a lot of pros and cons with that resusable bucket full of this CLP kinda stuff...You just dunked the gun whole, and not dissasembled (if you prefer) and pull it out after a period of time, wipe it down, and voila...Clean gun...

I didn't like the concept, because it produced lazyness in keeping people from getting too dirty when cleaning a piece of hardware...Plus there's no guarantee that all the internal nooks and crannies inside the firearm got cleared out of all the gook the "Dunk It" loosened and thus get wiped or blown out afterwards...

But then again, I don't know who all here does or doesn't use that product, and how well know it is...

I do have another idea for a Texas CHL Forum seminar...

A basic armorers or firearm maintenance class...

Keeping the focus on basic maintenance principles, and not so much on cleaning or lubricating products...

Just an idea...