Ultrasonic cleaner? Meh. I have one, I use it for 5.7 brass and OCCASIONALLY for cleaning gun parts. But no, it's certainly not part of my normal cleaning routine, and never will be.

Gun Scrubber is great if you want to degrease something, but you absolutely need to adequately re-oil the part afterwards. For routine cleaning, I never use it.

I used to use Hoppes #9 followed by an oil. It just got to be too much hassle, and I didn't like the smell.

I switched to Breakfree CLP. Worked fine, but I didn't care for the smell.

So I switched to Gunzilla CLP. Worked fine, hardly smelled at all, I thought I had found the answer. Then I discovered that it got gummy over time, and I had guns failing that hadn't been cleaned in a while.
PSA: Clean yer chit. But with what?

Then I switched to EEZOX CLP. So far so good.
EEZOX Gun Care

Personally I want a one-stop solution for routine cleaning, which seems to mean a CLP. Cleaning needs to be quick and easy, and in most cases I don't need it to be absolutely perfect. My typical cleaning routine involves:

- Q-tips
- A rag
- Boresnake
- EEZOX

Wham bam, thank you ma'am. Field strip, dab, wipe, whatever, put it back together, function test, move to the next one.

I've used CLP and admit it's good stuff, but frankly it's no better than plain old motor oil/ATF mix.

$8 for 4 ounces! $2 per oz. 128 oz in a gallon, so that's $256 for a gallon.

Um. NO thanks.

Contrast with motor oil and automatic transmission fluid. Both work a little differently but they are engineered thru a billion dollar industry to get into small spaces, clean, protect from carbon build up, lubricate, and work from sub-zero to 200+ degree temps for long periods without damaging metal or rubber. Motor oils and ATF are a heavily studied industry, and the application is essentially the same. Clean, lubricate, and protect metal machines with rotating and sliding parts and rubber seals/gaskets, etc. Designed to protect from carbon build up, remove dirt and contaminants, operate at very high and very low temps, and maintain long-term viscosity. That's exactly what your gun needs to do.

5 quarts of Mobile 1 Synthetic is ~$27 retail. That's 32 oz per quart, so that's 160 oz. Works out to be 17 cents per oz. Getting 1.25 gallons for a heck of a lot less than the various snake oils.

Plain old Mobile 1 synthetic motor oil will clean, lubricate, remove oils, and get into all the good parts...

No industry has spent more money researching lubricants than the auto industry with race cars running 1/2 million dollar engines. They aren't using CLP...

I realize we're not talking about much money, but don't be a sucker to snake oils.

Seriously...

Beware the expensive and mystery snake oils as some are WORSE for your guns than others. Frog lube has turned out to be a gummy terrible cleaner or lubricant or protector from moisture for instance.

I have watched a ton of testing videos and other such things and have not found anything that is much better than motor oil /ATF mix, for anywhere near the low cost. You might find something that is 50x more expensive but truly unlikely.

^ The CLPs are intended to clean as well as lubricate. How well do the automotive oils clean?

I honestly don't know . . . I'm asking.

I'm not a chemist. But logically, from formula 1 racing cars with 1/2 million dollar engines running races with multi-million dollar purses at 200mph for hours, to Mercedes and BMWs with $50,000 engines drive on this stuff for 10,000 miles between changes.

If you read Mobile 1 synthetic site, for instance, it discusses the properties to clean, lubricate, and protect including rust prohibitors. If you read up on automatic transmission fluids, it also discusses properties to clean, lubricate, and protect including rust prohibitors. They don't get too thin when it's hot, or to sluggy thick when cold.

Professional racers and auto companies are presumably running on the very best lubricants available to mankind for small metal parts - requiring lubrication, cleaning, and removing particles. There are billions of dollars at play in the racecar circuit and for auto companies to have the best lubricants known to man.

They are choosing motor oils at 17 cents per oz.
They are not choosing snake oils CLP at $2 per oz. These snake oils are a gimmick and not as good, and certainly not 11 times as good.

I think we've covered the motor oil vs everything topic at least once in past tribology threads. To each their own. It's not a contest of who's right. Use what you personally prefer and works best in your experience.

To the OP original topic: I have the Hornady ultrasonic cleaner and one industrial, larger model specifically for gun cleaning. Use the Hornady primarily for cleaning small volume batches of brass (22 Hornet, 7mm Rem BR) that I don't want to put through the wet cleaning/SS pins/tumbler method for various reasons. My recommendation would be to skip the ultrasonic cleaner for general gun cleaning and save your money for shooting/ammo or other uses.

For gun scrubbers I really like the Lucas contact cleaner:
https://lucasoil.com/products/out-door-line

I use separate products for cleaning and lubrication and have settled on these products.
General cleaning / Hose down (Brake cleaner or Lucas contact cleaner)
Hard carbon deposits (Boretech C4 carbon remover with a scotchbrite pad or 3M synthetic steel wool on stainless guns)
Bore cleaning (Sharp Shoot R Wipe Out foaming bore cleaner for copper and powder fouling removal)
Lubrication (Lucas gun oil and/or Hornady One Shot aerosol)
Light grease for pistol slides (Brian Enos slide glide used sparingly, or other comparable grease)

Gun slick has a foam cleaner too, that I use on PISTOLS. They state not to use the foam on gas operated (full) semi-automatic guns as it will get into the gas system.

Question: where are you using scotch pads to clean?

hey jukkou i only use the scotchbrite or 3M synthetic steel wool pads on stainless revolvers. i use it for scrubbing hard carbon deposits from the frame and especially around the forcing cone and front face of the cylinder.

would never recommend them for any kind of blued firearm unless you want a bare metal firearm

thanks for the tip on Gunslick. i'm always experimenting with different products so will give that a spin sometime. i'm using the wipe out on my xp-100 and contender barrels which are 10-16" in length.

I clean in the garage with full ventilation so the smell of Hoppes doesn't bug me too much. I usually clean with a mix of Hoppes and 35% or so Kroil. After scrubbing I blast RINSE with whatever aerosol lube is handy WD40, Amsoil spray lube, silicone spray, etc basically using the spray force and solvent to rinse. Then wipe down, lubricate as required.

Interesting you mention the Amsoil & silicon sprays. A bit off topic but for preventing rust on reloading dies I use one of two products:

CRC 3-36 Multipurpose Lubricant & Corrosion Inhibitor
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00192EX10/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FluidFilm Lubricant/Corrosion Inhibitor
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PWZ0XNM?pf_rd_p=c2945051-950f-485c-b4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=T1FKXQKXRZ78M5FWM7DX

Just might give the Amsoil product a spin for this application. Thanks for the info.

I really like the Amsoil lube. The cleaner is ok, jury still out on crusty carbon cleaning, but no problem normal pistol dirt. For serious dry bolt cleaning, nothing beats an overnight soak and scrub in the cleaner of choice. Most of that crud, ATF and motor oil don't touch imho.

Just remember that most ATF has a dye added so it's easily distinguishable from other automotive fluids. If you're an unapologetic over-oiler and you carry IWB, you might find some unexplained red stains on your undies.

Or maybe you're just maturing into a woman...