CA2210081C - Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun - Google Patents

Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2210081C
CA2210081C CA002210081A CA2210081A CA2210081C CA 2210081 C CA2210081 C CA 2210081C CA 002210081 A CA002210081 A CA 002210081A CA 2210081 A CA2210081 A CA 2210081A CA 2210081 C CA2210081 C CA 2210081C
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
foam
barrel
cleaning
firearm
composition
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002210081A
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French (fr)
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CA2210081A1 (en
Inventor
Markku Paananen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Milfoam Oy
Original Assignee
Milfoam Oy
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Milfoam Oy filed Critical Milfoam Oy
Priority claimed from PCT/FI1995/000006 external-priority patent/WO1996021837A1/en
Publication of CA2210081A1 publication Critical patent/CA2210081A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2210081C publication Critical patent/CA2210081C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F41WEAPONS
    • F41AFUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS COMMON TO BOTH SMALLARMS AND ORDNANCE, e.g. CANNONS; MOUNTINGS FOR SMALLARMS OR ORDNANCE
    • F41A29/00Cleaning or lubricating arrangements

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Detergent Compositions (AREA)

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for cleaning the barrel of a firearm, whereby a foam containing an agent that removes bullet residue is applied into the firearm barrel to be cleaned, the foam is allowed to act for 0.1 - 30 minutes, whereupon the foam is removed from the barrel.

Description

Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun.

The present invention relates to a method for cleaning the barrel of a firearm.
The barrel of a firearm has to be cleaned at regular intervals to remove the remnants of bullets and combustion residue such as soot, powder and burnt grease, accumulated in the barrel. In this context, bullet remnants means the metal residue left in the barrel from bullets, such as, in the case of commonly used bullets containing copper, residue of copper, possible copper compounds and other alloyed metals, e.g. copper and zinc residue and, in the case of lead bullets, lead residue.
Various methods and cleaning agents for the cleaning of a gun barrel are known. However, current cleaning methods often involve mechanical cleaning by scrubbing the barrel with a hard brush, such as a bronze brush. For example, in a commonly used cleaning method the cleaning agent contains aluminium particles which scrub off impurities from the barrel surface during mechanical cleaning.
Mechanical scrubbing is a laborious and time-consuming operation. Naturally it also causes wear of the barrel surface, thus shortening the service life of the firearm.
To remove the copper residue left in the bar-rel from copper bullets, cleaning agents acting chemi-cally on copper have also been tried. This type of cleaning agents usually contain ammonia, and the prob-lem has been that ammonia is very volatile, i.e. the cleaning agent quickly becomes ineffective as the ac-tive component evaporates. Furthermore, when such cleaning agents are used, the barrel must nevertheless be cleaned mechanically as well, so they do not elimi-nate the drawbacks associated with mechanical clea-ning. Moreover, the evaporating gases are detrimental and undesirable. The specification of European Patent Application No. EP 0 075 113 Al entitled Cleaning Agent for Barrels, published on March 30, 1983 presents a composition of substances that contains ammonia or amine compounds mixed in a gel to prevent evaporation.
In addition, the commonest cleaning agents currently used are relatively expensive.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks referred to above.
A special object of the invention is to pro-duce an effective cleaning method of a new type that reduces the need for mechanical cleaning and thus sig-nificantly extends the service life of the barrel.
A further object of the invention is to pro-duce a new type of cleaning method that is faster and more user- friendly than earlier methods.
The invention is based on the unexpected ob-servation made during investigations that bullet resi-due can be removed by using a foam that, in the case of bullets containing copper, contains an alkaloamine and, in the case of bullets containing lead, a nitrate salt. Thanks to the invention, a method has now been discovered that makes it possible to effectively and quickly remove the metal residue left by bullets in a barrel, without damaging the steel of the barrel.
In the method of the invention, ammonia can also be used for the cleaning of a barrel because the foam prevents evaporation of ammonia, so the cleaning agent does not lose any of its effectiveness.
For the first time, the present invention produces a firearm cleaning method that uses a foam containing substances that remove bullet residue. The foam to be used can be produced by using a tenside. The tenside may be any commonly used, foam-producing surface-active substance, such as coconut diethanola-mide.
Further, nitrate salt has now been used for the first time as a material that chemically removes bullet residue. It was observed during investigations carried out that lead residue in a barrel reacts due to nitrate salt in a way that allows the lead to be removed from the barrel surface without mechanical scrubbing. The nitric salt used is preferably an inor-ganic nitrate, such as alkaline nitrate, alkaline earth nitrate or ammonium nitrate, especially sodium nitrate. In the method of the invention, the cleaning can be performed by using any substance that forms a foam, preferably a consistent foam, that contains e.g.
exclusively nitrate salt, in which case it is appli-cable for the cleaning of firearms using lead bullets.
The pH of the nitrate salt solution is preferably ad-justed to an alkalic value if necessary. However, e.g.
in the case of sodium nitrate, no pH adjustment is needed. There is no indication that, when used in the manner described, nitrates cause wear of the steel ma-terial of the barrel. The reaction product is removed automatically from the barrel surface, or it can be removed bv using only a soft felt plug, i.e. without actual mechanical scrubbing. Thus, when the method of the invention is used, bullet residue can be effecti-vely removed from the barrel by wiping it with a mate-rial or plug commonly used for the cleaning of fire-arms, without damaging the steei material of the bar-rel.
In an embodiment of the method of the inven-tion, preferably a consistent foam containing an al-kanolamine and/or a nitrate salt is used, in which ca-se the method is applicable for the cleaning of both firearms using lead bullets and firearms using cop-per/copper compound bullets. In addition to its prima-ry purpose in the method of the invention, the alkano-lamine can also be used for the adjustment of the pH
of the solution to an alkal.ic value in connection with solutions containing a nitrate salt. The alkanolamine is preferably monoethanolamine or diethanolamine or a compound of these, especially monoethanolamine.
In the cleaning method of the invention, a foam is used that contains about 1 - 80 w-%, prefera-bly about 20 - 70 w-% nitrate salt, such as sodium nitrate, and/or about 1 - 70 w-%, preferably about 1-30 w-%, e.g. 2 - 25 w-% alkanolamine, such as monoet-hanolamine or diethanolamine.
In the method of the invention, a foam is us-ed that preferably additionally contains an organic solvent for the removal of combustion residue such as soot, gunpowder remnants and/or burnt grease. For this purpose, any solvent or solvents, especially a water-soluble/mixable solvent, may be used. In an especially advantageous case, the composition contains under 50 w-%, e.g. 1 15 w-% methylpyrrolidone and/or under 50 w-%, e.g. 1 15 w-% butoxyethanol, which have proved to be effective in removing combustion residue.
The amount of tenside used in the cleaning method is e.g. under 50 w-%, e.g. about 0.1 - 25 w-%
of the composition, depending on the intended applica-tion.
The foam used in the cleaning method may further contain about 1 - 90 w-% added water. By va-rying the amount of water, it.is possible e.g. to ad-just the concentrations of the active substances as desired. The amount of water added may be e.g. 5 - 60 In a preferable embodiment, an amount of un-der 15 w-%, e.g. about 0.1 - 3 w-%, of sodium salt of m-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid has been added to a compo-sition containing alkanolamine to assist in removing from the barrel surface the reaction products formed by residue from bullets containing copper.
The composition used in t~-_==method of the in-vention may additionally contain an amount of about 0.1 - 30 w-%, e.g. 1 - 10 w-%, of a barrel protecting substance, such as commonly known arms oil or prefera-bly so-called cutting lubricant, which may be of semi-synthetic or synthetic type and which prevents copper 5 from sticking to the barrel. The agent used for barrel treatment may be a water-mixable substance or it can be emulsified in water using e.g. a tenside and/or solvent, such as butoxyethanol.
The composition of substances used in the method of tht invention can be implemented in any sui-table form. Preferably the composition is in the form of a foaming liquid or, suitably, in the form of a spray sprayable as a foam, in which case it is packed in a container equipped to produce a spray, together with propellants if required. The composition may also contain an agent that increases viscosity.
In the following, the invention is described in greater detail by the aid of examples, which are only intended to illustrate the invention without li-miting it.

Example 1: Producing a composition of substances for use in the cleaning method of the invention.
A cleaning solution composed according to one of the following alternatives is prepared:
w-% prefer- composition Components red A B C D E
coconut diethanol-amide 0.1-50 4 25 2 3 monoethanolamine 0-70 1-30 25 2 15 70 . sodium nitrate 0-70 20-70 40 20 70 40 methylpyrrolidone 0-30 1-15 5 15 5 10 5 1-butoxyethanol 0-30 1-15 5 15 5 10 5 sodium salt of m-nitrobenzene-sulfonic acid 0-30 0.1-3 1 3 2 10 semi-synthetic cutting lubricant 0-30 1-10 10 10 10 10 water added 0-60 1-30 10 10 12 10 When compounding the components, the sodium nitrate is solved in the water added. It can also be added to other components in the form of a rich water solution. Instead of monoethanolamine, other alkanola-mines can also be used, such as diethanolamine. When the composition is produced in the form of a foaming liquid, the formulation is performed by using a tensi-de in an amount of e.g. about 0.1 - 30 w-%. When the composition is produced in the form of a spray, the amount of tenside used is e.g. 0.1 - 4 w-%. The con-centrations of active components are selected e.g. on the basis of the length of time the cleaning agent is to be allowed to act in the barrel. This action time may vary e.g. between 0.1 - 30 min., whereupon the composition is removed by using a plug of a medium, e.g. a felt plug.
The finished composition has an alkalic pH
value. The cleaning method of the invention is less hazardous to the user and the environment than earlier methods and the composition emits no toxic gases as compared with previous compositions. Moreover, consis-ting of cheap components, it is advantageous in res-pect of cost. The composition used does not suffer any loss of efficiency dur--ng storage or use. Furthermore, the composition' used in the method protects the bar-rel, and the addition of cutting oil has the effect that a smaller amount of bullet residue, such as cop-per, sticks to the barrel surface.
Generally, the cleaning method of the inven-tion is applicable for the cleaning of the barrel part of a firearm of any type and any size.
Example 2=
An experiment was carried out to test the ef-fectiveness and applicability of a cleaning method as provided the invention, designed for firearms using copper/copper compound bullets.

Composition of the foam used in the method Components w-%
monoethanolamine ca.25 methylpyrrolidone ca. 5 1-butoxyethanol ca. 5 sodium salt of m-nitro-benzenesulfonic acid ca. 1 coconut diethanolamide ca. 4 water added ca. 50 cami -cirntha+- i r ..~....~ ~.~.......~~..
cutting lubricant ca. 10 The composition was prepared in the form of a spray. To clean a firearm, the foaming alkalic compo-sition was sprayed into the barrel and allowed to act for ca. 10 min., whereupon it was removed by pushing a felt plug through the barrel.
The firearm cleaning method was tested in field conditions during half a year. It was establis-hed that the cleaning method worked in-cold and hot weather. Moreover, the method was found to be effecti-ve and easy to use.
In comparing a barrel cleaned by the method of the invention was compared with a barrel cleaned by the traditional mechanical method, the barrels were inspected using an endoscope and it was established that the barrel treated by the method of the invention was in a considerably better condition, i.e. it showed less wear and burn damage, than the reference barrel.
It is estimated that, by using the cleaning method of the invention, the service life of a firearm is exten-ded by about 50 %.

Claims (18)

1. A method for cleaning the barrel of a firearm, characterized in that a composition containing an agent that removes bullet residue is applied into the firearm barrel to be cleaned from a spray bottle in the form of a foam, allowing the foam to act for 0.1 - 30 minutes and removing the foam from the firearm barrel.
2. The method as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the agent is allowed to be active in the barrel for 1- 20 minutes.
3. The method as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the agent used is a tenside.
4. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that the agent used is coconut diethanolamide.
5. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that a proportion of the foam is under 50 wt% of the whole amount of the composition.
6. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that the foam is sprayed from a spray bottle through an elastic sealing fitted on the end of the firearm barrel.
7. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the agent used for removing bullet residue is an alkanolamine and/or an inorganic nitrate.
8. The method as defined in claim 7, characterized in that the alkanolamine used is monoethanolamine and/or diethanolamine.
9. The method as defined in claim 7, characterized in that the inorganic nitrate is sodium nitrate.
10. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 9, characterized in that the method involves the use of the foam containing a solvent designed to remove combustion residue.
11. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the method involves the use of the foam that contains under 50 wt%, methylpyrrolidone and/or under 50 wt%, butoxyethanol.
12. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 11, characterized in that the method involves the use of the foam that contains about 0 - 90 wt% water added.
13. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 12, characterized in that the method involves the use of the foam that, in conjunction with the alkanolamine, contains under 5 wt% sodium salt of m-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid.
14. The method as defined in any one of claims 1 - 13, characterized in that the method involves the use of the foam that contains a substance lubricating and protecting the firearm barrel.
15. Use of a composition containing a tenside, an alkanolamine and/or a nitrate salt for removing bullet residue, in the form of a foam in the method according to any one of claims 1- 14 for cleaning a barrel of a firearm.
16. The method as defined in claim 5, characterized in that the proportion of the foam is 0.1 -25 wt% of the whole amount of the composition.
17. The method as defined in claim 11, characterized in that the foam contains under 1 - 15 wt%
methylpyrrolidone and/or 1 - 15 wt% butoxyethanol.
18. The method as defined in claim 14 characterized in that the substance lubricating and protecting the firearm barrel is a semi-synthetic cutting lubricant, a synthetic cutting lubricant or arms oil.
CA002210081A 1995-01-10 1995-01-10 Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun Expired - Fee Related CA2210081C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/FI1995/000006 WO1996021837A1 (en) 1995-01-10 1995-01-10 Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2210081A1 CA2210081A1 (en) 1996-07-18
CA2210081C true CA2210081C (en) 2007-06-12

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002210081A Expired - Fee Related CA2210081C (en) 1995-01-10 1995-01-10 Method and cleaning agent composition for cleaning the barrel of a gun

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CA (1) CA2210081C (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110373674A (en) * 2019-08-14 2019-10-25 中国人民解放军32181部队 A kind of wiping solution and preparation method thereof for removing weapon-shooting residue

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110373674A (en) * 2019-08-14 2019-10-25 中国人民解放军32181部队 A kind of wiping solution and preparation method thereof for removing weapon-shooting residue
CN110373674B (en) * 2019-08-14 2021-01-29 中国人民解放军32181部队 Wiping solution for removing weapon shooting residues and preparation method thereof

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Publication number Publication date
CA2210081A1 (en) 1996-07-18

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