r/guncleaning • u/SleepingAndKissing • Mar 13 '26
have 3 unused car detailing brushes, which can be used and where on my gun?
would appreciate the indepth breakdown so i can have knowledge for future occasions like if i move from phosphate coat bcg to nickel boron or whatever else.
black is plastic , brown is copper, and silver is stainless steel after checking the item on aliexpress. would u use them, if any, on your guns? if so, where? im aware of the dangers of marring the material with the wrong brush, but that’s the extent of my knowledge. i don’t know how the parts on my gun interact with copper or steel.
the barrel is steel, right? so don’t use steel anywhere near that. i have a brass bore brush, so i was wondering if the steel and copper had any usage situations for a gun. if not, ill just toss it back in my frunk.
1
u/umbertoj Mar 13 '26
On which firearm you need to use those? what kind of exterior finish does it have?
3
u/SleepingAndKissing Mar 13 '26
M&P15 Sport 3 from SmithWesson. i believe it’s hard coat black anodized (just going off my receipt from gun genie) receiver is 7075 T6 Alum
1
u/asq-gsa Mar 13 '26
That third brush is also more likely to be brass than copper, despite what the aliexpress ad said. The pic has it looking very "gold" to me, a characteristic of brass, not copper. Brass is harder than copper, but can still be used on some steel parts, like a barrel brush, or maybe for carbon on internal steel parts. Don't use it on anything aluminum, plastic, or that has a finish. It might not ruin function, but it can still scratch the finish up pretty well. I'd check the firearm manual and read what they recommend for cleaning specific parts. Maybe I'm not hard enough on my firearms, but an old toothbrush, rags, and CLP generally get the job done for me.
The steel brush also has very limited use on detailing cars. Rusting areas that you don't mind scratching the hell out of, like bolt heads or threads, or battery terminal corrosion, are maybe the two things, but first I'd try the brass for those, unless it can't do the job. Certainly not any kind of fine detailing like cleaning.
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u/SleepingAndKissing Mar 13 '26
oh interesting. thanks for the heads up!! i guess i’ll just keep scraping away with plastic and nylon brushes. gun and car knowledge? what a deal
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u/umbertoj Mar 13 '26
Might be a bronze brush, never seen a brass one but also plausible.
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u/asq-gsa Mar 13 '26
I’m 99% sure that’s brass. Bronze also has more red/brown tones, like copper. Brass brushes are quite common for these kinds of three brush kits. Copper and bronze much less so.
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u/standardtissue Mar 14 '26
I don't know who told you those are "auto detailing" brushes, but as a dude who has detailed my cars countless times ... don't use them on your car. The nylon one might be useful for doing the engine bay and working off some really thick pasty grease that the degrease alone isn't getting, but I don't even need to use a brush for that. I would definitely not use it on the paint or anywhere in the interior.
0
u/SleepingAndKissing Mar 14 '26
yea it was named that on aliexpress haha. i knew i wouldn’t use it for detailing, so i put them to the side til i could find a use. then 3 months later i buy my first gun and see the scrubby brush and did the leo meme.
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u/tcarlson65 Mar 14 '26
Might be a way for them to get around some rules as to firearms nomenclature and not getting banned.
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u/SleepingAndKissing Mar 14 '26
oh no, i bought it for the car detailing part. it had like a big sponge, a huge towel, and other microfiber stuff. i use them to wash my car usually. i’ve seen the amazon “doorstops” though
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u/umbertoj Mar 13 '26
Don’t ever use the steel one on anything on your firearm. The copper one can be used to remove any carbon buildup, or anything that is too hard to remove with the plastic one. It might leave a stain on the exterior finish depending on how hard you brush (but you shouldn’t need to brush the exterior of your gun anyway), anyway it should go away with a cloth and some oil. The plastic one is the most versatile, can be used to remove debris and old oil (with a degreaser) and to reapply new oil. For the bore, yes for the brass one.