I need to vent, because the strangest thing happened to my rifle today.

I just received a new barreled upper from a company that will go nameless at this point. I took it out of the box, and proceeded to give it a quick cleaning before I attached it to my lower. Because the upper is test fired at the factory, I decided to swab out the interior of the upper with Hoppe's #9, and a G.I. nylon toothbrush in order to remove any powder residue that might be present

Imagine my surprise when the black surface finish on the aluminum began to melt away to reveal the gray anodizing underneath.

Now keep in mind, I was using the original formula Hoppe's, not their semi-auto, or copper removing blend, and as far as I know, there is no ammonia in #9.

What gives??? Shouldn't the finish of a high quality AR15 be able to stand up to Hoppe's? The damn stuff has been around for ages, and I have never heard a bad word, or warning uttered about it (except in regards to it's use on nickle plated finishes).
I have personally used it for 11+years on all types of firearms, including other ARs' , and I have never witnessed what I saw today.

So... anyone out there have any thoughts, comments, or similar experiences concerning Hoppe's, and their ARs'???

never heard of anything like that.

My bushy upper went from black to purple after having been accidentally exposed to hoppes #9.

The cloth I was wiping it with not only had oil but the hoppes. I wouldn't think the hoppes would remove the anodizing dye just alter the color.

I don't know for sure what to tell you. it could be a number of things but here are my guesses:

1) The anodizing wasn't properly sealed, as the pores were open allowing the dye to be leeched out.

2) Poor quality dye was sold to the manufacturer

3) Are you sure its anodized? As hoppes WILL remove other things.


I've played around with anodizing *a little bit* but haven't seen that as my experience is limited.

not unless you own a Hesse

"nameless at this point" usualy means "BUSHMASTER" srikes again, those snakes are biting the hands that feed them!

misterhemi, yes I am sure it is anodized. The upper is made by a very reputable company, and I own other products that they produce, all of which preform flawlessly.

I have a factory Oly & Bushmaster, and I don't have that problem.  But I bought mines 10 years ago.  Maybe you should contact the retailer and the factory to get their opinion.

Sorry about your experience with #9....I have always used it to clean the bores of my rifles and eventhough I might of touched the aluminum insides of uppers...the finish was never affected..Was the melting of the finish instantaneous?? OR did it occur after some time? Sounds like you bought an upper which has been refinished/coated with something...I doubt that it's a Bush, Colt, or Armalite product...IF gray park was underneath then for sure your upper has been refinished or has had some other type of black coating/finish applied to it....Hoppes #9 contains Kerosene which removes paint if I remember correctly....

Tetra Gun Lubricant completely REMOVED the finish from parts of my SAR 4800 leaving nothing but parked metal underneath!!!! The lube was on the affected parts for a few hours....

I've used Hoppe's #9 on my Colt and Bushy without ever experiencing such a problem.  I have even scrubbed the barrel and upper assembly.

What manufacturer is this?

Mr Hemi hit it on the head.  Plain anodizing is almost white, it's dye that makes it black.  Either that, or they painted you upper.  I'd squawk long & loud to the manufacturer.  You ought to be able to clean your rifle without the finish coming off.

Norm

I smell fish!

Well?  Who made the upper?  We need to know things like that.  Bugs are usually fixed because word gets back to the company.  So who made it?

HeHeHeHe......it aint gonna work lol [:D]

I hesitate to reveal who the manufacturer is at this point because I am sending the upper back to them in hopes that they will do the right thing, and replace it.
Like I said earlier, I own other products that this company makes, and they have all performed up to expectations. It is my gut feeling at this point that the problem of the finish coming off is a freak anomaly, and I am willing to let this situation play out before I feel compelled to name names

i was told that hoppes #9 did contain a little bit of ammonia, which is why it has the warning about nickel on the side of the bottle. most mfg's add a nickel acetate sealer as 1 of the final steps, which is why i would not use any such cleaner on the finished parts of the receiver, as they will change or remove color. im curious if this is the reason..
pat

I have cleaned my bushmaster with #9 without problem. Now I spray on a little remoil and rub it around with a black rag.  Looks good and leaves no white lint on the finish.

I've been slopping #9 on all of my guns including ARs for many years.  Never had anything like that happen.  So why are you protecting these guys?  Every company has need of customer service.  This is the real world.  Things are not always perfect.  If they make it right, great.  Let us know.  That is all you can expect.  

COME ON NY PATRIOT.I MEAN LIKE THAT CO. IS GOING TO READ YOUR POST .PA LEASE.I THINK ITS YOUR IMAGINATION.

[smoke]

A lot of you guys seem to think that I am trying to protect the "mystery" company that sold me a defective weapon, and to a certain extent, I guess I am.
Trust me, I am perturbed that I got a lemon for my hard earned money, but at the same time, I want to give "company X" the chance to stand behind their products, and make matters right.  
 Of course the weapon should have been finished properly the first time, but I don't see the use in piling on a company that has the courage to manufacture "evil" black rifles in this day and age. If we are not willing to cut a little slack to our "own kind", how can we hope to hang together in the fight to preserve our freedoms?    [%(]
  The reason I started this topic was to see if anyone out there has had a similar problem and it has been pretty well confirmed that I am the only unlucky soul to have the finish simply brush off his rifle. This sucks for me, but it also confirms what I figured from the start... that human beings (even the ones who make our weapons of choice) are imperfect, and that manufacturing mistakes can happen to the best of them.
 It all comes down to how companies handle their mistakes, and on that note,
To be continued....

please keep us posted
thanks
pat

One side of my Bushy lower is grey due to Hoppes #9, other side is black. Not sure if it really took the coating off or if it covered it. Not real pleased about it but decided I'd rather have it look like that than try to fix it and make it worse.

My Bushmaster has been exposed to Hoppes#9 for over 6 or 7 years. No Problemo.


[b] Is your upper a WILSON COMBAT[/b] [?] [?]