A question for Capt Laidler on the Sten

[Peter Laidler]

Flying ten.............. please, please. please........... DON'T get Fred303 started on his number crunching exploits again. The thread will be bigger than Ben-Hur before long

[tankhunter]

The best effective method was to just dunk the piston and gas plug into a bottle of vinegar 'liberated' from the dining room. But you always knew when the crunchies had used this method because eventually it's seize the gas plug spring and plunger. How many have sat at the side of the ranges cleaning a blooxx Bren after a days military training. Not a speck of fouling was permitted, anywhere!

And as you know Pete, Coca Cola was another cleaning 'Option' of choice with the Crunchies!.......

[Flying10uk]

Somewhere, years ago I heard that Coca Cola was also good for freeing up seized engines but I can't remember who told me and I've never tried it myself. Has anyone else had any experience of using Coca Cola as a freeing/cleaning agent???

[henry r]

not on firearms (and I don't think I woiuld), but I have also dipped a few vw fuseboxes in coke to clean up the tarnished contacts. (not for too long, they were then cleaned with soapy water and rinsed in clean water, etc.) it worked well on the plastic ones but I experimented on a spare rough Bakelite? fusebox and the Bakelite didn't react well.

I have also used coke to clean concrete with reasonable success. proper concrete cleaning chemicals would probably have worked better but I had been offered a couple of cases of date expired coke to try.

[tankhunter]

F10. Coke is good at eating Carbon. Used on sparking plugs from vehicles, Exhaust valves' when removed Etc.

Used with CARE, on some applications. It can be useful.

It is also very good for drinking as well!....

[Flying10uk]

henry, if you ever visit the U.K. be very careful about saying coke too loudly because people may just think that you are talking about something completely different to Coca Cola.

[Vincent]

Has anyone else had any experience of using Coca Cola as a freeing/cleaning agent???

I have not, but I have seen Dog Pi** Dave use it to clean coins.

Didn’t the original Coca-Cola have cocaine in it?

[Frederick303]

Peter,

Geez, I did not think I was that bad, just an engineers approach.

gave me a laugh though....

[Brit plumber]

I know this is an even bigger tangent but if you don't know the story of Coke in WW2 have a wiki search. It's a very clever strategy that worked beyond the what Coca Cola had hoped for. It was so successful that (So the story goes) the Germans copied the idea and created 'Fantasy' a fizzy orange drink which we now know as Fanta.

Just Wikid Fanta and that's another interesting WW2 story but it was created by Coca Cola Germany in 1940 to circumvent trade embargos rather than as a morale booster along the lines of Coke.

[Flying10uk]

Geez, I did not think I was that bad, just an engineers approach.

You are not that bad, Frederick303, just an individual like the rest of us.