Ric,
I don't know what may have happened to the stock of the shotgun you purchased, but I really would not have mentioned my use of a brake cleaner, had it ever shown any signs of issues with the plastic/polymer parts of my firearms. (
Note- I saw you said Browning 101, but I am thinking you meant a Winchester 101. Perhaps it was a Belgium made Winchester 101, but no matter, it was the plastic/polymer you were referring to that I am sticking with in my reply. )
Granted I was hesitant about trying the stuff I used, as well, at first & made sure to try to check out the results of using a brake cleaner so I did not damage my firearms in any apparent way. Once I found no issue I went on & continued. Been doing it for a long time without issues, in "my case". Many times over the years from when I started to use it.
Most of these firearms I have that are plastic/polymer are mnfr'd from the mid 2000s on up and perhaps there was something different about the polymers used for producing the shotgun stock, vs the ones made since that I have. I do not know.
Here is a pic of the stuff I have used:
and have not had any issues yet.
Some of the firearms that have polymer parts that I have used this Brakleen stuff on are a Ruger SR9, Ruger LCP, Ruger Mark IV 22/45, Ruger LCR, Taurus G2C, RI M206, Savage Axis II in .308, .223 & .30-06, and a DPMS Oracle .5.56 and as said, no issues that I know of right now. That is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head & does not include any wood stock firearms.
Perhaps the person that you got the shotgun from used a different type of brake cleaner solution that what I am using, or perhaps a less modern makeup of the plastic polymer?
I am also not sure just how long the person left the brake cleaner on their firearm. Maybe the duration of exposure is an issue for that shotgun stock? Or, for any plastics for that matter?
Did they leave the stock in a parts cleaner setup with a more aggressive solvent?
I can only offer up what I have used in the past that "works for me".
I only spray the stuff on enough to clear away the stuff I can loosen up before I start & then another spray after scrubbing before I just lube, so I would guess that not a minute or so in duration of exposure to the polymers while the stuff evaporates & then I proceed with the Eds Red applications.
Regardless, I am sticking to what I said earlier about my use of the Eds Red without acetone & the use of the Brakleen in part of my cleaning these polymer firearms since it has worked for me, and do not yet see a reason to change right now.
A couple things I think I should mention...
One is per the OP post, I neglected to mention that I "field strip" each firearm according to the mnfr instructions almost every time when I clean firearms & once in a "blue moon" I go further with dis-assembly to clean, IF I see something that warrants a deeper clean.
Only occasionally do I remove the grips on pistols, but for revolvers in particular, I generally remove the grips every so often to clean & lightly lube those parts in a more "in depth" effort to keep the function & prevent any corrosion from occurring in the hidden parts under the grips.Also, I do not have an ultrasound cleaner, so cannot answer to that part of the OP about cleaning.
Second thing to mention is that I was describing some of "
my" methods for cleaning & in no way was directing anyone else to do the same, without their taking full responsibility to do so, based on their own research & due diligence to check out what "could" happen to their firearms by using such methods or "solvents". ( <<
or for that matter cleaning any equipment that has plastic/polymer parts.)
IOW, the, "YMMV" acronym might be appropriate.
Well, another longer post in reply to a short one, but I wanted to try to clarify some things since there was some question about my earlier comment.
Edit: I tried to fix the pic link, with no luck, so see post below.