Uses for sonic cleaner

My son gave me a Hornady Sonic cleaner with a gallon of Hornady solution. I know a lot of people here clean brass with them. I am totally satisfied with wet tumbling. Cleaning gun parts is what I plan on using it for. Are there any precautions needed to be taken with blued parts? Is sonic cleaning good for removing lead from barrels, comps, suppressors? I am trying to avoid changing the finish/color of the parts. Thanks for any advice.

Bill

Do you have the Brass cleaning solution or the Gun parts solution?

The Hornady instructions mention this "Do not use the Hornady One-ShotTM Sonic Clean Brass Solution to clean non-brass items, as it may harm some finishes."

It looks like only the Brass cleaning solution comes in a 1 gallon jug.

Lock-N-Load Sonic Cleaners & Solutions - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

The instructions for the cleaner can be found toward the bottom of the page of the link above.

It is the gun parts solution and it is in a gallon jug. It says all about what it will remove but no mention about removing lead which is what my main interest is.

Bill

I would try it without a solution first, just use distilled water. Make sure the parts are completely separated, e.g. don't clean a 1911 barrel with link and link pin attached to it. If a lot of cleaning is required, or if there's a surface rust, lot of old grease, etc., boil the parts in distilled water for about 30 min before you put them in the cleaner.

If you can get some degassed water.  Dissolved air can reduce the effectiveness of water based solutions.

My understanding is that the gun cleaning solution has a lubricant so your parts don't start rusting

UniqueTek has an interesting article on ultrasonics. It can be a bit of a rabbit hole. Might be a good idea to read before getting started.