Best way to clean barrel of 5 cell mag

Tucked waaay back in a closet I found a 5 cell mag light. The batteries had corroded. I finally removed the batts and have some residue in the barrel. What are some ideas to remove the gunk so I can use this beast. There is, to my mind light resideu. I don't think it's corroded. The lights like new so I will use it. If I can hire someone to carry it.

What about using something like C.L.R. and a toilet brush? Snip the top of the loop of the toilet brush with bolt cutters or large diagonal cutters and then you can hand-straighten the two sides to make a giant bottle brush out of it. C.L.R. probably runs around $5 for a 16oz bottle, a traditional style Kellog toilet brush costs around $1.79.



Before buying, check the labelling on the C.L.R. to be sure you can use it on aluminum.

When I had the same problem (4D Mag), I caught it before it did much more than eat some of the black away inside. But I would completely disassemble the light (see http://www.orderoutdoors.com/msr_2.html for info) and wash everything in warm water and a brush to get all the alkali out. Inspect and replace any bad parts. Some metal parts eaten at may be salvageable with a little steel wool or fine sandpaper. This might be OK if there's actual metal corrosion in the tube. You'll lose some interior anodize, but what choice do you have. Switch contacts and springs, you be the judge. Make sure bright aluminum areas on the tail are clean for electric contact. Lube the o rings and threads with silicone grease.

I used a paper towel and Hoppes Spray Gun Cleaner on my 2D (converted to 3C) green Mag when I found a stuck Energizer. Maybe it ain't squeky clean, but it works!

I have heard that baking soda works well, but I have never tried myself.

Note: alkaline batts are NOT acidic. Using soap and water or alcohol (preferably PURE alcohol, instead of the water-alcohol mix that most rubbing-alcohol's are) would work well. Other cleaners may also work, but you risk corroding the aluminum more, or damaging the switch assy.

I love the idea of cutting a toilet brush. I'll use this on my impossible to clean mag wheels too.
Thanks so much for the link to maintaining the mag. It's a timesaver. Probably saved the light from my destruction. Thanks for all the feedback. I'll start with Playboy's cheap and easy with the toilet brush. I'll go on to dissasembly if needed.

I once had a 5D Mag get dim and found the batteries completely swollen and corroded in place so I packed it up and returned it to the battery manufacturer (don't remember which one, but I did dig out the first cell to ID it) since they had a replacement warranty for devices damaged by leakage. In the mail about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks later came a brand new 5D Mag. Easy, if you can deal with the downtime.
Larry S.

I got a reply from Mag Lite. They have agreements with some of the batt manufacturers. They'll repair or replace for me. I'll do this I think. I can deal with the downtime as this light was lost for years in the back of a closet. Reflects on my cleaning I suppose.

What.......you didn't try a five-gage shotgun-cleaning swab??

Well, I DO ahve a brush here meant for cleaning small artillery pieces....