My Sister and BIL have one they use for gun cleaning.

They just use the regular Ultrasonic cleaning solution. Dry 'em thoroughly, and lube them all over.

I'm sure there may be more too it, but I really didn't pay close attention. Out of my price range.

They do work... They work GREAT! But the ones big enough to handle a pistol, or at least some of its larger components, are pretty pricey. Until I "retired" to take care of the baby, I spent the last 6 years managing a metal analysis laboratory. My biggest regret since leaving was loosing access to the ultrasonic cleaners and the machine equipment (lathe, mill, etc.).

If you want to use a smaller jewelry cleaner type machine, you can probably get by doing half at a time for a barrel or slide, but those smaller machines won't have the cleaning power of the larger units. You can use plain water, hot water, or water with a little detergent (Simple Green or similar). The ultrasonic cleaner won't harm anything metal - it kind of vibrates the dirt off the surface. The biggest worry is getting everything dry and well oiled afterward to avoid rust.

Well that answers all my questions, thank you all for such a timely response.

I just bought an HCS-200 Ultrasonic Gun Cleaner for $399. It came with cleaning and lubricating solutions. It works real good. I cleaned a couple dozen of my pistol magazines that hadn't been cleaned inside for a long time and they came out real good.(saves a lotta disassembly/reassembly work). I field-stripped the pistols and they came out real good too. It helps a great deal to use compressed air to blow the water out of everything before running them back through the system with the lubricating/rust preventive solution. I still reoil my guns in the normal manner before shooting them again. Ref: http://www.sonicsonline.com

Be careful with the cleaner solution you use (no ammonia) I have a professional ultrasonic cleaner I had just purchased a new Ruger Bisley and wanted to clean her up from the first outting. I had left it in the ultrasonic for 45 minutes when I returned I had a silver and blue gun that I had to cough up another $100 to get re blued!!

I* don't guess I've ever really thought about something like that. How long does it take to clean a gun with one? I have always been able to clean a pistol in under 30 minutes unless it was the I'm going to take it all the way down to parts and maybe replace a spring or two while I was cleaning. I use one of those hospital barf pan and alcohol and I drop everything in there while I'm cleaning the other stuff and pull out what's next.

If these newfangled cleaners will do as well and save time it be a must have

I kinda enjoy field stripping and inspecting my pistols after sessions at the range, but detail stripping, cleaning and relubing the pistols and magazines sometimes tests my patience, so the HCS-200 ultrasonic cleaning/relubing system eliminates all that fuss and saves time for more shooting.