Cleaning solvents jibber jabber!

[Nath]

Someone please tell me.....why do we need all these magical solvents to clean our guns?
Why has it got to be something out of a fancy bottle?
What is in smokeless powders that needs melting?

Whats wrong with a water damp patch and dry patches?

Nath.

[msmith1228]

I have an old Remington manual that says to pour boiling down the barrel.

[JerryB]

Hot soapy water always cleans my old black powder Kentucky rifle. Maybe I should try it on my 30wcf.

[Sixgun]

To walk into any good gunshop and look at the shelves full of 2 million different kinds of cleaning stuff, its easy to see that many companies are trying to get a piece of our pie, claiming this and that.

I have yet to see anything that does any better than the Hoppe's #9 that I have been using for 50 years, or since my age was in the single digits. I'm talking regular powder fouling and light leading.

Water is no good except for blackpowder or corrosive priming......but......as I remember in science class that water is the most common solvent, so I guess it would work if you used enough of it. I think it all comes down to something like Dawn detergent. It will cut the grease a lot faster than water will, so that's why our wives use it.


For me, its Hoppe's #9. I buy it by the quart and use at least 2 of them a year.-----------6

[Rusty]

To walk into any good gunshop and look at the shelves full of 2 million different kinds of cleaning stuff, its easy to see that many companies are trying to get a piece of our pie, claiming this and that.

I have yet to see anything that does any better than the Hoppe's #9 that I have been using for 50 years, or since my age was in the single digits. I'm talking regular powder fouling and light leading.

Water is no good except for blackpowder or corrosive priming......but......as I remember in science class that water is the most common solvent, so I guess it would work if you used enough of it. I think it all comes down to something like Dawn detergent. It will cut the grease a lot faster than water will, so that's why our wives use it.


For me, its Hoppe's #9. I buy it by the quart and use at least 2 of them a year.-----------6

And it smells good too, at least to those of us that have been using it over 50 years.

[Don McDowell]

Water won't remove the carbon build up. Water also won't loosen lead, copper or plastic fouling up.
Water works great for removing the fouling from blackpowder , but it takes something a little tougher to actually clean a barrel. Plus after using water , you need to use an oil in the bore to prevent it from rusting. That's not necessarily the case when using most any of the commercial or home brewed cleaning solvents.

[Hagler]

Who said "JIBBER JABBER"?!

mr_t_ba.jpg

[JerryB]

Well folks I reckon I need to clear the remark about trying hot soapy water in my 30wcf it was just in fun. Why I can very clearly recall the fine aroma of 'Ol #9 the day I was born 75 years ago. My dad taught me well.

[Nath]

Well I don't like the stinkin' smell of commercial cleaning solvents so today I went out and got me some birds, shot bad but got 25shells shot out of my Holloway double 12g.

Got home and pushed a wet patch down the tubes. Then another and then dry ones.
All the poop gome and the lead!

Lubed it up and job done.

Copper fouling may be another issue but in a shotgun or a lead bullet shooting rifle I think it is a viable alternative.

N.

[jeepnik]

#9 works just fine unless I have a severe leading. But, using one's brain can avoid leading.

Oh, and water is known as the "Universal Solvent". It will dissolve and/or erode anything over time. Think Grand Canyon. But here's a tip, the purer the water, the more aggressive it will be at dissolving things. Heat it up and it gets even more aggressive.

[Don McDowell]

Nath what are you using to "lube it up" with? Do the patches you use to do that come out clean and white, or do they have dark stains on them when you're thru?

[Nath]

Nath what are you using to "lube it up" with? Do the patches you use to do that come out clean and white, or do they have dark stains on them when you're thru?

The patches came out black and with slithers of lead and eventually reasonably clean.
The bores were then treated to my patch lube, a mix of candlewax and olive oil, of which has been protecting my guns for years.

N.

[Don McDowell]

You ever try something as simple as 3n1 oil for treating the bore when you're thru cleaning?

[mikld]

It's so much easier to sell someone a "new and improved" version than an old one that just plain old works (and add a few cents). I remember my Mom using vinegar on the windows before Windex became the "all powerful", only thing that works cleaning solution. Lemon juice and laundry soda were often used for cleaning.

I have used commercial copper fouling removers but after I retired and had more time, I researched the active ingredients in some gun cleaners (ammonia seems to work on copper fouling). I have been trying industrial strength ammonia and dish soap mix as a copper fouling removal solution. Not as "classic" smelling as Sweet's or #9, but so far it seems to work. I don't have any more black powder guns but I just cleaned mine with hot water and dish soap and dried the parts in my oven, then oiled them to prevent rust. I met a feller that cleaned his BP revolver in his dishwasher...

[gamekeeper]

I always use very hot water on muzzle loaders and Hoppe's #9 on my other guns.

[J35]

I use three

Sweets 7.62

JB compound

Ed.s Red

For a gun lubricant I have been using Mobile 1 the past few years, good stuff !

When I lived in S AZ I poured a lot of water down rifle barrels to cool them down in the summer.

----J

[QCI Winchesters]

My BP guns get cleaned with plain hot water, no need for soap. Or some really cheap window cleaner that I paid a buck for, if the gun is really bad. Usually two wet patches, then dry and oil with 3-in-1. On my other rifles, Hoppe's #9 and 3-in-1. On some really badly fouled rifles I use Butch's Bore Shine, but it doesn't get used much.

[Familyguy]

As has already been said...

For my black powder rifle, I use hot soapy water (Dawn, if you must know).

For everything else, Hoppes #9. Haven't felt the need to alter that since it just plain works.

Best,

[7.62 Precision]

More bores are probably damaged by poor cleaning methods or obsessive cleaning than by anything else except maybe those left to rust by people.

I'm not convinced they need to be scrubbed spotless all the time.

The IDF cleans their M16s with diesel fuel. They don't scrape the carbon off the bolt/carrier.

The Swiss use grease for cleaning, lube, and protection.
Never yet seen a bad bore in a Swiss rifle.

A lot of solvents out there are not safe for polymers.

I'm not convinced of the need for abrasives in my bore, unless I am trying to fix something, maybe.

I use CLP a lot, and Militec, some other oils I have picked up, and for serious bore cleaning, Shooter's Choice bore solvent and Sweets 7.62, simply because that is how I learned to clean a bore as a sniper. I have some little wipes that come in tubs from Israel that are incredible - they have a vegetable based oil and in a heavy rain or wet snow, the water will bead up on the surface of the metal and won't lift the oil. I can't get them any more, so I'm holding tight to the ones I have. I have some background in marketing, so I don't run out and buy every new snake-oil super-solvent that hits the market

[Griff]

Hoppe's #9. Hot water then oil for BP. However, with a couple of new stainless barreled rifles, I'm a little more concerned with getting them conditioned properly from the git-go. So, I selected a set of products specifically to get them in polished condition and to eliminate copper fouling.

[earlmck]

My guns that shoot cast bullets don't get cleaned very often, and on that rare occasion they'll get a little Hoppe's and a gun oil wipe. But for anything shooting jacketed bullets that needs a good bore cleaning, I sure do like the foaming bore cleaners, either the Outer's or the Wipe-Out. Those are wonderful inventions!

[Old Savage]

CR 10, then Shooter's Choice.