I've always used Hoppes No.9 Bore Solvent on patches to clean my rifles and pistols. But just recently, I started using bore snakes, with Otis Bore solvent. Either way, I think both of the solvents are really intended for cleaning powder residues, but not really copper/lead, etc.
Should I be using both a powder solvent and a metal solvent regularly, or will just the powder solvent suffice?
Also, let me know if you have any general practices, techniques or tips that work well.
Thanks,
IR665, that's pretty impressive and extensive. I follow a similar system, except I bore paste and polish only once per year and use Butch's instead of shooters choice (ran out and couldn't find new SC).
One thing I have just started using and works awesome (I can't say enough) is the new Hoppe's Elite Gun Cleaner (I've used the liquid and gel - prefer the gel myself). It really works at removing additional carbon and reduces overall cleaning the next time.
I don't work for Hoppe's and really didn't like No 9 or their copper remover because there was always better stuff out there. I tried a sample from a hunting show, cleaned an older rifle the way I do normally until the patches came out clean, then followed Hoppe's instructions. I was shocked at how much more black carbon came out.
I use a Deweys rod along with a Stoney Point cleaning insert. I use shooters choice/Butch's/Montana extreme whichever of these is on hand. use a pointed jag and push a wet patch thru 4 times and only towards the muzzle. Let it sit for about 20 minutes and then wet a bronze brush with solvent and run it thru 10-20 times. Run a few wet patches thru until clean. I then put on a loop and put on a big patch and soak it and clean the chamber usually takes 2-3 of these patches.I will then use Shooters Choice copper remover if the last bore patches were blue and when done use a quality gun oil currently using Butches. Once a year I drag out the Foul out III(mid-winter) to get every bit of copper out. I think I am going to try wipeout this go around after brushing the bore and getting fouling out. I wouldn't even think of using JB compound on any gun I owned.
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Anybody use the Otis Bore Solvent? They say it cleans/lubricates and protects all in one shot... Too good to be true?
I'm not averse to a super-thorough cleaning once in a while (as described above), but I'd like to keep it simple for typical weekend post-shooting excursions. I've also heard that over-doing it with Bore solvent can errode the barrel more than shooting!! How often is it really recommended to get out the heavy metal removers?
The Hoppe's ELite (or MPro7) is a great powder cleaner - been using it for a couple years now. But to get that copper, it takes a copper-specific solvent like CR-10 or Sweet's 7.62 or else the paste type cleaners. I typically use the pastes only once or twice a year, so I go the Sweets route on most cleanings.
I alternate between the MPro and Sweets like handloader does with the paste. It works good.
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"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)
For a .22 - copper is not a big problem. Once or twice a year is probably all you need to clean for copper fouling.
Or you could just switch to a cleaner like Butch's Bore Shine that's works on copper some, and just use it all the time and never worry about that little bit of copper.
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"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)
My cleaning routine is much like oldelkhunter's, although some of the products are different. I have been using Shooter's Choice for powder fouling followed by Barnes CR-10 or Wipeout for powder fouling. Lately I've been using more Wipeout than CR-10.
Recently I bought a new solvent from Sinclair called TM Solution. I haven't tried it yet, however. It's supposed to be an excellent powder solvent. According to Sinclair, it contains no petroleum products which tend to dilute the effectiveness of most solvents. I probably won't get a chance to use it for another 2 or 3 weeks, but I'm anxious to see how it does. I really don't have any complaints with what I've been using up to now, but I'm always on the lookout for something better.
Cleaning tips
