It's o.k. for a good quick clean or run through after going on a hunt that I didn't shoot my gun on. But I would stick with a brush and patch job to really get the fouling out. It seems to help when using it with a brush and patches. But as for using it as your only cleaning tool. Nope. I've run mine through too many times to follow it with a patch and still see a ton of fouling come out.