Well as for the ramrod, I personally use a range rod and leave the rifle ramrod strictly for hunting. And as for the cleaning of the rifle, be careful of the products you purchase. Remember, if Thompson Center sells the starter kit is because they also control the marketing of the products. Your Hoppes will work just fine for taking plastic, lead, etc out of the barrel. I am guessing your starter kit came with a bore brush, cleaning jags, patches, etc.

WARNING.. do not trust TC-17 to protect your bore. Get some good gun oil, apply that to a patch, and swab the barrel with a quality gun oil. Before you shoot the next time, take a patch, apply some alcohol to it (isopropyl alcohol 91%) and swab the oil out of the bore. Then a couple of dry patches.

You have a great rifle. It will handle about any kind of powder you want to shoot. Even the new BlackHorn 209. You might want to try pellets, but you can do the same thing with loose powder. Also for a starter bullet to get used to the rifle, get some 250 grain Shockwaves and try them. I think with 100-120 grains of loose powder you should have some real good luck.

Depending on the powder you pick you might have to swab the bore between shots. Windex, spit, TC-13 will also work for swabbing between shots.