klcmschlesinger
Member
I use Hoppe's for about everything, mostly because I like the smell. Maybe not the best reason to use it, but that smell in my gunroom, makes it smell like a gun room to me. Might be something from my childhood.
By and large, gun cleaning products and lubes are a marketing gimmick.
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GBExpat
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Same here. A couple of decades ago I started including gloves (and sometime masks) to various projects.
With the advent of the pandemic that came in very handy for me, as I already have on-hand a large stock/assortment of "rubber" gloves (latex, nitrile, etc) and a couple of boxes of N95 masks.
daniel craig
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You could just go the current tacticool method, soak in on expensive cleaner and clean so hard you actually take off the protective coating on the interior (not all but many newer rifles come with a friction reduction coating on them).
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JONWILL
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We did the same thing. It is nearly impossible to clean inside the trigger group without running hot water on it.
We poured soap into it and blasted it with hot water. Nice and clean.
40-82
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I've had some screws on old guns that didn't want to budge. A month of daily spraying with WD-40 moved them. There are probably better products for this. I just had WD-40 on hand. It does penetrate enough to kill primers. If you do decide to spray a gun with the stuff, unload it first.
GBExpat
Member
Don’t forget about the garage full of TP.
Actually ... the basement, and as of mid-March I had a remaining stock (I haven't purchased any TP since late 2019) of ~360 rolls of TP.
I know, I know ... but it has to do with a Thing that I have about not paying more than ~50¢ for a roll of TP, so when BJs keeps giving me coupons for 36roll packs of Scott TP close to that price, I keep my supply stocked up.
The Scott TP is also very handy for final sanding of fine wood pieces that I craft in my wood shop.
Bill_in_TR
Member
I have been using primarily Hoppes for a long long time. It has always done the job with a minimum amount of effort. And like others here I really like the smell. I wish they made an aftershave that smelled like it.
Yes, marketing has made us stupid. The modern consumerist society makes us stupid. I heard online algorithms model us as simple creatures only motivated in fulfilling our basest wants and emotions. And it works!
Friar Frog has accumulated lots of neat information on home made brews:
Homemade Firearm Cleaners & Lubricants
http://frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm
If you search for Ed's Red, you can find a simple, home made bore cleaner from chemicals easily found at a hardware store.
This provides an analysis of the chemicals in some bore cleaners.
Improved Rifle Bore Cleaner, 1972
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/748807.pdf
When I went to the grocery store this week, the shelves were bare of pre packaged, ready to eat meals. People love the convenience of just sticking something in the microwave and letting it heat up. Few few cook anymore. Anyone could make a decent bore cleaner from the recipes on the web, but few do. My self included. I do want to know what is inside them, but, I have gallons of Mil C 372 and I am using that up, even though it is not a good gunpowder or primer solvent.
Friar Frog has accumulated lots of neat information on home made brews:
Homemade Firearm Cleaners & Lubricants
http://frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm
If you search for Ed's Red, you can find a simple, home made bore cleaner from chemicals easily found at a hardware store.
This provides an analysis of the chemicals in some bore cleaners.
Improved Rifle Bore Cleaner, 1972
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/748807.pdf
When I went to the grocery store this week, the shelves were bare of pre packaged, ready to eat meals. People love the convenience of just sticking something in the microwave and letting it heat up. Few few cook anymore. Anyone could make a decent bore cleaner from the recipes on the web, but few do. My self included. I do want to know what is inside them, but, I have gallons of Mil C 372 and I am using that up, even though it is not a good gunpowder or primer solvent.
Elkins45
Member
No. it came from a National Guard armorer I used to shoot with. I mixed up a batch almost 30 years ago and haven't used anything else since then.
FL-NC
Member
By and large, I agree. I primarily use 3 products for my firearms: 1- generic motor oil for metal surfaces 2- lithium grease from auto zone for moving parts and springs 3- MPRO-7 as a solvent. I also like shooter's choice solvent, but by the gallon I can get MPRO-7 cheaper, and it really has no odor. Otherwise, I use a seperate solvent for black powder. Can't remember what it is- its blue.
DukeConnor
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Either this or spend 8 hours cleaning the pig.
slicksleeve
Member
It might work fine, but this summer when I start shooting my Savage rifle I'm piecing together, I'll probably use solvent at the bench for barrel break in. It seems much simpler to me to carry along a small bottle of solvent than say, a thermos of hot water and soap. Ha, maybe I'll use coffee! And no need to come punch you, I'll just yell the same things under my breath that I say when it doesn't group like I want it to.
Obturation
Member
Brave to advertise that on the interwebz these days.
WheelGunMan
Member
I've used Hoppes since day one. My Dad used it. I too love the smell of it for the very same reasons. I wish they would make an aftershave with the scent.
Daniel Craig...to each their own. If soap and water works for you...go for it. Hoppes has always served me well.. for over 50 years.
WD40 is best for what it was designed for, water displacement. If your gun gets soaked or immersed in water spraying it with WD40 will get all the water out. Then you have to flush out the WD40 as it gets gummy if you let it dry.
I remember seeing a test maybe 20 years ago that showed it was good for rust prevemtion. I knew of a guy in the Florida Keys who would fly people out to Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas in a Cessna float plane. He would spray the plane down from a drum of WD40 st the end of the day.
Soap and water is great stuff if you are shooting black powder firearms.
Water is also useful for dissolving corrosive primer residue.
I started out using Hoppes's No. 9 some 53 years ago. I did not know a the time why it had originally been formulated, at a time when water would not do the job with then-modern rifles. the job.
When you get a chance, read Days of the Krag, by Col Townsend Whelen, known as the Dean of America's Riflemen.
Army marksmen had been using single shot "trapdoor" Springfield riffles chambered tor the black powder .45 Government cartridge with a lead bullet. Those rifles were extremely accurate.
When the teams adopted the US Rifle, Model 1892, chambered for the smokeless .30 Army cartridge loaded with a jacketed bullet, they found that accuracy deteriorated quickly. The problem was a build-up of bullet fouling. Cleaning with soap and water did not cut it.
The fouling was difficult to remove. Col. Whelen and the armorers started trying different mixtures of compounds. They finally settled on one.
The original Hoppe's No 9 was just about the same thing.
"Gun oil" serves two functions. One is lubrication. The other is corrosion protection. As Odd Job's link points out, not all products are equally effective.
By the way, I had the opportunity to meet Col. Whelen. He let me shoot his Winchester single shot .22 K-Hornet rifle.
I think I really have to agree with this. I was at academy the other day just browsing. My jaw dropped when I saw a small bottle of lube for $20. Almost every bottle offered claimed one thing or another.
For the most part, I don’t even use solvent. I just use whatever lube I’m using at the time to wet everything that needs to be cleaned and use a brush. Then I wipe everything off. Don’t even need to lube again after that. Well, a drop here and there, but that’s it.
The only other thing I really use is a copper solvent, but that’s rarely necessary.
When I really want to clean something, I throw it in the dishwasher. That will get EVERYTHING off.
Honestly though, I do prefer to use a synthetic non toxic lube. I seem to always have some in my hands so prefer it to be non toxic.
For the most part, I don’t even use solvent. I just use whatever lube I’m using at the time to wet everything that needs to be cleaned and use a brush. Then I wipe everything off. Don’t even need to lube again after that. Well, a drop here and there, but that’s it.
The only other thing I really use is a copper solvent, but that’s rarely necessary.
When I really want to clean something, I throw it in the dishwasher. That will get EVERYTHING off.
Honestly though, I do prefer to use a synthetic non toxic lube. I seem to always have some in my hands so prefer it to be non toxic.
CrypticStatic
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Ballistol has worked for me for years now. A good non-toxic CLP that you can use on just about anything and anywhere.
I happen to like the smell too.
I happen to like the smell too.
Obturation
Member
My wife banned ballistol from the house due to odor. I still use it, just not at home. Good stuff.
WheelGunMan
Member
I like Rem Oil for lubricating. I use oil sparingly and mostly on pivot areas. As far as barrel lube Hoppes 90 provides enough petroleum when cleaning with it.
GBExpat
Member
Why, pray tell?
Obturation
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Tp zombies... They don't care about brains anymore, these days they'd starve to death (again) anyway. now they seek that soft sweet tp.Why, pray tell?
Obturation
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This thread got me thinking. My poor super redhawk has been neglected. Fired a mountain of smoking hot loads and hasn't been cleaned beyond a wipe down in maybe 1000+ rounds and never taken apart to do it (3000+ rounds). So I got all my junk and scrubbed her out, note -a toothpick will only hold the hammer spring for about an hour, then it says bye bye.
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