Hoppes number 9

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This is a good older thread on the subject.

How well it's been proven escapes me, do you have a good credible link?

Hoppes #9 will not effect the chrome lining of a barrel. Not that I have ever seen anyway. The ammonia in any bore cleaner is to remove the copper fouling so any bore cleaner designed to remove copper fouling, for the most part, contains ammonia.

Nickel plating will not stick to steel. A nickle plated gun first receives what is commonly called a copper strike which is a light copper plating then the gun is nickel plated. This applies to electro nickel plating. A strong copper solvent may penetrate tiny pores (holes) in the nickel and attack the copper below it causing the nickel plating to peel. My guess is it would take quite a bit to permeate the nickel and get to the copper substrate.

I have used Hoppe's #9 Bore Cleaning Solvent Liquid as well as Hoppe's #9 Bench Rest Copper Bore Cleaning Solvent Liquid the latter having more ammonia and over 40 years neither has eaten or ruined anything. You do not leave the copper bore cleaners in the bore for weeks, you just clean the gun and after a few dry clean patches leave a light coat of oil in the barrel.

Just My Take
Ron
 
I have tried 30 or so different bore cleaners over the years and found myself back to using the two bore cleaners mentioned above. The smell of Hoppes brings back fond memories as far as 40 years ago. Hope I'm not damaging my bore(s)...
 
If you are going to run the U.S. issue rifle then use the U.S. military uses - CLP. It works MUCH better than Hoppe's. If you just have to get that smell then soak some rags with Hoppes and hang them over your bench. I never understood all the people who use Hoppe's because of the "wonderful" smell when there are so many better products available.
 
Hoppes if used for cleaning and then removed will NOT harm nickel guns. What WILL do it is to soak a nickle gun in the hoppes, which allows it to bleed into microfractures and scratches in the finish and attack the underlying copper.
 
CLP. It works MUCH better than Hoppe's.

Not in my experience. When it comes to removing metal fouling, a dedicated bore / metal fouling solvent is better than a "do all things equally poorly" product. Try using a dedicated bore solvent after patching out a bore with "clp" and see what you get. the proof is in the patch!
 
I too like the smell of Hoppes #9 but I think it has changed since I was a kid in the sixties. Or maybe my olfactory glands have changed due to all the stuff I've smelled over the years.

I have never had a problem with Hoppes destroying the finish on a nickel gun but, like others, I do not leave it on the gun.

Current, I use Ed's Red for bore cleaning. Nothing like the smell of acetone in the morning.:)
 
Never had a problem with Hoppes on a firearm's finish. Hoppes did mess up the finish of some CZ plastic grips.

CLP is OK, but I've stuck with Hoppes. Just does a more thorough job IMO.
 
I clean a handgun or two before I go out in the evening. That smell as I stroll around in a bar will toll in a female firearms enthusiast faster than an offer to shoot a hand cannon. If they turn up their nose and walk away they are usually an anti.:D I use a bunch of cleaning supplies and this is one of them. Never ruined a firearm by cleaning with any of them yet but removing the copper under the plating does have some merit if left long enough IMHO.
 
Horsefeathers!

The only things Hoppe's will do to your gun is clean it and make the room smell great.

I've used Hoppe's on guns (and reels) since 1956 to good effect and on M-16s (chrome lined barrels and chromed BCGs), etc., since 1972, also to good effect. When overseas and couldn't get any actual AF cleaner solvent, whatever it was at the time, we bought Hoppe's with our own $$$. Worked great. CLP is a latecomer to the game. Works OK but it's a better luber than cleaner/solvent. And there's nothing better on mags (M-16 and 1911) than Hoppe's. Clean and wipe dry. The mags work and don't rust, even in the tropics.

Remember you're treading on heresy when you disparage Hoppe's. It and burnt JP-4 are the two smells of freedom! :)
 
Hoppes #9 Synthetic blend.....

In 2013, I purchased a small bottle of Hoppes #9, Synthetic from www.brownells.com . I like the Hoppes #9 odor. :D
Brownells even sells the Hoppes #9 car air freshener.
I never had any issues with regular Hoppes #9 in the 1990s/2000s. I cleaned my 96D .40S&W with after market NP3; www.Robarguns.com with no problems.

I wouldn't soak or leave any gun part in a batch of any solvent or CLP. :uhoh:
Right now I use Frog-Lube CLP(fluid) but I've used Ballistol which has a mineral oil base since 1997 or so. It's great and it's non-toxic/CFC free. :)

Rusty
 
Hoppe's has served me well for the last 50 years. I've used other products, but nothing I have tried works enough better to make me give up on Hoppe's.
 
I do think they have done something with the formula, the new stuff doesn't smell near as good as the old stuff.
 
True, the new stuff is not as fragrant as the old stuff. I have been trying to get my unmarried daughter to dab a bit of my old #9 behind each ear when going out. I figure she'd attract the right kind of guy that way. So far she has resisted and keeps coming home with wussey guys.
 
This is funny...

Like an "oil thread" on any vehicle based forums.

Hoppe's has and can be a problem identifier - for a preexisting problem such as mentioned above in the case of compromised nickel finishes and folks leaving #9 soaked patches in a bore. Yup, seen that movie!

CLP? From the day I first saw it in the Army till the day I retired, I learned to trust it as one of the better *LPs out there. C**?... not so much.

They shouldn't call it CLP but rather cLP.
 
Originally posted by Curator

True, the new stuff is not as fragrant as the old stuff. I have been trying to get my unmarried daughter to dab a bit of my old #9 behind each ear when going out. I figure she'd attract the right kind of guy that way. So far she has resisted and keeps coming home with wussey guys.

Go to the Hoppes web site. They actually have Hoppes no 9 perfume/cologne.

There was some problems in the past with hoppes and nickel finished guns. There was an article in The American Rifleman at one time. It seems that some people bough the quart bottles of Hoppes and would soak their guns overnight in a pan of the stuff to start their cleaning process. That would in fact start to strip nickel in patches in some instances. It was common enough that they wrote an article on it. Its fine to clean with, not a good idea to leave soaking in it for nickel. Shouldn't be a problem with hard chrome.

Many seem to think theres some special window cleaner, hot water or vinegar process required for OMG-Corrosive!!!! ammo cleanup. Being formulated in 1903, Hoppes No 9 was made specifically for such use, we tend to forget that. I believe todays formula has a bit less ammonia, but it still does the job for the most part. The Hoppes copper cleaner may be more like the older stuff, but I haven't tried it. I bought several quart bottles of old No 9 solvent at an estate sale many years ago and still have quite a bit left, so can't comment much on the new stuff, I haven't needed to buy any in 30 years or so.
 
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I swear I am the only gun guy in existence who does not like the smell of Hoppe's 9. Whatever floats your boat, but I can't stand it.

Commercial CLP does not work as well as the military stuff we got issued. Luckily for my AR components, I lifted a gallon of the real stuff still sealed in the bottle.
 
I swear I am the only gun guy in existence who does not like the smell of Hoppe's 9. Whatever floats your boat, but I can't stand it.

Commercial CLP does not work as well as the military stuff we got issued. Luckily for my AR components, I lifted a gallon of the real stuff still sealed in the bottle.
You're not alone.
I loathe the smell but love the product. I always feel like my nose is being assaulted by it.
 
I couldn't imagine it hurting plating or finish. Hoppes #9 has the same solvent qualities as cold tap water. I have always got bottles of it in cleaning kits and such, but fail to see it as a good gun cleaner. I have soaked parts in it for weeks on end and they were still filthy when they came out. I think it's a worthless product.
 
Gun cleaning vs gun shooting....

First;
I do not have the time, resources or $$$ to shoot 1000s of rounds out of my guns so they don't get filthy. :rolleyes:
Also, I shoot mostly factory new FMJ loads with nickel or brass cases so lead, copper, crud, grit, etc is a major problem. I use the synthetic Hoppes #9, but I don't hose down the gun barrel(s) with it or go thru bottle after bottle. :rolleyes:
I never had any trouble with the Hoppes #9 solvent but I'm sure Sweet's, 7.62, Butch's Bore Solvent, etc can also do very well.

My main purpose for using Hoppes #9 is the non toxic(no harsh fumes) blend & as a rust prevention for the pistol barrels.

I'd add that the Hoppes site does not list any colognes or scents. :confused:
They do market a car air freshener, that's now on sale at www.brownells.com . $2.50 USD..... :D
 
First;
I do not have the time, resources or $$$ to shoot 1000s of rounds out of my guns so they don't get filthy. :rolleyes:
Also, I shoot mostly factory new FMJ loads with nickel or brass cases so lead, copper, crud, grit, etc is a major problem. I use the synthetic Hoppes #9, but I don't hose down the gun barrel(s) with it or go thru bottle after bottle. :rolleyes:
I never had any trouble with the Hoppes #9 solvent but I'm sure Sweet's, 7.62, Butch's Bore Solvent, etc can also do very well.

My main purpose for using Hoppes #9 is the non toxic(no harsh fumes) blend & as a rust prevention for the pistol barrels.

I'd add that the Hoppes site does not list any colognes or scents. :confused:
They do market a car air freshener, that's now on sale at www.brownells.com . $2.50 USD..... :D
No colognes or scents? Are you kidding me?

The bore cleaner and cologne are one in the same. One drop for your gun, one drop for you....

I must admit I prefer to clean with CLP, but I can't drink my morning coffee without a drop or two of Hoppes to sweeten it up a bit.
 
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