Substitute powder/ bullet lube solvent.....

I am getting low on Hoppe's #9 again.... and I'm a bit tired of paying about $6 for a little bottle of it (6 oz., I think)....the larger (quart ?) bottles are more like $12 to $15. Anyway, I have this quart can of turpentine on hand, so I though that I'd give that a try. The turp is about 1/3 the price of the Hoppe's, by volume. I don't know of any reason why this stuff would harm anything....and it's not any more noxious than Hoppe's....so, why not ? Anyway, after shooting my paper-patched loads, which are lubed with Lee Liquid Alox, my barrel is never very dirty, as it is. With Hoppe's #9, it usually requires (a total of) about 2 - 3 wet patches, with a few minutes for the solvent to work...and dry patches in between....to get the barrel clean (final dry patch with basically no dirty residue). With the turpentine, ONE wet patch, followed by about a 5 minute wait, followed by TWO dry patches....and voila. Not only is the barrel clean, it is SQUEAKY clean (the final dry patch actually squeaks as it slides through the barrel). I follow up the final dry patch with a lightly oiled patch, just as I have always done. Who could have guessed that ordinary, cheap turpentine would do as well, if not better than, precious Hoppe's #9 ? I have always used Hoppe's...and never gave much thought to trying a substitute.... as the Hoppe's always worked well and just seemed like the "right" thing to use (a bona fide powder solvent). I am much more conscious of shooting-related costs than ever before now....so I am always on the lookout for cheaper alternatives. Who'd of thunk it ? Probably, turpentine will do nothing against metal fouling, but, as I only shoot cast, paper-patched loads now, copper or lead fouling (for me) is not an issue.

Anyway, barring some strong evidence that turpentine will damage barrel steel, or cause some unforseen catastrophe....I think that I shall continue with it, at least for the time being. If all goes well, then perhaps I will never buy another bottle of "bona fide" commercial powder solvent again.

This can't possibly be new info to anyone (or most anyone here)...it seems silly to mention it....but I'd thought I'd pass it on, just in case.

Do a search for "Ed's Red". Be careful using turp it will remove all the oil,add a little trans fluid to it so it will leave a little oily residue.

Or try Marvel Mystery Oil. It's about $5 a quart and works well.

Are you sure it's turpentine, and not mineral spirits? Turpentine is made from pine sap, and may leave a slight residue, which if it builds up, will be gummy. I use mineral spirits all the time to clean action parts, then, blowing them off with compressed air.

When in business, I'd soak the action of a customer's fouled/gummed up .22 auto rifle in a bucket of it, without disassembling, and then blow it off well with about 90psi of air, lubricationg it after. Saved a lot of work. I won't even get into the old pistolsmith's trick with DA revolvers and boiling water.[smilie=1:
Morgan

CONTENTS: Ed's Red Bore Cleaner

1 part Dexron ATF, GM Spec. D-20265 or later.

1 part Kerosene - deodorized, K1

1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits

CAS #64741-49-9, or substitute "Stoddard Solvent", CAS #8052-41-3, or equivalent.

1 part Acetone, CAS #67-64-1.

(Optional 1 lb. of Lanolin, Anhydrous, USP per gallon, or OK to substitute Lanolin, Modified, Topical Lubricant, from the drug store)

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix outdoors, in good ventilation. Use a clean 1 gallon metal, chemical-resistant, heavy gage PET or PVC plastic container. NFPA approved plastic gasoline storage containers are OK. Do NOT use HDPE, which is permeable, because the acetone will slowly evaporate. Acetone in ER will attack HDPE over time, causing the container to collapse, making a heck of a mess!

Add the ATF first. Use the empty container to measure the otherainer to measure the other components, so that it is thoroughly rinsed. If you incorporate the lanolin into the mixture, melt this carefully in a double boiler, taking precautions against fire. Pour the melted lanolin it into a larger container, rinsing the lanolin container with the bore cleaner mix, and stirring until it is all dissolved. I recommend diverting up to 4 ozs. per quart of the 50-50 ATF/kerosene mix to use as "ER-compatible" gun oil. This can be done without impairing the effectiveness of the remaining mix. Label and safety warnings follow:

+1 on Ed's RED with the acetone..just keep it airtight ..it is all I use, and I made enough to supply all my guntoting relatives and buddies....I tend to make big batches of "STUFF" when I find something that works real well.[smilie=1:. I used liquid lanolin from the hippie store, it is just easier to deal with than the solid form and it still GETS R DONE.

Yes, what I have is turpentine....not mineral spirits (I do know the difference). As for the turp "removing all of the oil"...I run a lightly oiled patch through the bore afterwards, anyway. I can't see how removing all of the oil would be a problem, anyway (as long as the steel is then re-oiled). One thing that I am not sure about is whether turpentine is hygroscopic...or might promote corrosion in any way. I'll do a bit of testing for that.
Mineral spirits might well be a better choice for a simple substitute (than turp), I don't know.

As for the potential of gummy build-up, that had not occurred to me. Good point. Thanks for the heads up on that - I'll watch out.

Thanks to all who proffered the formula for and suggested "Ed's Red". I am aware of it, but always decided not to make the effort. Now that I see the formula, I really think that I will NOT make the effort. Noxious stuff, to be sure. As someone said, turpentine is made from pine trees (pine oil, to be exact)....thus, it is a "natural" product in a way, as opposed to another petrol-based concoction. Thanks, anyway, but I'll try to keep it simple.

Coincidentally the gunsmith from whom I purchased my .22cal. match rifle mentioned the use of turpentine to me the other day. He said it removed lead & powder fouling very well, but so do WD-40, Kroil & mineral spirits.

Soapy water works well as a bore cleaner with smokeless powder, noncorrosive primed ammo, just as it does with corrosive primers and black powder.

Ammonia works well as a copper remover, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricochet

Soapy water works well as a bore cleaner with smokeless powder, noncorrosive primed ammo, just as it does with corrosive primers and black powder.

Ammonia works well as a copper remover, too.

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Be REAL careful using Amonia! It will remove copper fouling fast, but it will etch both Carbon and stainless steel if it's left in the barrell. I ruined a Shelen SS barrell with it on one of my Benchrest rifles. I now use JB bore cleaning compound to remove copper and lead from my barrels and have had no problems at all using it. Ed's Red is a very good bore cleaner for powder and plastic. I mix it by the gallon.