best cleaning fluids

[Love Life]

Hoppes number 9 does a good enough job on my cast barrels. Butch's bore shine for my jacketed barrels.

[ShooterAZ]

Thank you

REALLY? One more to add to the Ignore List.

[JWFilips]

When I started using cast Especially in revolvers I went by an old Gunsmith formula I found in a book ( for cast bullets)
It is 1/3 hoppes #9, 1/3 Kroil, and 1/3 real turps ( Get at an art store not hardware store kind ) It does remove lead!

Since I have been shooting rifles with Ben's Red and BLL the only real cleaning I do is pass a patch of ATF down my bore Then shoot again!

When I get a new to me rifle It is only Sweets! Until the patches stay white and the copper is gone then a few balistol patches to neutralize Then a few dry patches and then a few atf patches and I then only shoot cast boolits!

[DerekP Houston]

ATF for me, started with a half bottle of Dextron II, then moved into a full bottle of the Dextron III but I think any of it will work.

It all seems to clean very very well, lubricate well, wipes dry and still leaves a protected lubed surface.

If I am trying to get lead out or old dark rifling I will take a half a shot glass of ATF, add 3-4 squirts of Goo Gone to it and use that. That stuff is super.

Worked better than hoppes for pulling lead. Helps to have a tight patch so you have to work to move it.

That's me, already had it, no expense, after 3 years no issues. Also seems to work great in between switching lubes. Clean out the old, leaves the bore spotless shiny ready for the new.

Your mileage may vary but I find the stuff amazing and thrifty.

Right, I'd forgotten about ATF. Still have 2 jars sitting above my desk for soaking whatever parts need scrubbing.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Recently had a sticky revolver cylinder and was low on solvent. I decided to shoot it with some non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Had it freed up in seconds. I'll probably use it more in the future for removing gunk from actions. Just got to watch plastics and wood finishes.

[jmort]

Copper, hard to beat Wipe Out/Patch Out
Mostly Ballistol otherwise

[ole 5 hole group]

i too remember when sweets was THE copper remover to use. it has since been proven that it can ruin a bore. the ammonia does it. please, don't anyone reply that you have been using sweets since 19_ _ and your bores are as good as new. keep using it

Now that may be true, just I haven't heard of Sweet's 7.62 doing it. Now ammonia will pit a bad barrel fairly quickly - it's the barrel's steel that is somehow bad/poor, if the barrel pits fairly quickly. I don't know that as a fact myself, it was told to me by a match barrel maker and I believe what he told me.

I had a match barrel that pitted using "Blue Goop" and I was the only person that experienced pitting in my shooting area using Blue Goop, which was 28% ammonia with hydrogen peroxide as a catalyst and there was a lot of shooters using that "stuff" for fast copper removal. After cleaning I immediately dried the barrel and oiled it - BUT it pitted in one spot anyway, and it was a very noticeable pit but really didn't affect the accuracy - at least my accuracy.

[ShooterAZ]

Sweets should not be left in the bore for more than 15 minutes, according to the directions. I have never left it in there for that long. A couple of passes with a wet patch, followed by dry ones. A final "rinse" with Hoppe's after that. My bottle of Sweets has lasted more than 10 years, I hardly ever use it. Butch's Bore shine works just as well or better for copper fouling.

[tdoyka]

i used to use(about 30 or so years ago) hoppes gun oil and a nitro solvent. after that i used shooter's choice and remington lube(rem-lube in a spray can).

now i use(about 3-4 years ago) ballistol, gunslicks foaming bore cleaner, shooter's choice mc-7 and sweets. also i'll use kroil once in awhile.

i didn't know that copper could mess up the bore. the first time i ever used shooter's choice, it took me quite awhile to get the patches clean. they came out the bore blue-green, i've wondered if many other guns( using a 3 in 1 oil and a nitro solvent) have been scrapped because the people who used them didn't think that the accuracy went to s!@#. esp the old military rifles.

[ole 5 hole group]

A lot of people think they have a bore that's free of copper - they may be right, but if they want to know for sure - get a bottle of Boretech CU+2, replace your brass cleaning rod jags with plastic, aluminum or what they now call proof positive or similar names that are made of non-brass material that won't give you a false-positive reading for copper. That brass jag will give you false positive readings all day long using CU+2.

A fellow showed me a WW1 Springfield that he said was clean of copper fouling. Well, it took me a couple of hours running patches with CU+2 to get it clean of copper & carbon - that's a long time running CU+2.

Run a couple wet patches, let sit for a minute or two - dry patch, then repeat - that is after you clean out most of the carbon. Once a year is probably enough for most plinkers.

[Outpost75]

REALLY? One more to add to the Ignore List.

Agree. Makes two of us.

[tazman]

Recently I have been using the Hoppe's Elite series cleaners with excellent results. Their Copper Terminator seems to work well and they claim it doesn't/can't hurt the bore. I haven't been using it long enough to know if long term use is a problem but, the Elite series cleaners work very quickly for me. I can usually have a rifle completely cleaned and getting clean patches in just a few minutes per rifle.
I had my gunsmith (using his bore scope) take a look through the barrel of one of my rifles after I cleaned it this way using his bore scope. He said it was one of the cleanest barrels he had seen and had no copper in it at all.

[Lloyd Smale]

another fan of butch's

I like Sweet's or Butch's Bore shine for quickly removing copper fouling. Kroil works well for cleaning after shooting cast. I will also say that I like Hoppe's #9, It's good for a several day soak when needed. Smells good too.

[garym1a2]

I normally use a 50/50 mix atf/Mobile1-5-30 to clean and lube. Tuff stuff gets kroil. Normally my glocks are easy to clean dry with just a bore brush and q-tips. My ARs may get Hoppes #9 or breakfree clp.

[Shiloh]

Ed's Red for me. Sans acetone.

Shiloh

[bullseye67]

Good evening, I am a believer in "ED'S RED" I am using the original formula. The next batch I will use MEK as suggested in Glen's book Ingot to Target. I don't shoot Clays enough anymore to need the plastic removal from the wads......Hmmmm...if I start powder coating?? might need that plastic remover again. I have used BoreTech copper solvent on a couple of used rifles and handguns. I haven't shoot a J-word for years. I don't remember the last time I had real leading, just a light streak or some grey antimony wash, which cleans out in a few wet patches and a good brush out followed by a couple of wet patches. ATF is an amazing release agent. I dropped a set of antique hinges into a jar full. The FIL thought I had bought new ones. The ATF even lifted the layer of old paint after about a week soak.

[54bore]

Boretech eliminator for the bore, and any quality gun oil for the exterior (there are many)

[cheese1566]

I still like sweets and have been using the same personal bottle for 20 years...ya I don't use it everytime I clean....especially with just lead boolits.
Just had AR15/M16 armorer school again and learned to keep using it, but swab the bore with denatured alcohol afterwards. Since then, we have removed it from the cleaning kit at the PD and have reserved its use solely by use armorers.

Nothng reaaly beats Kroil and some JB Borepaste for a good bore scrubbing.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive used sweets on and off for 30 years and it never hurt a thing. Just read the instructions and use it like it suppose to be used. the guys that had trouble with are the type that tend to know more then the person who manufactures things and leave it in there bore for a day or more.

i too remember when sweets was THE copper remover to use. it has since been proven that it can ruin a bore. the ammonia does it. please, don't anyone reply that you have been using sweets since 19_ _ and your bores are as good as new. keep using it

[gwpercle]

I'm an Ed's Red fan , I use it with acetone for heavy duty cleaning and without acetone as a general purpose CLP. If I'm inside the house , the nod goes to Hoppe's Elite , Gun Cleaner and Gun Oil. Only because my wife can smell things I never ever notice and the Hoppe's Elite products are " scent free", ergo myself and a freshly cleaned gun can both sleep in the bedroom that night .
JB Bore Paste is another good one for barrels .
Gary