I know some folks swear by it and some don't; but let me tell you my experience and get your feedback.

I have typically used BreakFree and Hoppe's Elite cleaning products for rifles. I also use the foaming cleaners once per year on each rifle.

I used some Sweets last night on two rifles (both SS barrels) that just had their annual deep cleaning (in additional to regular cleaning). Sweets removed copper that was still in there. I wouldn't say it was a motherload of copper, but it took multiple passes to get it clean.

I started with a patch of Sweets and then let it set for about a minute. Then I would run another patch through with Sweets, then dry patches, and then finish off with several patch of BreakFree until clean. And then one pass with a dry patch. I kept repeating this process until there was no more blue.

So, it did clean better than anything else.

Clean-up Question - does this cleaning process - what I describe above - remove all of the Sweets or should I do something else as well?

To get Sweets to really work well, wrap a strip of cloth around a Parker Hale type jag, soak it in Sweets and while the barrel is still hot (on the range) wipe it in and out of the barrel very quickly till it foams up. Repeat as many times as necessary.

I always use a lube or oil to coat the barrel after patching out the sweets. The barrel will not like moisture and sweets and the recommendation is not to leave it in the barrel longer than 15 minutes. If you live in a dry area you can leave it in for a bit longer .

Dan Lilja told me years ago to leave Sweets no longer than 7 minutes in a barrel and neturalize it with an oil like Butch's gun oil.

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
Dan Lilja told me years ago to leave Sweets no longer than 7 minutes in a barrel and neturalize it with an oil like Butch's gun oil.

If Montana has any kind of humidity then he his spot on.

ANNUAL deep cleaning?

Yes - annual deep cleaning. Given I usually shoot less than 20 rounds through a rifle per year, doesn't need foaming bore cleaner nor sweets everytime I shoot.

I do clean every time after I shoot. Just not with the foam and sweets.