For many years I have used Hoppe's and a technique that simply puts a soaked patch through the bore until it comes out clean. Then coat the bore with more #9 and let sit over night. If a new patch comes out clean then fine, the job is done. But if it comes out black or green, then repeat. It may take a week to clean a rifle but I'm in no hurry and am assured nothing harsh is harming the barrel.

I've acquired a CZ527FS in .22 Hornet. Shoots very well but the barrel never seems to come clean. After a week of the above process, along with some Shooters Choice and Montana Extreme and a couple of brass brushings in between, the patches still come out tinged in dark (like carbon).

Any thoughts or ideas what's happening?

Are the patches getting cleaner looking? My first thought is to clean the bolt lug recess to be sure you're not picking up grease from that area.

Bukiwyf, Even when using a quality bore guide?

I have found that sometimes I pick up recess lug grease on the tip of my bore guide when first installing the bore guide for cleaning. Now I clean the recess area before inserting the bore guide.

If the patches are getting cleaner then keep going at it with your cleaning procedure. The rifle shoots good so no problems. I wonder if moly coated bullets have been shot thru it?

Now you've got me. Always wondered how to clean in there. Settled on just running a large clean patch in to the start of the chamber and giving a spin. Them make sure the bolt is very clean.

No clue on the molly as I bought id slightly used.

Actually the patches come out clean but after an overnight soaking some more stuff shows up.

CLP makes a foam that will easily sqirt down your barrel and let it sit for 15minutes and push out the blue gunk with a patch,very easy and simple,will clean your bore just like brand new...even if it is horribly neglected from years of abuse,i highly recommend that stuff...

Midway USA offers an inexpensive plastic tool with cotton swab rolls for specifically cleaning the bolt recess area and chamber. I recommend it. I have used more expensive tools from Hart but like the simple Midway tool better for my purpose.

I have trying to improve my cleaning procedures but am afraid to use any of the products that can damage outside metal or stocks. I think you just keep shooting and cleaning like you are doing.

you're missing the 2 most important steps in using hoppes. first you must open the bottle and take a sniff, and the before you close it take another sniff

Just had a thought: Is it possible that my bottle of Hoppe's is contaminated? Like from dunking a brush directly in the bottle. Could the Hoppe's be carrying some "stuff" into the barrel which shows up after sitting a while and evaporation happens? Next session I'll use new bottle.

run a jag thru to outside the muzzel screw in a patch and reverse the patch halfway down the barrel, do this twice to see if the color is in the bore or in the breach.. If it is grey in the bore it could be leading. Try changing bullets to a better grade, and be sure its copper jacket not copper coated.. If you stop the leading, and clean well after each fireing and dont add more lead it will eventially come out.. Dave

Sound like its time to break out the JB.
(I don't mean the the booze kind of JB)

Hey Mike, Hoppe's makes a much better products for cleaning firearms called BenchRest and Elite. The Elite also comes in a 1/4oz Test Sample and a larger Elite Bore Gel with a rotating spout to keep the Bore Brushes out of the bottle. If you follow the directions on the bottle, you will discover a whole new level of cleaning.

No need to toss out the old Hoppe's #9 though(unless it is Bore Brush contaminated) because it draws in women like Flies to a pile of obummer.

Thanks again guys. More stuff for me to try. And, yes Hot Core, my wife has always maintained that "real men" smell like Hoppe's.

Hello!

First let me tell you, that my cleaning regime is practically identical with yours!

Hoppe´s until relatively clean, then either BF over night, dry wiping and going shooting. I mostly use good cotton flannel patches with brass jags ( TIPTON jags are GREAT ). Occasionally nylon or bristle brushes.

Or #9, let barrel over night, next evening dry patch, then #9 patch ...

... until clean.

I do NOT think, that you made a mistake.

IMHO it´s the RIFLE.( or the bore, or the bore treatment ... whatever you like )

So PLEEAASE stay with your cleaning regime. Just accept, that with that rifle, until later, it will not show clean with your cleaning habits until later.

DO NOT clean her to death!!

After Brass brushes and "qicker" cleaners ( all things I would and have done just like you ), let her ... ( I have ALL DONE THIS; e.g. with Surplus Military guns )

accept the fact and don´t clean her to death!

It will all settle in .....

my advice: don´t take things too "religiously".

Keep cool, take it easy, man!

Greetings from Europe, Hermann

Mike if you must dip your brush into the bottle of Hoppes, just get a secomd bottle and use it for the patches.

That way you eleminate the contamination.

I would try some JB Bore Paste as well.

I'm overdue to do some shooting tomorrow, so I'll see how the process continues. Thanks.

If you think that the #9 is really cleaning your barrel get a borescope and have a look---you will be shocked.

No need to flame me here until you have a look with your own 2 eyes--not what someone told you or what you have read on the internet somewhere.

Tried again with new/clean #9 and results pretty much the same. The CZ FS .22 Hornet seems to give some black traces no matter how many patches go through.

Hoss Boss, No doubt you are correct about using a bore scope and I would truly love to have one. Know any for sale at a reasonable price? I do think however, that if you use any/all procedures and chemicals to get the bore as clean as possible, what good is the scope? Even if you can see stuff, what's the point if you can't clean it out? Maybe I'm getting anal here, eh?

Mike,

Hoppe's #9 is popular, smells great and should be used as a cologne, but not as a cleaning agent.

I've tried many different cleaning products, including the foaming cleaners. When I returned from South Africa with my .300 Win. Mag., I spent about 12 hours cleaning the rifle. I'd put the foaming cleaner in the barrel, let it sit for 15 - 30 minutes and swab it out. I did this all day (I worked for a fire department) until the cleaning patches came out clean.

I was convinced to use KG Gun Care products after I took my "now clean" rifle and worked some KG products through it. Imagine my disgust when KG soaked patches pulled from my supposedly clean rifle were absolutely cruddy!

I now use only KG cleaners in my firearms and I KNOW they're clean. Yes, there might be other products that work, but for me, and my custom built .300, there's only one line of cleaning products that'll go down the barrel. You can read more about them at http://www.kgcoatings.com

quote:

Originally posted by MikeMichalski:
For many years I have used Hoppe's and a technique that simply puts a soaked patch through the bore until it comes out clean. Then coat the bore with more #9 and let sit over night. If a new patch comes out clean then fine, the job is done.

Sounds good.

Now the questions:

1. How does your gun shoot after being cleaned this way?

2. Have you noticed any signs of rust forming in your barrel?

If your answers to the above are:

1. Very well, thanks, and

2. No.....,

then why worry about it? The Hoppes is doing it's job and there is likely not much if any reason to sweat it. The object of bore cleaning is to keep your gun shooting well and undamaged, not to eternally produce clean patches.

Best wishes,

AC

AC, Yup!

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
you're missing the 2 most important steps in using hoppes. first you must open the bottle and take a sniff, and the before you close it take another sniff

I was told by a buddy from Louisiana that many gents in the south use it for cologne.

Lou

Update: Got some Hoppe's Elite and the first test was to take barrels cleaned as described above and see what Elite would bring out. Answer: nothing. Next shooting session process will be reversed: clean with Elite first and then see what #9 brings out afterward.

For those of us who don't get to shoot every day, experimentation like this takes a long time to draw any worthwhile conclusions. Makes this site valuable, eh?

Unless you have a bore scope, you have no idea if the tube is clean or not using the "blue patch" method if there is layered copper and fouling in the bore not to mention carbon. With the scope you can see there is usually copper layered under the fouling.

Have a friends dad that it took me over an hour (never takes me over 15 minutes to do my competition Krieger tubes with Iosso) to get all of the carbon, copper and fouling out of his factory tube. He got a clean patch (been doing it that way for 60 years he told me) using his favorite solvent but when he saw what was layered in then he just shook his head plus a carbon ring I could have worn .

On Factory tubes, it always takes longer to get clean because of the roughness of the bores. Iosso or the other product (which I don't use) will work 100% of the time if you just go by the directions.

Last update. Hoppe's Elite resolved my initial concern: carbon (black) continually coming out of my CZ hornet. After Elite the patches come out clean.

Secondary experiment shows Elite leaves very little or nothing for #9 to bring out. It cleans better/faster but does burn my skin (?).

The end.

(well, unless anyone knows where I can get a borescope cheap :-)

Another test result. I have a 700 .243 with a pretty rough barrel that usually provides a lot of "green" using my cleaning method. Well, just out or curiosity, I cleaned until no more green came out after an overnight soaking and then filled the barrel with #9 and let it sit for 10 days while on vacation. The only residue that came out was a bit of dark stuff which I presume is carbon. Interesting (to me at least).

Mike -

Your tests are interesting, and worth noting in my opinion.

I will add this though....as I previously said, if your gun is shooting well and the barrel has not become oxidised enough to have visible-to-the-naked-eye pitting, why worry about it?

Once again, the object of cleaning is NOT to make pretty pictures in a bore-scope eyepiece. It is to keep the gun protected and shooting well. Any more is possibly gilding the lily.

Good luck and best wishes,

AC

Okay, after reading this thread, I have a question. How come my patches come out with a green tinge when using plain ole Hoppes # 9? #9 ain't sposed to be worth a squat when it comes to copper. And it's not from the brush or the jag, I use a slotted tip and a patch. I'm gettin' to the point where I think a lot of the bore cleaners out there are nothing more than high priced snake oils.

Well craigster, I guess it's like this. It all comes down to time, effort and efficiency.

You can take a water dampened rag and wipe it across some dried and caked grease, and you'll get some grease on the rag with each pass. Rub at it long enough and eventually you'll get the grease cleaned off.

But a good degreasing solution would do the same thing, in less time with less effort.

I believe it's the same with gun cleaning solutions. Some are more efficient at removing carbon and copper. Many will remove "some" build up, but few will remove all.

That's why I like to use KG Industry cleaners. They get the carbon and copper build up with little time and effort.

Craigster, Re-read my original post (the first one here). #9 works despite what some people say; it's just slow. Can take a week of overnight soaking for a stubborn bore to come clean, but it will and nothing harsher than your patches rubbed the bore. My theory anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
you're missing the 2 most important steps in using hoppes. first you must open the bottle and take a sniff, and the before you close it take another sniff

My last pass is always with Hoppes,Brings back many great memories and it smells much better than Sweets 7.62.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeMichalski:
Craigster, Re-read my original post (the first one here). #9 works despite what some people say; it's just slow. Can take a week of overnight soaking for a stubborn bore to come clean, but it will and nothing harsher than your patches rubbed the bore. My theory anyway.

Mine also.

I can't help with a cheap bore-scope, but I can offer a cheap alternative that will at least give you some insight into your bore condition and the effectiveness of different cleaners, brush use, etc., at the muzzle anyway. Simply shine a spotlight at an angle down the muzzle and any copper fouling should show up as a copper coloured streak. Leading should also show as a grey streak. You'll soon see how much impact different cleaners are having, (or not !). By the time the bore muzzle passes this test, you shouldn't have too much if any blue on patches left to soak.

To get he best results if there's lots of copper to remove, you'll probably want Sweets 7.62 but don't leave it in there more than 10 minutes. Use a new metal bristle brush to follow up. Clean the brush itself afterwards in mineral turpintine, then dry in the sun, or the copper in the brush will dissolve too. I see on these forums that guys are recommending the bore be cleaned with something like Bore-Shine to get any residual Sweets out. Of course, the Sweets would first have been removed with several dry patches to reduce the potential for any subsequent chemical reaction going on between the 2 cleaners. Don't forget to remove any of the ammonia-based Sweets from the muzzle crown too.

Here's another thought that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Put the Hoppe's #9 or whatever you are using in at the range while the barrel is still hot. All chemical reactions are improved by adding heat. By the time you get home, your barrel has had it's soak.

Ron Spomer wrote an article in Rifle magazine, (Nov 2009), called "Squeaky Clean Liars" which about sums up some of the claims made by gun cleaning solvent blurbs. Put them "under the spotlight" and see how they measure up in reality.

Kiwi_bloke, Good idea, I will try this. I usually run a couple of patches soaked with 1/2 Kroil and 1/2 #9 (or Shooters Choice)at the range. Then leave it wet until I get home to clean completely. This procedure also allows me to delay cleaning for a few days if necessary.

quote:

For many years I have used Hoppe's and a technique that simply puts a soaked patch through the bore until it comes out clean. Then coat the bore with more #9 and let sit over night. If a new patch comes out clean then fine, the job is done. But if it comes out black or green, then repeat. It may take a week to clean a rifle but I'm in no hurry and am assured nothing harsh is harming the barrel.

I've acquired a CZ527FS in .22 Hornet. Shoots very well but the barrel never seems to come clean. After a week of the above process, along with some Shooters Choice and Montana Extreme and a couple of brass brushings in between, the patches still come out tinged in dark (like carbon).

Any thoughts or ideas what's happening?

#9 doesn't do anything but smell good.........

on "mauser central" there is an excellent blurb on electronically cleaning your bore using a mobile/cell phone charger.

havent tried it yet but will soon.

If women were smart, they would put a dab behind each ear. No man could resist!!

Wahl.... old Hoppes must be doing something. It's been around for a long time and I've known some shooters that used nothing but Hoppes on their rifles. I'm not saying their rifles were tack drivers but they shot tight enough to get the job done.

I do think there are other products on the market now that are quicker on removing copper but Hoppes still does a good job with the carbon.

A proper bore guide should extend past the lug recesses. And if you're not using a bore guide, there's not much point in cleaning your rifle. You will have wallowed out the muzzle or throat with the injudicious use of a cleaning rod.

I totally agree that putting some Hoppe's (or Kroil) in the barrel while it's still hot will make cleaning it a lot easier.

Must be something sentimental about #9 as this post just won't die. :-)

I use Hoppes for cleaning the heavy carbon residue, after that it's Shooters Choice and more recently Montana Extreme. I'll also use the Hoppes to neutralize the S C and M E.