Solvents, Oils, Preservatives. Gun cleaning help, please.

Scorch

New member
CLP and Ballistol are both poor excuses for gun solvents. For carbon removal, Hoppe Elite, or Boretech are better at carbon removal, and Gunzilla is a good cleaner/lubricant is you just gotta have it all in one.
 

Hal

New member
there are no errors in cleaning other than using the stuff outside of what it was designed for.
I see a lot of people jump on the Ed's Red bandwagon & I just shake my head.
It's not like using a product designed for cleaning guns costs a million bucks.

A can of Ballistol lasts me about a year.....
 

dahermit

New member
It's not like using a product designed for cleaning guns costs a million bucks.
It is formulated to be a gun cleaner, designed to sell whether or not it is any more effective at doing such compared to other products and sometimes less so.
 

P5 Guy

New member
Kano Labs Kroil get most all the fouling and lead out for me. If it slides it gets a dab of axel grease, if it spins it gets a drop of lightweight synthetic motor oil.
Storage not at my house, guns get regular range trips and I don't have scores of firearms.
 

cw308

New member
Pep in CA
Carbon rings on your cylinder face can come off very easily with lead away , its a square rag you can use as a patch of to wipe away burn marks , comes off so easy , use on Stainless Steel firearms ,will remove blueing if rubbed to hard. It does just wipe the burn rings away like magic.
 

volkstrm

New member
Solvents,oils,preservatives.

Hello Pep in Ca,
Hoppe's is good I use it but I also use BlueWonder gun cleaner. This stuff is GREAT to clean your barrel. You will not believe how good this stuff works!! It is a gel so it says on the brush. This is what I do. I clean with Hoppe's#9 first. Barrel looks clean. Then I use BlueWonder gun cleaner & WOW!! You should see all the flowing that comes out of the barrel! Now you will see a real mirror clean bore! I kid you not! They web sit is www.BlueWonder.us. You can also get it from MIDWAYUSA. I would give it a try. I am sure you will like it. Good luck. And post back & let us all know what you went with & how you did. Thanks. Volkstrm.;)
 

Pep in CA

New member
Update from the OP.

My bottle of M-Pro 7 gun cleaner arrived today from Amazon. As a test, I used it to clean my Glock semi-auto and my S&W revolver. I had already cleaned both guns -- CLP on the Glock and Ballistol on the S&W. I wanted to see how much more carbon the M-Pro 7 would remove from my already "clean" guns.

The results were positive. The M-Pro 7 removed quite a bit of leftover carbon from my Glock. Not so much from my S&W. I would say that M-Pro 7 is a much better cleaner than CLP and slightly better than Ballistol.

However, M-Pro 7 did not remove the dark smudges on the frame of my S&W. They are merely cosmetic, so that is not a big deal, but I can't give M-Pro 7 five stars for that reason.

After cleaning, I applied Rig liquid on metal parts for lubrication and protection. My guns are in much better shape than previously.

I should add that using a separate cleaner instead of an all-in-one product is the better way to go. It was always a pain removing excess CLP or Ballistol. The excess M-Pro 7 was quick and easy to remove.

I might try some of the other suggested products in the future, especially the lead away mentioned by cw308 for the carbon rings on the revolver.

Cheers.
 
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Lone Rider

New member
Pep,

how often do you clean your guns?
I have never experienced such severe fouling as you have described it on any of my revolvers nor pistols. Simple oil, I don't even care which one, will do a proper cleaning job in combination with a nylon brush and a dentist pick for the corners.
 

Pep in CA

New member
Lone Rider,

It depends. For my revolver, it is the same day I shot it at the range (mostly). It's a .22LR that I bought for practice so I put a lot of rounds through it. It gets dirty enough to clean after every range session. For my other guns, I clean them after about 250 rounds of practice shooting or when they seem to need it.

I use a nylon brush to scrub internal areas of my guns but as I mentioned earlier, I had to scrape off the carbon buildup on my revolver. That told me my solvent was not working well or at all.

Shouldn't a solvent dissolve such carbon?
 

JohnKSa

Administrator
It makes it easier to remove. I've never found any solvent that will completely remove carbon buildup like the buildup around the barrel/cylinder gap in a revolver.
 

Pep in CA

New member
Then I need a dental pick. Actually I have one. I use it to remove popcorn kernels from my gums. I don't think I want to use the same pick to clean carbon buildup from my guns.
 

JohnKSa

Administrator
A dental pick is not really ideal.

There are tools out there that work pretty well.
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Shot-Brass-Pick-Cleaning-Tool/dp/B008PL87BK

I made my own.

It started as a brass rod. I filled a screwdriver/wedge on one end that can be used as a scraper and a round tip on the other than can be used as a pick. It's easy to touch it up with a file if it gets damaged or worn.

You could do the same thing with a piece of plastic, I suppose, or maybe even a piece of hardwood.
 

Pep in CA

New member
John, thanks for the advice, but I can't avoid thinking that a solvent should act as a sovlent. That is, it should dissolve substances so they can be easily wiped away clean. If a "cleaner" doesn't do that, it is not a solvent.

I'm actually not looking for a better picking tool. I'm looking for a better solvent. Nevertheless, I appreciate your advice and help.
 

JohnKSa

Administrator
That is, it should dissolve substances so they can be easily wiped away clean. If a "cleaner" doesn't do that, it is not a solvent.
I've tried a lot of carbon solvents/cleaners and the two best I've found so far are the MPro-7/Hoppes Elite (which are basically the same thing) and one that is no longer on the market.

I certainly haven't tried all of them though--if you find a better one I would certainly like to know about it.

Maybe try the Blue Wonder stuff volkstrm recommended. That's one I haven't gotten around to.
 

Pep in CA

New member
Fair enough, John. As I mentioned before, I'm trying MPro-7 at the moment. I haven't used it much yet so I don't have an objective opinion on it. I'll try Blue Wonder next and see how it compares.

And of course, I'll let you and the forum members know. It might be awhile though.
 

50 shooter

New member
Save your money, blue wonder will leave you wondering why you bought it!!!

I think I might have a full tube of it laying around somewhere, if I can find it and you really want to try it out...

Personally I think it's a bad joke that someone thought they would play on gun owners. Total waste of time and money if you ask me.
 
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