Hoppe's #9

3

300magman

New member
I've been trying to clean up an old rifle I acquired recently with a VERY dirty barrel and for the first time I found myself reaching for the brass brushes in my Tipton cleaning kit.
The first pass down the barrel the brush was ridiculously tight. Over the next few passes it got easier and easier, until after 6-8 passes the brush was barely contacting the barrel and noticeably smaller than when it started.
Could this be the Hoppes eating the brass brush?? Or can a pitted/rusted bore eat a brush this fast by having a "sand paper" effect?


Also, just how soon will I get cancer from this stuff :rolleyes: With the weather getting cooler I set up an indoor cleaning bench in my 24x24 basement; I was standing beside a window with a fan blowing fresh air into the room, but I couldn't help but notice how fast the odor went from noticeable to intense....is long term exposure to Hoppes (or other common cleaning solvents) very harmful, or does it just smell like it should be harmful?
 
Hello, 300magman. While Hoppes is a good cleaner..it doesn't work that fast! Are you completly clearing muzzle with brush before reversing in bore? If not, that will tend to wear out a brush & could also scratch bore.
It is always a good idea to have adequate ventelation..the original Hoppes contained nitro-benzine..the company was forced to remove it by the EPA as a carcinogen. Some guys wear rubber gloves while cleaning..My thinking is ..if you don't take a bath in the stuff & have plenty of fresh air your ok..I do wash up after useing.
 
Rule of thumb for VOCs

Hi. My rule of thumb when using anything with high levels of volatile organic compounds (Hoppe's, lacquer, any paint thinners, etc) is that if it smells harmful it probably is. Also, if you get the least bit light headed using these paints, stains, solvents etc, that is a symptom of brain cells dying off in large numbers. I learned this in the auto body trade. Cleaning one gun is probably ok, but don't sit down there for hours in the fumes without a mask and good ventilation. My 2 cents...
 
I always try to use chemistry instead of elbow grease, for a very dirty barrel
a soaked patch or 2, then let it sit. Some people plug the chamber and the muzzle and fill the whole barrel with solvent.
I clean my firearms in my bathroom with the exhaust fan on, better to have the odors/whatever pulled away from you.
 
My friend and mentor to reloading loves the smell of Hoppe's #9 he wishes they could make it an aftershave lol. It doesn't bother me that bad but it does linger for sure.
 
Sounds kinda like an oversized brush had it bristles pushed/bent down slightly in one direction reducing it's diameter.
 
Hoppe's didn't eat the brass on the brush. If the barrel is that dirty you can plug the muzzle end of the barrel and then fill the barrel with Hoppe's and let it sit overnight. Place the muzzle over a container and remove the plug. Lowe's sells a multitude of corks and I'm sure you could find a cork to plug the barrel with. I've done this on newly acquired Mosin-Nagants. There are companies out there selling environmental friendly cleaning solvents like this,
www.topduckproducts.com .
 
I actually plugged the barrel and filled it with wipeout....twice. I let it sit for 4-5 hours each time before running a patch through to push it out. Both times a barrel full of intense royal blue gunk poured out ahead of the patch. I've since run 12-15 hoppes #9 patches through and brushed once. The patches had traces of the blue gunk at first, and some green stains here and there, but mostly they are comming out dark grey, nearly black.
I think I will fill it with wipeout again, and then start patching some more when I get some free time this weekend.


Btw, I was running the brush all the way out, and examining the brush it appears that the wires are not bent, just simply trimmed (the way a piece of copper wire looks if you cut it with pliers) If hoppes doesn't eat brass brushes, than I am thinking the rusty bore simply sanded it away. lol ... that can't be a good sign :rolleyes:
 
Hello again Magnum..you might try some J-B Bore compound on a tight patch..this stuff is non-embedding & is a very mild abrasive.
 
hoppes

I've used the stuff ever since I was a kid,in the 60s. When they took out the 2% nitrogen benzene,I purchased a gallon of nitro thru a chemical supply,I still add at least 2% to my Hopped today. I bathe in the stuff,as well as other so called harmful chems, lead, mercury,pumped a lot of tetraethyl lead as a kid. Nearly 60 now no I'll effects. Others milage may very.
Sounds like the goo,may be turning into a abrasive paste at some point and wearing the bristles on your brush, the surface texture of the bore could be so rough,that could be the culprit too. Hopped is not strong or gast acting enough to attack a brush that quick.
 
Have you tried a foaming bore cleaner? I got this little can of bore cleaner at Wal Mart, can't remember the name, I know it's a name brand manufacturer. Anyway it seems to work really well. You just foam it in the barrel and it says put. I let it sit for a while and it seems to work wonders. Granted, my barrels are not as dirty as the one you are working on. Worth a shot though because it was pretty cheap.
 
I went through through more that a dozen trials (and tribulations) with all the solvents and copper removers:

- Hoppe's, both Old (which I grew up on) & New still invokes that aromatic memory of my youth
- Sweet's
- Ed's Red
- Butch's Bore Shine
- Shooter's Choice
- Kroil
- Wipe Out (Foam)
- Hoppe's Benchrest Copper Solvent
- ProShot Copper Solvent
- Slip2000
- Montanna Extreme (Both the fouling and copper solvent)
- KG-1 (Primary carbon solvent)
- KG-12 (Primary copper solvent)
- M-Pro7 Fouling Solvent
- M-Pro7 Copper Cleaner

Of all that bunch, KG-1 & KG-12 is what I now carry to the range. Nothing beats either one of them--especially KG-12 for copper (although KG-1 will also turn "Butch's Blue" in taking first cut at it). :)




postscipt: If it's really cruddy/cosmolined or neglected, overnight soak with Wipe-Out and a plugged barrel really gets a jump on it.)

post postscript: Aside from KG-1/12, Butch's stands out from all the rest
 
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Mehavey: you are the only other person I have heard of who used MPro7. I bought a kit years ago and I thought I was the only one who used it. Do you remember what you thought of it? I have it and have therefore not ventured out to other stuff. Is other stuff that much better?
 
I'm sure there are more expensive, and maybe faster bore cleaners than Hoppe's but brush, soaked patch, dry patch, repeat til clean has worked for me for 40 yrs. I haven't found a barrel worth saving that couldn't be cleaned with Hoppe's and a little work.
About the brush, did ya consider that the gunk in the barrel was getting thinner? I can't believe the brass brush is wearing out so quickly, unless it's Chinese.
 
You could also try a little brake cleaner inside the barrel - very good solvent, otherwise a soaked patch on a brush on a rod chucked into a cordless drill on a slow speed moving back and forth through the barrel will clean just about anything out
 
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