IIRC (?) this product's label in the past would tell what was in the bore by what color the cleaning patch came out of the bore:
1.Green - ?
2. Black - ?

When did this information cease ?

Copper jacket or lead? I used so much of that stuff that my wife thought it was after shave.

I don't think the patch will tell you anything these days. The effective ingredients were cancer causing, so they were removed! Not just Hoppes, across the board.

We lost several good gunsmiths in Ohio, due to liver cancer! Strong solvents can do that to you! But whoever dreamed that baby powder would kill your wife? The human body can only take so much, then 3 to 5 years of Hell, then you're gone! Solvents kill body and fender guys left and right! I lost 2 close friends and a third got a Liver transplant. Nasty stuff!

Ivan

I use Wipe-Out Bore cleaner and that is precisely how it works:

-Set the firearm on the bench horizontally. Let it sit for 60 minutes.
-After 60 minutes has elapsed, put a clean cotton patch on a jag and push through the bore.
-The color on the patch will tell you what to do next.
-Powder fouling (both smokeless powder and black powder) will be grayish black on the patch.
-Copper fouling will be deep navy blue. (Note the blue stain on the patch and on the product dripping off the muzzle)
-Carbon will be tannish to brown in color.
-Please be aware that large amounts of fouling on a very dirty firearm can build up in layers.
-IF THERE IS NO COLOR ON THE PATCH……….THE FIREARM IS CLEAN.
-IF THERE IS ANY COLOR ON THE PATCH: Apply the Wipe-Out ™ again to the barrel.

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Possum—The other white meat!

Anybody still use WW2 bore cleaner? I have several cans of that stuff but haven't used it yet. I read where it is really good stuff, but I'll bet it is at least a little toxic.

Bought lots of the WWII bore cleaner at the Army/Navy surplus store...It Stinks to high heaven...and I'm not easily offended by smells ...Hoppe's #9 and Ed's Red Bore Cleaner smell good to me ... The WWII stuff just REEKS .
I'm sure it contains something that will kill you ...name one thing that doesn't ...not even Baby Powder is safe... Everything will kill you .

The WWII cleaner doesn't work any better than Ed's Red Bore Cleaner... Ed's Red might work better ...smells better .
Search Ed's Red Bore Cleaner Recipe , 4 ingredients from Wally World , $20.00 , mix up a gallon .
Gary

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NRA Member

GOOD ONE :-))))))

While dating my wife (many years ago), she would visit me in my workshop and while coming down the stairs would ask me what I was using because she thought it smelled GOOOOOOD. It was Hoppes #9. Now married and MANY years later, she says that stuff is stinking up the house...!!! Can you imagine THAT... (?) I'm still glad she's my wife..........
:-)
J.

The WWII (and later) GI bore cleaner is an emulsion of oil and water. The water dissolves the corrosive chloride primer salts in the bore (prior to the early 1950s, most US military ammo, except .30 Carbine, used corrosive primers). I don't know what the emulsifying agent used was (usually some detergent), but I'd think the GI bore cleaner is not particularly hazardous. Light lube oil all by itself is a pretty good bore cleaner.

I have a gallon can, 2 quart cans and several smaller containers. What that cleaner is really good for is Russian and Chinese copper washed ammo, and the old (WWII) ammo from any military. That ammo almost always has a mercury based primer and is highly corrosive and the cleaner is very toxic.

Ammo marked as being semi-corrosive, usually has a chlorine based primer, and leaves a salt residue in the gun, any bore cleaner including hot soapy water, will be fine.

When I was a young adult (ca, 1974), I had trouble breathing, and would often sit at my desk or workbench with my mouth open. I was cleaning a firearm with some of dad's early 60's Hoppes and it sprayed on my face and on my tongue. I rushed to the bathroom to wash my face, but before I finished, I had the urgent need to take a dump! I sat on the toilet forever (probably 15-20 minutes) and just kept going! How much did I ingest? 2 or 3 tiny droplets that flew off a toothbrush! That stuff is lethal!

I mentioned in post 3 that we lost gunsmiths to liver cancer around here. There is one I haven't seen since 1985 (he moved) But I would go in his workroom and he would be pulling gun parts out of a bath of Hoppes with his bare hands, He was getting pretty nutty! I never figures if the solvent fumes or the lead fumes were to blame, but he was getting "Fall of Rome" bad on the sadistic end of it!!

Ivan

The Hoppes we have today cleans nowhere near as good as the Hoppes we had 40 years ago. It was called Nitro Solvent because it had Nitrobenzene in it .

When I use Hoppes on My rifles I use a mop and basically drown the bore. Let it rest horizontally on the bench for 2 - 3 days. Tight patch and presto clean bore. The bench rest guys are now using Hoppes 9 and Hoppes black powder solvent mixed 1/2 and 1/2. They swear by it.

Can you imagine a woman changing after you marry her? I'm pretty sure this is the first time in recorded history . . .. Conversely, I get in trouble because I'll never change.

Hoppe's #9 is the premier aftershave of the knowledgeable shooter!
There are much better products today even from Hoppe's.

What solvent do you guys recommend for lead?

Mercury. If you can find it.

ammonia based, hoppes 9, causes green coloration when reacting with copper.

As in Post #16 original Hoppe's had ammonia and had (has) a water base!
Yes, the patch would turn green when reacting with copper. Black is powder residue.

Because it was a water based product a dry patch and oil was required to prevent continued reaction of the ammonia with the barrel.

Don't know about newer Hoppe's products.

Smiles,

I think my two favorite odors in the world are coffee and Hoppe's #9. Even if it didn't work at all (the Hoppe's, not the coffee) I would find an excuse to twist off the cap every once in awhile. Reminds me (instantly) of my grandfather, for one thing.

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SWHF #711

Ed's Red Bore Cleaner
You can order it from Brownell's or go to Wally Mart buy the 4 common ingredients and make a gallon for about $20.00.

Do a search on the term : Ed's Red Bore Cleaner Recipe
and click on one of the links ... my old link is no longer working.
Gary

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I found a circa 1945 - 1955 bottle still in it's cardboard box with instructions ... I don't clean guns with it ... it's only for Aroma Therapy ... just smelling.
The old stuff smells better than the new. It reminds me of being a kid and sitting with Dad as he cleaned his shotgun after a hunt ...Priceless !
Gary

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I thought I was the only person that liked the smell. I have about 4 or 5 ounces of the old remaining in my last quart of old #9. Every time I clean a gun it reminds me of sitting with my dad and watching him clean his gun.

I didn’t know it had changed. Sad! I just ordered a quart of the new from Amazon so we’ll see how it works. I use several cleaners including the foaming Hoppe’s and Ed’s Red. If I don’t like the new Hoppes I might modify it with some Ed’s Red. You never know it might make a good cleaner.

That is what I use. Have about 20 lbs of it...And no...it's really not dangerous if you treat it right. Works pretty darn quickly too. Does not remove copper fouling though

Apparently some can’t get enough Hoppes 9

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213th FBINA

If you can find one, an electronic bore cleaner with the "Lead Out" solution works better than anything except maybe mercury.
I use the electronic one but don't have any mercury so I can't speak to it's effectiveness.

I have one of the electronic cleaners with the cop out and lead out solutions. The mercury works much better for me for lead...mainly because it is less "messy". I must admit the cop out works extremely well. I happen to have 4 or 5 bottles of both solutions that I have found at estate sales and at gun shows. Does Outers make it any longer? And of course mercury is almost impossible to find because it is considered a "hazardous material"., Only thing hazardous about mercury is the person that may misuse it....like a firearm.

Have to edit this..the bad thing about the electronic cleaner is that the bore will be chemically clean if used correctly and will have to be treated after it is done to keep from having rust form in the bore....mainly in high humidity areas. I cleaned a couple of bullet molds and found this out shortly after cleaning with the lead out solution in a sonic cleaner. LOL

Like you I've got a couple of gallons of each solution that I have scrounged. I don't think any part of the electronic bore cleaner system is currently available.

Liquid Mercury is not particularly hazardous at room temperature and is very effective for lead removal. It amalgamates (dissolves) lead. I had a job for several years where I worked around tons (no exaggeration) of Mercury and didn't think much about it. But if used for lead removal from guns, I am extremely careful not to spill or lose any, and I always work outside. You do not want to contaminate your house with Mercury. I have about a 4 (fluid) ounce bottle of Mercury I have used for lead removal from guns for a very long time. It's very difficult to find liquid mercury today.

Leading is not difficult to remove. I couldn't imagine using something as hazardous as mercury when other products will work fine. Plain Hoppe's #9, Ed's Red, or any other lowly non-exotic cleaner works well with an oversized brush or a cut up pot scrubber with the all copper strands (not a coated steel scrubber).

Mercury (actually Mercury Fulminate) has not been used as a firearm primer mix component by any nation since the late 19th Century, possibly a bit later. This is primarily because it has a very short shelf life, especially at high temperature. It was replaced by chlorate-containing primer mixtures. Unfortunately, the by-product of burning chlorate is chloride, like depositing salt in your bore. In the 1920s, lead styphnate largely replaced chlorate in primers, as it produced no corrosive salts - at least in civilian ammunition. U. S. military ammunition (except for .30 Carbine) continued to use chlorate-containing corrosive primer mixes until the early 1950s. Some lead-free primers today use DDNP (diazodinitrophenol) instead of lead styphnate. Also, some primers are now being made using thermite-type mixes.

Seriously mercury is not really hazardous at regular temps. Heating it up or mixing with other chemicals and it can become a bit more worrisome. Plug the bore...pour it in the bore let it sit for a while and voila clean bore..no scrubbing with harsh chemicals and brushes etc. Mercury IS hard to find these days and it is expensive if you do. quite a few years ago a flask(22 lbs??) was about 450 bucks. I was able to get it years ago as I was a gunsmith. I also was able to acquire Sperm oil and still have some of it too...but that is another story

I can't wait to hear about Sperm Oil!

Pretty sure we all know about Sperm Whale Oil though!

Yeah, I know I'm a "dork"!

Interesting fact about sperm oil. It is still used for lubricating certain mechanical components of nuclear weapons as it does not thicken or gum up under extreme conditions.

Just the other night, I put a dab behind each ear, before going out to dinner.

Helps keep the mosquitoes away.

I do know that in 1959, north of Sacramento Calif. at a duck club, in the summer time, I used some "GI" mosquito oil and I got some on a Savage 22 rifle stock.
At the end of the day when we got back to the club house I cleaned the rifle and noticed that the rifle's finish on the pistol grip had been eaten away, but the bug oil!!

I also learned to never get any in your eyes................. !!

And believe it or not we actually used to get the sperm Whale oil from Russia. That is where I used to get mine.

I have a green military can labelled "CLEANER" RIFLE BORE. Right under that is written POISON. This stuff works very well and if I play my cards right I could have my hands on the mother load. I found a stash in a closet of an old wrecking yard I still like to haunt. There must have been at least a couple of boxes containing dozens on the shelf in the closet, the building is in a very sad state of repair and is being used to keep parts out of the weather. In places the building is being propped up by well placed shoring, I love places like that, the scarier they are the more treasures you find. When I first found them I was seriously looking for something else and after finding a few of them corroded from water damage I grabbed a nice clean can and went about my original search, the owner had no interest in the can and let me have it for nothing, he might be more interested in getting something out of them if they were actually worth anything.

P.S. I won't be going into the wrecking yard again until after the first frost, wasps and hornets are controlling the area at the moment.