Hoppe's No. 9 is not a CLP
- Thread starter Hawg Rider
- Start date
I use whatever I happen to have. Usually that Hoppes #9, but in a pinch any generic "gun cleaner" will do. Oil is usually the same..."Gun oil." I do like a needle applicator for oil. They're just a lot neater. Drop here, drop there.
I hate oil on the exterior of my guns. I use Ren Wax to prevent rust. It has never let me down. Most new plastic fantastics don't seem to need anything on the exterior to prevent rust. Those I just wipe off and no problems at all.
"Gun oil" worked just fine of my casting reels back in my bass fishing days too and those reels got used harder than any firearm I've ever owned. They were literally "rode hard and put up wet."
I hate oil on the exterior of my guns. I use Ren Wax to prevent rust. It has never let me down. Most new plastic fantastics don't seem to need anything on the exterior to prevent rust. Those I just wipe off and no problems at all.
"Gun oil" worked just fine of my casting reels back in my bass fishing days too and those reels got used harder than any firearm I've ever owned. They were literally "rode hard and put up wet."
Hoppes #9 has been my bore cleaner "all my life" followed by light oiling with LSA weapons oil. For exterior cleaning, removing oil/grease I use CRC's Electronic cleaner (it will not eat wood) then I use G96 that has accumulated on a worn out T shirt, wipe down for that final "put it up/away". Just ordered Bore Tech CU+2 from having read posts on this forum. My cleaning/lubricating supplies are many different mfg. products, as I've tried/tested them all. Some of those "orange" cleaners are impressive for cleaning. Enuf said. HAVE A GREAT 4TH.
BillyKframe
Member
I went down in the basement an got a really old bottle of Hoppe’s and it contains: nitro benzene, ammonia, denatured ethanol and kerosene. My current bottle contains: Ethyl alcohol, kerosene, amyl acetate, and ammonium hydroxide. Also the new bottle has the California cancer warning with propan-2-ol, methanol, 4-methylpentan-2-one, naphthalene. I was going to compare the smells because nitro benzene has a distinctive smell but the steel cap on the old bottle is firmly rusted to the bottle.
Stand that "rusty" bottle upside down and put some Kroil on it...may take several days with minimum dose daily...Has worked for me.
I do believe that #9 always had amyl acetate in it.
That's a good point. I have a Tikka rifle I purchased new over 30 years ago. It's about an impossibility to get all the copper out of the barrel, yet it's an extremely accurate rifle with a wide range of bullet weights.
Poor cleaning routine is a definite known cause of accuracy ruination. Especially w/ rifles that must be cleaned from the muzzle.
My dad spent his adult life never needing more than Hoppers #9, sewing machine oil, lithium grease and the occasional dip stick.
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A quart of Mobil One would last your lifetime and the down through your grandkids.
BillyKframe
Member
It may well have. I just listed all the ingredients listed on the two bottles I have.
I have waiting for someone to mention Hoppes. Some of CLP products claim that Hoppes will take off bluing. Is that the case? If it is should I use the Hoppes just on he bore and cly. chambers and use a CLP on the rest of the gun?
Have never seen #9 damage bluing. Used it since the '70's. On nickel no bueno.
The only bluing that Hoppe's No 9 might damage would be S&W's blued finish that they started using in 2000. There is a small amount of ammonium hydroxide in Hoppe's 9 and if it were to sit on the current S&W blued finish long enough, it might turn that deep black into more of a plum color. Hoppe's might also affect cold blue, but I guess most solvents could affect cold blue.
You thinking about testing Hoppe's on a new S&W?
Interesting.
Sounds like another experiment might be in the docket.
Trooper224
Member
Hoppe's barely takes off debris, it's perfectly fine on bluing.
My fear of Hoppe's ruining bluing is precisely zilch, considering I've used it on blued guns for decades. Also, the only warning I've ever found on regular Hoppes #9 pertains to soaking nickel-plated guns.
I've used Hoppe's forever....................ONLY as an outside cleaner.......
Venom6
Member
Back in the '70s I was an armorer for a mid-size (800 officer) PD. We did notice some nickel flaking on a very few Colt and S&W DA revolvers, mostly on the cylinder faces. Our lead armorer called S&W, and I was listening in. The S&W manager told us not to use Hoppe's #9 on nickeled guns. He said some nickeling procedures involve first copper-plating the firearm, supposedly to allow the nickel to better adhere. If the nickel gets cracked even minutely (such as on the cylinder face) the Hoppes can intrude and begin to eat away the copper, allowing the nickel to flake or lift. My understanding at the time was that this applied to nickeled S&W revolvers, but I have since been chastised severely by RKIs who say Smith never used the copper base, so I likely misunderstood.
On the other hand, no less a luminary than Elmer Keith observed in his Gun Notes column in G&A magazine a half-century ago that Hoppe's #9 was the only solvent he found would not throw the first shot out of the group after cleaning. I tested the theory in a half-dozen sniper rifles and found it to be true, though that is hardly a scientific or formal test.
On the other hand, no less a luminary than Elmer Keith observed in his Gun Notes column in G&A magazine a half-century ago that Hoppe's #9 was the only solvent he found would not throw the first shot out of the group after cleaning. I tested the theory in a half-dozen sniper rifles and found it to be true, though that is hardly a scientific or formal test.
