Best Cleaning Gear?

[JaeFern]

I just wanted to see what everyone's opinion is on cleaning gear. What do you think the best stuff is? What solvents? What lube? What hardware? I personally used to like M-Pro but now I'm sticking to Hoppe's #9. What do you like?

[50 Shooter]

Well, for copper removal I use Boretech's Eliminator copper solvent. For carbon fouling I just picked up a new product called Slip 2000. Haven't had a chance to use it yet but that'll change by next weekend. Hoppe's is okay for carbon removal but if you shoot copper jacketed bullets you'll need some form of copper solvent. Another thing to remember is that you need to give solvents time to work. By letting them sit in the barrel for a few minutes it allows it to work on the copper or carbon, thus making it easier to remove.

There's so many other products out there for cleaning, Dewey, Boretech and Tipton all make good cleaning rods. There's also numerous companies that make brushes, jags... Check Lock, Stock & Barrel www.lockstock.com or Mid South Shooters Supply for good prices.

[BigAL]

I've been using M-pro7 solvent. Not because I think it's the best but because I clean in my apt and breathe in enough chemical fumes at work so I'd rather not do it at home too. I use a dewey coated rod, FP-10 or breakfree CLP for lube. And the occasional Shooters choice copper remover.

[docsmileyface]

I use strike hold, a barrel snake, q-tips, and pipe cleaners....

[ryang]

What do you think the best stuff is?

Crest Ultrasonic cleaner. Cleaning is quicker and doesn't involve organic solvents.

Side note: I think anyone who uses "traditional" solvents to clean firearms that doesn't wear gloves is nuts.

[thesneakyrussian]

what do you guys think of tetra products? i've been using them for a bit over a year now and really like the solvent, especially when dealing with copper fouling after shooting eastern block surplus, but afaik i am the only person i know who uses tetra so far.

[ligamentum flavum]

slip2000 for carbon and lube.

i've been going back and forth between slip2000 and XF-7(grease).

The XF-7 does a great job of sticking to the metal. It's very viscous so it doesn't drip or settle out of the rails and crevices. It does a great job with clean up because less carbon deposits adhere to the gun. My main gripe with XF-7 is that it's a bit tough to put on due to the viscosity. If I were to lube my guns for a relatively long-term storage session, I'd use XF-7.

Slip2000 has replaced my Breakfree. It's very slick, and in my experience, it does a better job of cutting away carbon than CLP. I bought a little plastic bottle which has a needle applicator tip so I can get the Slip2000 right to where i need it. Can't do that with the XF-7.

[Turbinator]

I've been using Wipe Out, a foaming bore cleaner that another fellow Calguns member recommended. Seems to work ok, the concept is that you spray into the bore and let it foam up and work on the residue. It doesn't exactly completely eliminate the need for patches and a brush, but so far it seems to make removal of residue a bit easier. You can tell it's working when the runoff comes out looking blue (copper fouling). A brush and patches gets out the rest of the stuff. Seems ok so far, I'll try to use up the whole 12 oz bottle and let the group know what my final verdict is at some point.

Turby

[JaeFern]

Nice. I might have to try everyone's products (maybe...) Does anyone know a reasonably priced grease that works fairly well? For my M1A. I'm going to take a look at the XF-7, but the whole "It's a bit tough to put on" makes me wanna just keep the idea of "using it for long term storage"

[ligamentum flavum]

Nice. I might have to try everyone's products (maybe...) Does anyone know a reasonably priced grease that works fairly well? For my M1A. I'm going to take a look at the XF-7, but the whole "It's a bit tough to put on" makes me wanna just keep the idea of "using it for long term storage"

i've used Tetra grease with teflon. Worked okay but didn't last as long as XF-7, so sometimes I'd supplement with a few drops of Slip2000 after around 300 rounds. I've also tried Wilson Combat's grease. I didn't like that at all. It was runny and would leak out of slide rails.

Oh yeah, one more thing, for XF-7, the instructions state that you should remove all traces of oil before applying. I did a complete detail strip of my firearms, cleaned the parts with acetone, and finally applied a layer of XF-7 onto the wear surfaces. Supposedly XF-7 works better when it's not mixed with other lubes.

[JaeFern]

i've used Tetra grease with teflon. Worked okay but didn't last as long as XF-7, so sometimes I'd supplement with a few drops of Slip2000 after around 300 rounds. I've also tried Wilson Combat's grease. I didn't like that at all. It was runny and would leak out of slide rails.

Oh yeah, one more thing, for XF-7, the instructions state that you should remove all traces of oil before applying. I did a complete detail strip of my firearms, cleaned the parts with acetone, and finally applied a layer of XF-7 onto the wear surfaces. Supposedly XF-7 works better when it's not mixed with other lubes.

I looked into the XF-7 and it looks pretty cool. Price doesn't look too bad at all either. I see it comes in a syringe (if thats how you spell it). How do you apply it? I'm used to greasing stuff with an acid brush to keep the lubing clean (that and I'm a bit stingy. I don't like wasting hazmat )

[ligamentum flavum]

I looked into the XF-7 and it looks pretty cool. Price doesn't look too bad at all either. I see it comes in a syringe (if thats how you spell it). How do you apply it? I'm used to greasing stuff with an acid brush to keep the lubing clean (that and I'm a bit stingy. I don't like wasting hazmat )

JaeFern,

One of the best things I like about XF-7 is that it is not hazardous. I basically cleaned all the parts with acetone or 91% isopropyl alcohol. Then I squeezed a little bit of the grease onto the parts and used my fingers to distribute the grease. There were parts where I had to use a Q-tip (like the grooves in the slide rails). That's it. Oh, be careful with the syringe because the grease has a little bit of delay coming out. Squeeze the syringe in very small increments, otherwise more grease might come out than you need.

With all the effort that goes into the first application, it does help when it comes time to clean the gun. However, after cleaning off the grease, you gotta put it back on. I hate getting my hands greasy since I inevitably get grease on the grip and outside surface of the slide. With oil, I usually don't have that problem.

They're supposedly trying to formulate something where the XF-7 would be mixed with an evaporative ethanol carrier, so it can be easier to apply, but I haven't heard anything new in almost a year.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

[JaeFern]

JaeFern,

One of the best things I like about XF-7 is that it is not hazardous. I basically cleaned all the parts with acetone or 91% isopropyl alcohol. Then I squeezed a little bit of the grease onto the parts and used my fingers to distribute the grease. There were parts where I had to use a Q-tip (like the grooves in the slide rails). That's it. Oh, be careful with the syringe because the grease has a little bit of delay coming out. Squeeze the syringe in very small increments, otherwise more grease might come out than you need.

With all the effort that goes into the first application, it does help when it comes time to clean the gun. However, after cleaning off the grease, you gotta put it back on. I hate getting my hands greasy since I inevitably get grease on the grip and outside surface of the slide. With oil, I usually don't have that problem.

They're supposedly trying to formulate something where the XF-7 would be mixed with an evaporative ethanol carrier, so it can be easier to apply, but I haven't heard anything new in almost a year.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

Cool. Thanks a lot. Just a quick question though, where do your get your stuff from? Online? I just wanted to see if you knew a place that I could get a pretty good deal from. The XF-7, Acetone and stuff (I can get isopropyl from work hehe)

[ligamentum flavum]

Cool. Thanks a lot. Just a quick question though, where do your get your stuff from? Online? I just wanted to see if you knew a place that I could get a pretty good deal from. The XF-7, Acetone and stuff (I can get isopropyl from work hehe)

no sweat. bought my xf-7 from www.mdtactical.com. it's also available from brownells.

i bought the acetone from a local sav-on drugs. the bottle i have is pretty plain. it's in a plain translucent cylindrical bottle with a white cap labeled nail polish remover. it doesn't have any extra ingredients, just acetone. a warning about acetone: use it carefully, keep your own exposure to a minimum, and keep away from plastics/rubber.

[50 Shooter]

Lig,
Which Slip2000 product(s) are you using? I bought the starter kit because I wanted to try the carbon killer. The kit comes with the carbon killer, cleaner/degreaser and their lube/cleaner/preservative.

The thing I liked about Slip2000 is that it's safe to use anywhere, biodegradable and water based. It also says the carbon killer will remove oil, grease, plastic, lead and carbon (of course) and to apply some form of oil (theirs) after to protect the surfaces cleaned. I think I might try some out on my Benelli seeing how it hasn't been cleaned in some time and has seen many rounds.