# That old-time firearm solvent scent...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 2, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690 "2017-05-02T01:47:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/1 "2017-05-02T01:47:08Z")
In the [Rifle Action](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=823924) thread, cleaning (the perennial bane of shooters) was mentioned, including the relative suckitude of cleaning some types of rifle - And that venerable standby of greybeards everywhere, Hoppes #9, was mentioned. But I know there are other choices. CLP is an up-n-coming contender, but some excessively optimistic others have also tossed their hats in the gun-bench cleaning arena.
What say you - What’s your aromatic hydrocarbon solvent of choice?
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/2 "2017-05-02T02:10:50Z")
Stated it before, Hoppe’s No. 9. It reminds me of Friday nights, before the house went all Virginia Wolfe.
As an aside I keep to myself because I’m supposed to be supportive of mine goodwife as she recalls her miserable childhood, but I try to forget mine. Friday, Virginia Wolfe. Saturday, A Long Day’s Journey into Light. Sunday, Potpourri.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/3 "2017-05-02T02:52:42Z")
Aren’t Break-Free and CLP the same thing in the civilian world? I mean, I know there are other makers of CLP for the military, but AFAIK, the original and only readily available kind is Break-Free.
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/4 "2017-05-02T03:48:29Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> Aren’t Break-Free and CLP the same thing in the civilian world? I mean, I know there are other makers of CLP for the military, but AFAIK, the original and only readily available kind is Break-Free.
Could be - The only CLP I know is mil-spec, and I’m not sure who actually makes it.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/5 "2017-05-02T04:44:36Z")
I picked Hoppe’s and Other. For modern guns and ammo I still like the old #9. But as I said in the other thread, for black powder or for guns that have started to lead up a bit its Moose Milk all the way.
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### Author:  [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/6 "2017-05-02T05:03:51Z")
Hoppes #9 for me for the last decade and a half, and likely well before that at Grandpa’s knee. When I get a round tuit, I’ll probably mix up some [Ed’s Red](http://handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=9). Hell, I sell all of the components for it at work (except the lanolin).
-DF
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/7 "2017-05-02T05:18:58Z")
Gun Scrubber. Quick and easy.
I always have to remember to bring my own because the academy range we train at doesn’t have it and uses the Remington old school stuff. (We’re required to clean our pistols after qualifying. Before we can leave it has to be inspected).
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### Author:  [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/8 "2017-05-02T05:50:03Z")
You mean there is another bore cleaner besides Hoppe’s #9??
The slightest whiff of it would send me on a time travelling trip back to MCRD San Diego, circa 1961.
“You call that bore clean??? Boy, if there are flies in San Diego, there’s maggots in that rifle!”
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### Author:  [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/9 "2017-05-02T14:24:26Z")
Nitpick, I don’t think Rem Oil is a solvent, but I could be wrong.
I voted Hoppes #9 too, but I’ve used some generic Outer’s stuff in the past. It all seems to work fine.
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### Author:  [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/10 "2017-05-02T14:28:28Z")
I checked Hoppe’s #9 (I wonder what happened to #s 1-8?) and Remington.
However, the only reason I have Rem solvent is because it came with one of the cleaning kits I bought for the one-piece coated cleaning rod inside.
Speaking of Remington, I love those RemOil RemWipes. I always have a few in my shotgun case for duck hunting and one of them can easily wipe down 3-4 shotguns. Increases your popularity in the duck blind on a rainy day! As **WD** noted above, they aren’t solvent.
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/11 "2017-05-02T16:46:01Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#):
>
> Nitpick, I don’t think Rem Oil is a solvent, but I could be wrong.
I don’t use the product, myself - I gathered what I know of it from the product label whilst grabbing a boresnake\*. I figured anything with a “penetrates” on the label is to some degree a solvent. That was lazy, of course. 😛
\*8mm
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/12 "2017-05-02T16:50:42Z")
[Ballistol.](https://ballistol.com/)
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/13 "2017-05-02T16:51:48Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> [Ballistol.](https://ballistol.com/)
Damn, forgot that one. I knew something was mising! 😛
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### Author:  [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/14 "2017-05-02T17:14:08Z")
I have both Hoppes and CLP in my ‘kit’ but I hate the smell, so lately I’ve been trying out Frog Lube. :eek: Seems to work.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/15 "2017-05-02T17:21:29Z")
Ah, the odor of Eau de Hoppes #9. Love it!
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### Author:  [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/16 "2017-05-02T17:44:05Z")
Ballistol will really attract the ladies. They’ll come in and say “What the Fuck is that smell?”
An article once suggested for young suitors trying to woo the woman of their dreams and get in good with her dad, use Hoppes #9 as cologne. This assumes of course, dear old dad was a firearms owner, princess had no lurking daddy issues and the rest of it. But a clever kind of psycho-olfactory warfare.
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/17 "2017-05-02T18:28:37Z")
Hoppes #9
Love it.
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/18 "2017-05-02T18:32:49Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#):
>
> An article once suggested for young suitors trying to woo the woman of their dreams and get in good with her dad, use Hoppes #9 as cologne. This assumes of course, dear old dad was a firearms owner, princess had no lurking daddy issues and the rest of it. But a clever kind of psycho-olfactory warfare.
:eek:
That might actually work with my daughter…\* if she could tell the difference over the smell of ol’ #9 on her own hands. :dubious:
- Doesn’t worry me any - She’s armed and has good judgement. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/19 "2017-05-02T18:35:58Z")
Hoppe’s for me, too, for as long as I can remember. Nowadays it’s a few drops of Hoppe’s #9 on the top of the Boresnake, a few drops of machine oil on the bottom and pull it through shotgun barrel #1, repeat process for barrel #2. Takes all of 10 minutes, including disassembly and reassembly.
I do have an old JC Higgins .22 semi-auto where the bolt will not stay open by itself (by design, for whatever reason), making a snake or cleaning rod difficult at best. For that I use a radical product - Hoppe’s #9 Blast and Shine, an aerosol version of the old standby. Just because I don’t have a Boresnake for the 9mm, I use the aerosol for it as well.
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-old-time-firearm-solvent-scent/785690/20 "2017-05-02T18:39:01Z")
Boresnakes have radically changed the cleaning process - So much less of a pain! I have to admit that I still run an oiled patch down the bore on a tradional rod. I’ll have to try it your way, **Dr. J**
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