I know that you are aware that the best gun cleaners have been designed to ensure your firearm is made to be as clean as new. What you probably don’t know is that the best gun cleaning solvent are not just chosen in relation to how clean they can make the gun but also how fast they can achieve this. Before going to the nitty gritty's, it is important to know that all your firearms need regular cleaning. Some of the firearms will need to be cleaned after every shootout whereas others may require a relatively longer usage periods before they need cleaning. All in all, if you do not clean the firearm as required, your firearm may malfunction.
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Three Main Virtues of the Gun Cleaning Solvents
All the gun cleaning solvents will have the three aspects below as these are the most important aspects of any gun cleaning product.
1. Fouling Removal
The removal of foul is obviously the main reason why you are going to use a gun cleaning solvent. The chosen chemical should have the ability to dissolve and then lift any foul residue away. It should also help remove other gun barrel occurring residues such as salts, copper, plastics and lead etc.
2. Protection Layer
The good gun cleaning solvents should not only have the capacity of cleaning the affected areas but should always leave a super-thin coating for protection thus making any future cleanings easier. The layer also protects the firearm from corrosion, dirt and other environmental pollutants and conditions.
3. Non-Destructive
Some of these fluids can really be harmful to you, your surroundings and your firearms. The good gun cleaning solvents should not dangerously teeter on the virtue’s edge thus causing discolorations. Ensure the product is user-friendly and gun friendly.
How to Choose the Gun Cleaning Solvents
1. Read the Ingredients
To be sure that the product you are going for will pose little or no risks to your life, the lives of your family members and pets, read through the ingredients. It will be prudent for you to go for a product that is biodegradable, non-flammable and non-toxic. It is good news that most of the cleaning solvents today are non-flammable. In the past, though was a rare occurrence, explosions could be caused by these cleaning solvents.
2. Do your Research
The manufacturer of a product may lie to lure you to their product. It is therefore not wise to depend solely on what the manufacturer says about their product. The best way of getting the great gun cleaning solvents is by researching to know what previous customers say about the product you are about to consider. Reviews from reputable and reliable sites such as Amazon will not lie to you. Just ensure that the site you are reading the reviews from is reliable. You can also ask your fellow firearm users what their opinion is about a product in question.
3. Performance
The ideal gun cleaning solvents should have the three properties mentioned above. A solvent that has all these virtues but needs a day or two for the best results to be achieved can’t be classified in the list of the gun cleaning solvents. Let the product have a formulation that will not only leave the firearm clean but one that cleans it in a very short time.
4. Set Your Budget Ceiling
As usual, the rule of the thumb remains that on average, the more costly the solvent, the better it is for your gun and your health. However, this is just an average fact as there are some best gun-cleaning solvents found to be in the middle-price range.
5. Universal Use
There are some cleaning solvents that have been designed only for some specific types of metals and would either be corrosive or non-resultant when used on another. The gun cleaning solvents though are universal and will be used on multiple types of metals. Imagine a case where you own numerous firearms some made of steel while others are anodized aluminum, nickel, titanium or nickel made, or even still, you have one hybrid gun that features two or more of these materials. You really don’t want to buy five gun cleaners for the different guns. The good gun cleaning solvents will obviously be able to do a perfect cleaning job on numerous metals.
Best Gun Cleaning Solvents On The Market Reviews
M-Pro 7 Gun Cleaner Review
Editor Rating
The fact that this product doubles up as not only a fouling solvent but also a lead and copper remover makes it score high in the market. You won’t need to buy another container for the latter functions. The product is also 100% non-toxic, non-flammable and is also odorless. And it's biodegradable feature makes it unique as unlike other gun cleaners, it will not harm the grass and environment at large. To sum it up all, the product provides a protective film on all metal surfaces thus preventing any future corrosion and rusting.
Pros
- 3-in-1: With this product, you will not need to buy an independent lubricant and another Protectant. This is because the product single-handedly cleans, lubricates and protects
- Quality Product: The cleaner has gone through quality testing thus guaranteeing durability as well as assuring great performance under extreme environmental conditions
- Quality and Durable Performance: The product has been designed to ensure maximum protection against moisture, water and wear by leaving a long lasting film that lasts over 500 rounds
- Fairly thick and Slick: It tends to stick wherever you really want it to stick. It is the best cleaner if you are doing lots of shooting.
Cons
- It doesn’t come with a precise applicator
- Leaky bottle
This is an amazing product in performance and features. It does not only better and prolong your gun performance but is also great in supporting the environmental pollution initiatives. It is the editor’s choice coming top in the list of the idea gun cleaning solvents.
Hoppe’s Elite Gun Cleaner Review
Editor Rating
This is a product that has been engineered to take the great #9 high-tech. If you have been using the Hoppe’s 9- one of the best gun cleaning solvents still- the Elite is an improvement of that and will absolutely make you smile as well. This formulation comes with numerous bonding agents, surfactant conditioners and corrosion inhibitors for accurate cleaning and protecting the metal from future foul buildup.
Pros
- Efficiency: This product offers accurate performance, an aspect that is very crucial to shooters. It reduced by 80% the time used in cleaning the gun and also offers lubrication and Protectant properties
- Great Penetration: It has designed to penetrate down to the molecular pores of the metal thus removing lead, copper and carbon fouling
- Universal: Can be used on numerous materials such as aluminum, steel, nickel and titanium among others
- Environmentally Friendly: It is biodegradable, non-flammable, odorless and non-toxic
Cons
- It is great for guns that shoot less often but not for the frequent shooters.
- Less viscous
The good thing about this product is that if you already know the #9 version and like it, this product does an equally good job or even slightly better. Its greatest advantage is the fact that in addition to its efficient cleaning properties, the product is odorless.
Hoppe’s No. 9 Gun Bore Cleaner Review
Editor Rating
The Hoppe’s No.9 is obviously the staple of most of the gun benches. Most of the people who start elsewhere always end here with a majority of those starting here never contemplating to leave. It is a great powder fouling removal product as well as well as providing good performance in loosening of metal deposits and corrosion in barrels. Rust is also well dealt with and a durable coating left for easy future cleaning.
Pros
- Durable Performance: The product rapidly penetrates down to the molecular pores and never hardens up, become rancid or gum up. Its high viscosity ensures durable performance
- Great Secure Packaging: The bottle comes with a childproof cap and is small enough to fit in hunting bags
- Efficiency: It is characterized by a smooth action on all the metal parts whenever used.
- Ultra Potent: It features 100% mineral oil that is ultra potent and comes with a precision tip for easy use.
Cons
- The product smells bad to some customers
- Some customers also feel that the bottle tip is a little too flat and big for precise application
This product is great and effective in cleaning all surfaces including wood. If you are looking for a product that meets all the three virtues above, which must be in all the good gun cleaning solvents, and then Hoppe’s 9 is the product to beat.
Remington Rem Action Aerosol Cleaner Review
Editor Rating
Though technically this product happens to be a degreaser than a cleaner, its ability and efficiency in lifting away synthetic and petroleum oils together with other residues tends to qualify it more on the side of bench cleaning. The product necessitates a liberal gun oil film on the metal surfaces thus preventing corrosion and friction.
Pros
- Long Lasting Film: The product comes with an exclusive Teflon formula that is credited for the great penetration of the product into little pores and its long-lasting film.
- Range of Options: It comes in different sizes forms including the plastic squeeze bottle for lubrication of small individual parts, aerosol cans for covering big areas and oil wipes for handy pore patches.
- Advanced Protection: It comes with an advanced rust protection property and moisture resistance feature
- Wholesome Application: It is great in cleaning and lubricating not only the internal parts but also the external. It cleans grime and dirt from those metal surfaces that are exposed and protects them from corrosion
Cons
- It completely dries up thus not leaving the metal surfaces with a protective layer.
The product comes in various bottle sizes that have the precision feature for comfortable application. It offers one of the best cleaning options in the market and is a product that will hardly disappoint you.
Break-Free CLP Cleaner Review
Editor Rating
It will be an understatement to term this product as one of the best gun cleaning solvents in the market. Instead, this is a lightning bolt within the industry. The product is touted by many as not only being a super cleaner but also a great lubricant and preservative. In its ingredients is Teflon, a great ingredient for maximum penetration and long-lasting film.
Pros
- Efficient Performance: The product is great in dissolving grease and wax and will flush out any debris in the gun
- Viscous: The product is highly viscous thus offering great lubrication for the gun. It doesn’t stiffen or dry up.
- Great Versatility: It offers great protection in a wide temperature range of between -65F and +475F, offering protection after salt immersion.
- Long Lasting: The lubricant does its work of reduced adhesion of grit, sand and other abrasives for an extremely long period of time.
Cons
- The product is very hazardous and comes with a slightly unpleasant smell
- Comes in a very small 4-ounce can.
This product is protective against salt water among other fouls, corrosion and rust. It is important to mention that the product is extremely hazardous hence should be used outdoors in the well aerated areas with limited bare skin exposure.
Conclusion
The good gun cleaning solvents are not only meant to keep the firearm clean for aesthetics. The proper functioning of the firearm, its lifespan, firearm accuracy together with its reliability highly depends on the proper cleaning of the firearm. It is also important to know that regular cleaning of the firearm allows you the opportunity to master your firearm. There is nothing that improves someone’s shooting confidence more than when they understand their firearm. Unfortunately, if you use some of the low standard solvents in the market, all these virtues above may not be realized. It is thus important that you invest your time and money to get just the very best gun cleaning solvents and your hunting and shooting experiences will greatly be bettered.
What about the ammonia based cleaners for removing copper?
This is a very informative review. Great. I have a question. What’s the difference between Hoppes cleaner and solvent?
Thanks:)