Time for a new solvent...

D

dpollard

New member
I am getting low on my Sweets 7.62 and need to purchase more solvent. I was talking to a gunsmith and he is not a fan of Sweets due to it being too harsh on barrels, in his opinion. I do not recall what he suggested I use instead and he is tough to reach so I am reaching out to you all. So this stays on topic, please know that I am going to take him at his word that Sweets is not good on barrels, don't want this to turn into a debate on that issue, unless of course you have overwhelming evidence that Sweets is the BEST on the market and I would be a fool to change
smile.gif


What copper/powder solvents are you all using that you like, other than Sweets? Do you use an all-in-one or separate copper and powder solvents? I went into Sportsman's Warehouse today and there is no shortage of products to choose from.

From my feeble knowledge on this topic, it seems as though Sweets and some others have ammonia in them (at least that is what it smells like) and that is the harsh part on barrels so I am looking for something non-ammonia based.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I like wipe-out patch-out used with the accelerator it seems to work well for me. I have a buddy that swears by “butch’s bore shine” I haven’t tried it but he Is a high volume shooter and thinks it is the very best
 
Sweets is great if you're selling barrels IMO. I used to use it and the similar Barnes product. Now I use Boretech Eliminator, it's just as good without the ammonia and has no odor to speak of. I'm also just starting to use the vfg pellets from Brownells, and so far really really like them.
 
I been shooting for a long time and I'll be the first to say I'm not even on the same page, heck same chapter as a lot of these guys when it comes to what is best. I use what I can get locally most of the time. I've had a bottle of Sweets for 10 years and very seldom use it. Evidently! I use Truly Remarkable a lot but its ammonia based and recently got some Wipeout patchout and accelerator and it seems to work good but can't honestly say its the best thing since....... I have Hoppe's, Barnes, Blue Wonder and a few others on my cleaning table. Even bought a bottle CLR but have a really hard time putting it in my barrel. I have found none of them are "wonder cleaners" and all require some time with a cleaning rod, patch and a brush.
 
Last edited:
I have been in the gun business for 30 years and get a lot of freebie stuff to try. I like Butches and Montana Extreme, but they are ammonia based. As for Sweets its great for severe cooper fouling, I had a guy bring in a old 6.5 Swedish Mauser that was so bad with cooper that the regular cleaners weren't doing much good, got the Sweets out and worked on it for a couple days, the owner took it home and shot it, and brought the target back, you could cover the 5 shots with a fifty cent piece and that was with open sights, he swore it was not the same gun.
 
I use a lot of different cleaning products. Some barrels, clean a lot easier than others. Some shoot best squeaky clean, others shoot better a little bit dirty. Sometimes I'll clean a barrel that only has a few dozen rounds through it, other times I'll be cleaning a barrel that has hundreds of rounds through it. Some chamberings are much more prone to forming carbon rings, others that is a non issue. Even when dealing with a single, particular barrel, it's cleaning requirements can change dramatically from new to well used, or depending on how many rounds it has through it since last cleaning.

I treat each barrel and each situation as an individual and clean them accordingly.

Years ago, I had free access to a bore scope. Belonged to a friend that hardly every used it, so he basically just left it at my house and I loaned him back his own bore scope when he needed it
laugh.gif
. Learned pretty much everything I think I know about bore cleaning with the use of the bore scope.

Ackleyman did a post or two on here awhile back about a lot of cleaning products and what he was seeing in his bore scope with them. Would be worth doing a search to find those posts.

I will say, that after using a bore scope a lot for quite awhile, I got to where I think I can read a tight dry patch well enough to tell me what I need to know without using one. Would still like to have a good one though.

Where I'm at now, basically... Wipeout for the big majority of my cleaning. When I feel the need to go more to the deep cleaning, I follow the Wipeout treatment with plenty of wet bronze brushing with plenty of Montana Xtreme. When I really want to go to town on a barrel, I still use JB bore paste. I have lots of other stuff on the shelf, old Remclean (more abrasive than JB, very aggressive!), Butches, Shooters Choice, Sweets, Barnes and quite a few more and most of it works just fine, depending on the particular barrel. I've really settled into the Wipeout, Montana Xtreme and JB for my needs though.

- DAA
 
Thank you all for the responses. This will get me started.

I had a bad carbon ring built up, confirmed by riflesmith with bore scope. It is in a .260 Remington. I removed the carbon ring with flitz and elbow grease (left elbow if that makes a difference
wink.gif
) He went back in when I was done and said the chamber looked factory new! That is the visit he told me to use something other than Sweets.

I will try out some of these options. Thanks again for all of the input.
 
Originally Posted By: dpollardThank you all for the responses. This will get me started.

I had a bad carbon ring built up, confirmed by riflesmith with bore scope. It is in a .260 Remington. I removed the carbon ring with flitz and elbow grease (left elbow if that makes a difference
wink.gif
) He went back in when I was done and said the chamber looked factory new! That is the visit he told me to use something other than Sweets.

I will try out some of these options. Thanks again for all of the input.



Might try some JB bore cleaner for carbon build up.
 
i'm like everyone else. i have a variety of solvents. sweets, cr-10, butches, shooters choice, kroil, a bottle of 50/50 shooters choice and kroil, jb bore paste, wipe out, some foaming bore cleaner.

no bore scope, so i can only go by what the patches look like
 
Sweets is fine if you use it as it was intended to be used which is for removing copper build up....not regular maintenance.
I've been using Shooters Choice forever so I stick with it or Butches if I can't get SC.
WipeOut is handy and does a good job if I'm feeling lazy or in a motel room when shooting Gofers out of state.
Truth is though....with today's technology the average shooter can get by with just about any of them.
Heck....I clean my rim fires with good old Hopes when the need arises and they shoot great.....and one of them was made in 1946.
 
Originally Posted By: RePetewith today's technology the average shooter can get by with just about any of them.


Can you expand upon this? What do you mean by average shooter? Low volume vs high volume, someone with 3 guns vs 50? Not trying to be mean, I just do not get that statement and if it helps me decide what solvent to use then I am all ears.
 
Since the guys on this forum turned me on to wipeout I am never going back...Between cleanings like during hunting season I just use some ballistol. I primarily use it because it is not toxic, but there are many CLP that also work fine.
 
Back
Top