In the January 2006 issue of Precision Shooting, Irv Benzion wrote an article about his attempt to discover the best carbon remover, copper solvent, and gun lube out of all currently available products. He used a Hawkeye Borescope to inspect the bores of the rifles he cleaned in order to know for sure if they are clean.
I trust the writers in Precision Shooting quite a bit, more so than any other gun magazine. I will also trust that Irv tested dozens of different cleaners without any bias. I say that because other than telling us which products won, he didn't talk about the other products he used, and didn't post any charts of their relative effectiveness. The scientist in me would have liked something like that, but I understand he might not want to alienate potential sponsors by showing that their products failed.
His winner for dissolving copper was Bore Tech Eliminator. I have tried this stuff and I can confirm that it is so good you'll get annoyed with it, it just keeps coming out with streaks of blue.
Initially he had Hoppe's Elite Gun Cleaner and Bore Tech's Carbon X as his co-winners for cleaning carbon. But during his testing he came across Slip 2000 Carbon Cutter. This became his favorite, describing it (and Bore Tech Eliminator) as "clearly far superior to all other products tested." The Carbon Cutter appeared to need a lot of agitation to clean the carbon.
He named Slip 2000 Gun Lube as the winner in the lube category, but without much explanation. I have used it and continue to use it, but I'm not married to it.
For cleaning both carbon and copper, he stresses the importance of letting them soak for 15-20 minutes, and agitating them with brushes. Multiple applications may be necessary.
I trust the writers in Precision Shooting quite a bit, more so than any other gun magazine. I will also trust that Irv tested dozens of different cleaners without any bias. I say that because other than telling us which products won, he didn't talk about the other products he used, and didn't post any charts of their relative effectiveness. The scientist in me would have liked something like that, but I understand he might not want to alienate potential sponsors by showing that their products failed.
His winner for dissolving copper was Bore Tech Eliminator. I have tried this stuff and I can confirm that it is so good you'll get annoyed with it, it just keeps coming out with streaks of blue.
Initially he had Hoppe's Elite Gun Cleaner and Bore Tech's Carbon X as his co-winners for cleaning carbon. But during his testing he came across Slip 2000 Carbon Cutter. This became his favorite, describing it (and Bore Tech Eliminator) as "clearly far superior to all other products tested." The Carbon Cutter appeared to need a lot of agitation to clean the carbon.
He named Slip 2000 Gun Lube as the winner in the lube category, but without much explanation. I have used it and continue to use it, but I'm not married to it.
For cleaning both carbon and copper, he stresses the importance of letting them soak for 15-20 minutes, and agitating them with brushes. Multiple applications may be necessary.
