Break Free CLP and other Gun Cleaners

I think when I was born, someone must have given me a bottle of Hoppe's.  I've been using it to clean guns, as long as I've been cleaning.  Now there are other choices.

I wanted to ask about Break Free CLP.  If it works as described, you spray it on parts, and leave them wet overnight.  When you continue cleaning, dirt and debris are lifted off the surface and can easily wiped away.  Several people have suggested I use it, and looking on the web, it gets very good review.

I live in a small apartment - I would prefer not to use something with a 'nasty' smell, especially something toxic.  With Hoppe's, I decided long ago that I was better off cleaning parts outdoors.

For those of you who work on your guns a lot, what do you recommend?  Is Break Free as good as its reputation?  Is it a replacement for Hoppe's, or do you still use Hoppe's on barrel bores?


One of the many web sites I looked over:
https://guncleaninghq.com/best-gun-cleaning-solvent/

I have used CLP products by Break Free and others for 25 years with good results. I had been using Hoppes before that. I find CLP easier because it is a one step product. In the 1990s the FBI recommended AGAINST Hoppes because they had seen it cake up over time in firing pin holes causing misfires. I have to admit I had never heard of leaving CLP on over night. That may work really well.

Hoppe’s  = “I love the smell of napalm in the morning, it smells like victory.” 
But I don’t really use it anymore, there are better cleaners. Don’t use Breakfree CLP either. Progold MFR7 recommended by Nelson Custom works very well, as do products from Shooters Choice. Patch Out and Lead Out work well  for cleaning. Lucas Oil or Shooters choice FP10 as a lubricant.

Clp works great, I don't find it to smell too bad and it does lift up carbon debris. Few things to note - it WILL destroy melonite treatment on stainless, just google "Dan Wesson black clp". It may damage melonite treatment on aluminum. It will not get rid of lead fouling.

Progold MFR7 i believe is no longer being made..it.was the old Bob Marvel oil(machine gun oil). An excellent product.

For pistols a 50/50 mix of kroil and Hoppes has worked perfectly for me

Boretech eliminator is all I use on rifles. Recommended to me by several benchrest friends.. nothing but patches and nylon brushes

Bob Dunlap, recommends a very thorough cleaning and using something like Simple Green before applying CLP the first time. He says if you don't the CLP will keep cleaning over night and you'll wipe out more stuff the next day. I did this with my Victor plus gave it a ultrasound bath. Before I assembled the whole gun, I sprayed all the parts with CLP then wiped them with clean cloth after a couple hours. Assembled and lube with CLP and it was smooth, I only clean and lube with CLP after that, no more gumming up anymore.
Stan

For truly smell less cleaning” I use MPro 7- no odor, clear and works fast, real fast. Cleans in about 20 minutes. Lube with regular gun oil or Mobil 1.For tough fouling I use wipe out overnight on the bore only. No scrubbing and leaves bore like new. I can clean a 1911 with MPro 7 in about 15 minutes with a rag, about 6 patches, a bore brush, tooth brush and 4 q tips.

I’ve moved to a house now, so I clean in the garage. Mostly use Shooters Choice on everything but shotguns and ar’s.  Fine shotguns like a Perazzi get MPro 7 and gun oil and Kreighoff grease while the AR’s get whatever is handy as they never run clean for very long. By design they are dirty and run as long as they are oiled and not full of grit or sand. Amazing design. I lube those with LSA, GI GREASE, MOBIL 1 or gun oil.

Break free is ok however there are better alternatives. I like the smell of Hopes but the formula changed with the deletion of benzene. I have 2 quarts left in the old glass bottles and when they are done, I won’t buy anymore. The new stuff just isn’t the same.

Break free is cheap if you buy it surplus by the gallon. Military uses it on tank barrels and artillery. A gallon will last years. Found you can use it on garden tools instead of 3 in 1.  Works good too on chains, hinges and other similar stuff for the yard.

I've tried just about everything over the decades, including Break Free CLP. I finally settled on Hoppe's Elite which now is M Pro 7. It is water based and pretty much odorless. It is not harmful to the skin. No petrochemicals in it. I like FP-10 for an oil and TW25B for grease. I never thought I'd ever use grease on a semi-auto pistol, until I tried this stuff.

Slip 2000

Slip 2000 is excellent on carbon fouling. Dissolves caked on crud with no scrubbing in a hurry. Works wonders on AR bolts that have carbon so thick you can scrape it off with a knife.

+1 on grease. Doesn’t fly off like oil.

New2BE wrote:+1 on grease. Doesn’t fly off like oil.

Traps abrasives, works like a grinding stone.

BoreTech for all of my pistols and rifles.
https://www.boretech.com/categories/gun-cleaners/bore-cleaners

Also Marvel Mystery Oil for all purpose.
It cleans and lubricate very well.
Cheap and last forever!

If you know what you’re doing, soap and water coupled with household cleaners will get the metal clean.  You have to dry with real compressed air NOT canned air then lubricate with light non gumming oil afterwards.  Metal fouling is best treated with mechanical removal, (copper wire pot scrubbers for lead) and Kroil for copper based bullet jackets coupled with a stiff bronze brush followed by patches.  Fancy ‘bore solvents” are a lot of expensive concoctions that seldom live up to the hype.  

Then lubricate with CLP, or LSA, or your favorite oil...

In the case of rifles I totally disagree(politely)

The modern cleaners such as boretech and shooters choice patch out and lead out are far and away a better option today.. nothing coarse used in the bore at all and totally safe to leave in the bore for extended periods.

P.S. Don't buy a bore scope it will scare the crap out of you

james r chapman wrote:

New2BE wrote:+1 on grease. Doesn’t fly off like oil.

Traps abrasives, works like a grinding stone.

True, you must clean and re-apply.

+1 on borescope. Only application I can think of is if you are chambering on rifles or doing internal barrel work like forcing cone, polishing and choke work on competition shotguns.

A few years ago, Shooter's Choice FP-10 was highly recommended - I think it was in a discussion here.  My thoughts were that when my bottles of Shooer's Choice that came in the cleaning kits ran out, I would replenish them with FP-10.

Any thoughts about it now, as a general, all purpose cleaner/lubricant?

While I'm asking this, most every place I read, the information is to use these cleaners and lubes sparingly.  Then I read something here about 1911's running best when they were "wet".  I tried that once, and my 1911 did feel extremely smooth and "loose".  

Finally, when I first got into 1911's and cleaning, I discovered the Wilson video on how to clean your 1911.  It also introduced me to some of their very handy tools, such as the plastic things you drape a patch over, and clean the slots, the chamber brush, and so on.  There are more videos posted on how to clean guns than I can count - when people ask me for a link to a good one, the best I still know of is the one by Wilson.  Is there something better for 1911's?   And for that matter, also for revolvers.  



Admission - I haven't shot my S&W Model 28 Highway Patrolman since 2018, and that was after two years of non-use.  Bullseye guns seem to now have a bigger place in my shooting mind.  Anyway, I tried the Model 28 at home, it seemed OK, so I took it to the range yesterday to see how well it worked.  The more I shot it, the "tighter" it got, like parts were binding.  Not having anything with me except my small tin of Remington Gun Oil, I lubricated everything, all over.  After fifteen minutes it felt like new again.   Question - after a couple of years of non-use, is it a good idea to disassemble a gun, and flush everything down with something like Break Free?  The goal would be to flush all the "old stuff" off.  I guess this means taking the side plate off the revolver again.......

Only if you can do it and reassemble correctly.

Jim, when I did this years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into, other than what I learned from YouTube, and eventually buying "The S&W Revolver - A Shop Manual" by Jerry Kuhnhausen.  Everything was done slowly, with me feeling terrified that I knew so little about it.  Between books, videos, and web posts, everything came out fine.

Since then, I've also found this video, which I plan to watch from beginning to end - if noting else, it will help me understand things better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ujyLn3lHBc

I had (and nowadays often have) two options - learn how to do it myself, or take it to a gunsmith.  There's a dividing line beyond which I don't feel comfortable doing it myself.  If it relates to safety in some way (the sear, etc) there is no question - it goes to a gunsmith.  The way I see it, working on rebuilding a motorcycle engine or a brass locomotive is the same thing - don't get into a hole I can't get out of.

About what you wrote though - how do you know if you can reassemble correctly.  My answer to that is currently to watch videos, all the time being aware that the guys who create the videos may not know what they're doing.  If you search for the way to take apart a S&W Model 52, the first video you come to is a terrible way to do it.  Watching multiple videos is a good idea.  What was that line.....    

......oh yeah, "An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure".

Mike
In the end we all have to clean our guns.  How often, what do you use and how is almost like, “what is the best wife? Blondes, brunettes or redheads?” For me guns and competition shooting is cheaper and safer than wife exploration. Ymmv. Good luck.

mikemyers wrote:

......oh yeah, "An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure".

Cool beans. I have that book:

After watching the video I linked to in my previous response here, I wonder if all these new fancy lubricants are just a money making scheme for things we don't need.  If you watch the (rather long) video, he's essentially telling us that the basic oils we've used forever are still as good as it gets.  If something is good enough for the factory, it should be good enough for us.  :-)

In retrospect, I wonder why I even posted this thread.  Maybe I was paying too much attention to advertising copy.

I agree with what you wrote.  I guess with all my free time thanks to the virus, I should clean my guns every time I go out to shoot them, and I probably wasted a lot of money thanks to "advertising copy".

Sa-tevp wrote:

mikemyers wrote:

......oh yeah, "An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure".

Cool beans. I have that book:

Is that one book, or two?  I can see the picture of the image at the left full size, clearly, but I can't view the image at the right full-size.
Is it a real book(s)?  Whatever, real cool!  ....and so true.

mikemyers wrote:

Sa-tevp wrote:

mikemyers wrote:

......oh yeah, "An Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure".

Cool beans. I have that book:

Is that one book, or two?  I can see the picture of the image at the left full size, clearly, but I can't view the image at the right full-size.
Is it a real book(s)?  Whatever, real cool!  ....and so true.

It is the front and back covers for troubleshooting wrong (Wright) engines.