It's a unique aroma. I guess you'll have to ask if any of your grandkids have any around so you can take a whiff....

Hasbro wants to patent the smell and describes it like this:

“a unique scent formed through the combination of a sweet, slightly musky, vanilla-like fragrance, with slight overtones of cherry, and the natural smell of a salted, wheat-based dough.”



http://www.insidecounsel.com/2017/03...play-doh-smell


So in other words it doesn't have the sweaty socks smell Ballistol has even though it is very good stuff. I only use Ballistol to wipe down my wood stocks.

Cleanliness, a lube of your choice, and a light wipe-down with RIG, Sheath, BoShield, or the like will do you fine.

For bore cleaning, I'm a Hoppes guy, but you have to watch as there are two versions out there. The old original is what seems to keep people coming back. The new stuff is called "synthetic," doesn't have much of a smell, and seems like soapy water with maybe some ammonia in it. It does not clean. I've got a quart of it sitting idle and have thought I might try it as a patch lube for my BP rifles.

And Hoppe's also has a product called Bench Rest that is designed to remove copper fouling that I would stay away from. I would be cautious as to what it might do to case color.





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I’ve never read the MSDS or put in the diligence to determine the secret sauce that’s in Hoppe’s but I’ve read that it’s either ammonia or kerosene. Ironically, two of the worst smelling things that me poor beak has had the displeasure to encounter—especially kerosene which is just awful!!

I’m fairly certain that my Hoppe’s usage is deeply ingrained in my childhood psyche as there are definitely better preservatives available that maintain presence longer, no doubt.

Ammonia will attack copper in not so good ways—some suggest to steer clear of ammonia products and chrome b/c of the copper flash that often precedes chrome plating. It occurs to me that if there is no penetration of the chrome plating, the copper underneath (if present) should be safe. Does heavy usage of an ammonia laced product attack chrome itself—I dunno’??

I swab my bores and wipe off residual fouling with the stuff but rarely, if ever, do I swab and leave the bores set soaking overnight. I provide pretty basic and reasonable care for my firearms. Never have had a single issue using Hoppe’s, for years, on all varieties of guns in my safe.

So far as health hazard—simple, don’t bathe in the stuff or use it as a hand softener..also, be cautious and don’t spill the mercury or lead paint that sets next to it upon the shelf—duh!

I sure like the patina that Hoppe’s leaves on good bluing.

Has anyone tried Gunzilla? Made by an old guy and his kids, starting in their garage, in Lansing Michigan. Very nice folks. Synthetic somehow as it's not considered "hazardous material". It works very well. They got a contract to supply the Saudi military. I got a shop in Anchorage to carry it and they tell me it's selling very well. I also got them to carry Ballistol and that is selling well also. My only complaint with Ballistol is that I've found if it's left in the chamber and you start shooting that you'll find cases a bit hard to extract after a bit. This especially in a pump gun. It turns into a very light grease like consistency when left in a barrel and in the chamber it seems to heat up when you start shooting and "glue" the shells in a bit. I've taken to brushing the chambers of a S/S out before shooting. On the other hand, this quality of turning into a light grease makes it ideal for hosing the guts of a receiver with before reassembling a gun. I spray my Parker innards and let it drip dry then reassemble and you can take a gun apart years later and it will look like it was lightly varnished and will be exactly as you left it and with zero rust. That part I really like. Seems it will not wash away or run into and oil-soak the stock head. Anyone else have this experience?

I found a test of protective gun products where steel was protected by several products and then set outside in the elements.

Make your own decisions on how good his test results are or how accurate his methods are. I think it is interesting.

You can see his you-tube here to see his results:


Here is another test for comparison:


And, the guy in the first one goes on to test lead removal.

Buy a Frontier Pad and cut a portion off and wrap it around your bristle brush. Use any of the recommended solvents posted and then run the bristle through your barrels. The Frontier pad will clean out your barrels with any of the solvents posted and give you a mirror finish. I use G96 but have used Hoppes as well

[QUOTE=Richard Flanders;217136]Has anyone tried Gunzilla? QUOTE]

Richard,
I've used it for 10 years. First saw it at the Grand American trapshoot in Sparta,IL. Was attracted to it for being non-hazardous. I was shooting a lot at the time and started using gloves or an aerosol coating on my hands to protect from the bad stuff. Gunzilla works great on cleaning bores, removes the plastic wad residue that builds up easily. I haven't noticed anything detrimental to metal or wood finishes.

I started cleaning my shotguns religiously every time I fired them, after having the chambers rust on a nice Win M21 because I got lazy. Vowed never again.