As my dad told me never let the sun set on a dirty gun.

In my limited experience soft shot vs hard can make a huge difference in opening up patterns on paper, even more than card wads vs plastic wads.

I know of a original DHE that bulged a barrel unexpectedly, not mine but word was no obstruction noticed at home after shooting. Don’t know for sure what caused it. We suspect plastic build up from wads. High volume clays gun.

William

Chrome lining helps prevent/forestall plastic fouling. Several days of high volume dove shooting will verify this. Hot barrels will build up plastic fouling much more. When the chambers build up with plastic to the point that the empties will not eject, but the bores are clear, it's pretty obvious the advantage of the chrome lining. I've seen this many times on my 20 ga. Beretta 687 SPII Sporting, in Argentina.

For most applications it may not hold any advantage. But, for high volume, it is as obvious as a neon sign on a dark highway.

What is the best bore solvent to use in cleaning gun barrels?

Hoppes no.9 and a frontier pad

That's what I've been using for over 50 yrs.