Answer
Products Gun Cleaning Kit
Page 2 of 2: Cleaning & Results
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I started in on this gun one afternoon last week, following the detailed instructions provided with my Answer kit. It's a fairly elaborate process, involving many steps, so I took my time to follow the instructions. I made sure I was using a good-quality cleaning rod with a spear-tip jag, which I obtained from J. Dewey Manufacturing (more on Dewey products here). The first step is "Cleaning With Spooge." Spooge is a copper and carbon solvent, containing metal conditioners and rust inhibitors.
This is the main cleaning process with the Answer Cleaning System, and after following the Spooge instructions, I was still finding blue on my patches, a sure sign that copper remains in the bore. [It's interesting to note that the directions on the Spooge bottle differ from those in the provided instruction booklet. Notably, the info on the bottle recommends using a piece of plastic wrap between jag & patch so the brass doesn't turn the patch blue.]
I repeated the Spooge process, and things still came up blue. On to the next step for badly fouled bores: cleaning with a combination of Spooge and Wonder Dust. I have no idea just what Wonder Dust is made of, but Sam guarantees that it "will not scratch or remove steel from the bore." After a double cleaning with the Spooge-Wonder Dust combo, I finally stopped getting blue patches, which indicated that I had successfully removed the copper from the bore of the rifle. If I had not gotten the bore clean in this manner, I could have used the combo in conjunction with the provided "E-Z Strips." These are strips that look a bit like a Scotch-Brite abrasive pad, but which Johnson asserts "will not scratch your bore." I myself have not used any of these strips, so I can't report on their usefulness.
The next step, after getting the bore clean, is degreasing. Provided in the kit is a jug of 99% isopropyl alcohol, to be used as a degreaser. In the instruction booklet, Sam warns against the use of "drug store (rubbing) alcohol," since it contains 30% water, and could easily cause rust.
After degreasing the bore, treating (lubing) it is the next step, to be done immediately. As we all know, unprotected steel can rust in no time, and the degreasing of the bore strips away all traces of rust inhibiting oils. Now was the time to treat the barrel, and I used the provided Bore-Guard, a nasty-looking black liquid designed to inhibit rust and reduce fouling. This step was easily accomplished.
Elapsed cleaning time: 1-1/2 hours. Part of this was due to my not being familiar with the process, and part of it can be attributed to the fact that thorough gun cleaning is never a speedy process. Ninety minutes to clean a gun as skanky as that one doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
All in all, I think this kit is a very effective cleaning tool, and definitely saves time when working with heavily fouled barrels. It's worth mentioning that a super-clean bore is not always desirable; often, a lightly fouled bore will shoot better than a super-clean one. I haven't yet had the opportunity to test the purported "accuracy-enhancing" properties of Bore Guard, but rest assured I will do so before long, and report on it in these pages.
Russ Chastain
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