Hoppes #9

[GunSlinger357]

So this is kind of a dumb question lol but anyway picked up a 6 inch gp100 about 2 weeks ago and I love it but....just cleaned it with hoppes #9 gun solvent and the smell is really bothering me. I keep it on my nightstand with 3 safariland speed loaders but the smell is so strong im not sure of I can keep it there tonight. So I was wondering if theres anything I can do to get the smell off and if not how long will my gun smell like this?

 

[sfhogman]

The smell fades as it evaporates. Should be okay after a day or so. Like a lot of folks, I like the scent. Reminds me of good times with my Dad...
For myself, I use Ed's Red without the acetone or lanolin. Almost scentless and it works fine, besides being ridiculously cheap to make. Easily googled.

Jeff

 

[Rick Courtright]

So this is kind of a dumb question lol but anyway picked up a 6 inch gp100 about 2 weeks ago and I love it but....just cleaned it with hoppes #9 gun solvent and the smell is really bothering me. I keep it on my nightstand with 3 safariland speed loaders but the smell is so strong im not sure of I can keep it there tonight. So I was wondering if theres anything I can do to get the smell off and if not how long will my gun smell like this?

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

I've gotta admit, in some sixty plus years of using the stuff, I think this might just be the first time I've ever heard anyone complaining of the smell of Hoppe's #9! In fact, it's often suggested one use just a dab as cologne: the ladies usually love it! You might try that with a lady friend and see what happens. If she doesn't like it, maybe you should check the bottle and make sure you got the "real" Hoppe's #9 Solvent, like this:

If you mistakenly picked up the #9 Copper Solvent, it's got ammonia in it and isn't nearly as attractive to anyone!

Rick C

 

[daveg.inkc]

How about those rubber nose clamps that swimmers wear?

 

[gunman42782]

Yeah, I am with Rick, I don't think I have ever heard anybody (besides my wife) complain about Hoppes#9s smell. I love that smell, and it's a big reason I still use it.

 

[Acorn]

Just a warning to the OP, if you keep talking like that we may have to revoke your "man card" :lol:

 

[eveled]

I use breakfree clp, on my guns. I open the bottle of #9, just for the smell while I'm cleaning. That smell brings back lots of good memories.

 

[tom black]

Wish I could get my wife to wear it for cologne. To me, Hoppe's is like the smell of fresh baked bread right out of the oven, wet dog fur, leather, wood smoke and burned shot gun powder on a frosty morning. I love the stuff.
Tom Black

 

[Johnnu2]

I was living alone in my house in my later years; cleaning my guns with Hoppe's #9 in my 'indoor workshop' that was once a fourth bedroom downstairs. My new girlfriend was coming down to see what I was doing and as she walked down the stairs, she said: "what's that smell, I LIKE it". Well, several years later I married that woman. She is still a gift from God, BUT, my 'workshop' is no longer that fourth bedroom (it's now a fourth bedroom), and I'm back out in my workshop behind the garage. Oh yeah, she isn't crazy about the 'chemical' odors that waft up through the floors into the house above. The GOOD NEWS is that she became an avid woodchuck hunter and has made some unbelievable 250 - 300 yd. shots with her little Rem. Mod 7 in .223 which she intends to hand down to her granddaughter (who I don't think ever fired a gun ))......

 

[coach]

While hoppes has an odor, I keep a revolver in my nightstand too, and never noticed it after cleaning. Generally the solvent is wiped off after it's done it's work. Many newer "green" products have little odor. I'll admit to sort of liking the smell of Hoppes, but I don't want it in my bedroom either.

 

[bayou5252]

After cleaning the firearm with Hoppes, you can then use a rag/patch with light oil and rub it down all over, as well as the cylinder and bore. This removes much of the residual smell.

I use Hoppes first followed by Kroil.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Try this, you will probably like it.

http://www.mpro7.com/m-pro7-gun-cleaner.html

 

[ditto1958]

OP, fortunately you have many choices. Ballistol is another excellent one. It has a mild anise fragrance a lot of people like, which rapidly dissipates.

 

[gramps]

As noted Hoppes #9 has many uses. A good screening tool for the opposite sex. :shock: It also does a good job at what it was actually made to do. 8) yep, just wipe the gun down with yer oiled rag after using the H9. You will be good to go.
gramps

 

[GunSlinger357]

Ya idk id be fine with the smell but it gave me a headache for some reason so I ended up ordering some of the hoppes elite.

 

[GunSlinger357]

Ya idk id be fine with the smell but it gave me a headache for some reason so I ended up ordering some of the hoppes elite.

 

[Stoots]

Ya idk id be fine with the smell but it gave me a headache for some reason so I ended up ordering some of the hoppes elite.

Maybe there's too much on the gun; perhaps another good wipe-down? Like the others have said, normally the smell goes away afer a short while.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[ronto]

I love the smell of #9 in the morning!

 

[Montelores]

OP, fortunately you have many choices. Ballistol is another excellent one. It has a mild anise fragrance a lot of people like, which rapidly dissipates.

Another Ballistol user here.

A unique odour, but very benign chemically.

Monty

 

[chuck]

Don't like the smell of HOPPIES? that's sacrilege! you should be horse whipped with a rubber hose full of #9 in the public square.

 

[GunSlinger357]

Ya because running your mouth to some one who doesnt know over the internet is real manly lmao grow up

 

[Stoots]

Ya because running your mouth to some one who doesnt know over the internet is real manly lmao grow up

Wow. I'm pretty sure he was just having fun with you.

Relax.

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

So this is kind of a dumb question lol but anyway picked up a 6 inch gp100 about 2 weeks ago and I love it but....just cleaned it with hoppes #9 gun solvent and the smell is really bothering me. I keep it on my nightstand with 3 safariland speed loaders but the smell is so strong im not sure of I can keep it there tonight. So I was wondering if theres anything I can do to get the smell off and if not how long will my gun smell like this?

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

I've gotta admit, in some sixty plus years of using the stuff, I think this might just be the first time I've ever heard anyone complaining of the smell of Hoppe's #9! In fact, it's often suggested one use just a dab as cologne: the ladies usually love it! You might try that with a lady friend and see what happens. If she doesn't like it, maybe you should check the bottle and make sure you got the "real" Hoppe's #9 Solvent, like this:

If you mistakenly picked up the #9 Copper Solvent, it's got ammonia in it and isn't nearly as attractive to anyone!

Rick C

Rick,
I love the smell of Hoppes #9 after a great day of hunting.
Blackie

 

[Rick Courtright]

I love the smell of Hoppes #9 after a great day of hunting.

Hi,

Amen to that!

In a similar context, I think the statute of limitations is up now, so I can tell this story of the effect of Hoppe's No. 9 on the ladies:

Forty-something years ago, I was seeing a young lady who was a university student. There was a trap and skeet range just a few miles away from the school, and only a couple of years before this event, the university had closed down its on site duck club where all the big muckety mucks shot birds. She wanted to learn to shoot skeet, and I'd meet up with a couple of guys on Thursday evenings at the range, so she went with us now and then.

Most of the time, I'd bring the guns, ammo, etc., and all would stay locked in the car when I picked her up or dropped her off at the end of the evening. One time, though, she wanted to know about cleaning the guns when we got back to her dorm. Her roommate was gone for a long weekend, so I told her to be quiet and keep her eyes open as we carefully took one of the guns and cleaning supplies to her room. All was fine until there was a knock on the door, and her next door neighbor was asking in a loud voice, "Who's cleaning guns in there?"

The neighbor was always a real hoot, so we let her in and told her to keep it down lest we all get hooked up and hauled off. Neighbor girl then told us how she loved the smell of Hoppes No. 9 and how it reminded her of helping her Dad clean guns at the end of the day when she was a little girl. I think she was a bit heart broken when I told her this was a "one time" deal!

For some reason I drove home that night singing a John Sebastian song to myself. "Did you ever have to make up your mind?" Hoppe's No. 9 is good stuff!

Rick C

 

[k22fan]

Gunslinger357,
While Hoppe's #9's odor smells strong and less than delightful to me I've never noticed it coming from a gun after cleaning. After wiping off the solvent I finish with a wipe down with Hoppe's gun oil. That must have been removing the odor.

Back when Hoppe's #9 contained benzene it was a great solvent for removing lead fouling. However, for its 30 to 35 years without benzene it has been no better than a lot of odorless solvents. I prefer M-Pro 7 which Jimbo357mag posted a link to. M-Pro 7 is non toxic and odorless. Contrary to popular opinion here those two features in a gun solvent do not cause loss of manliness.

Rick C.,
Hoppe's #9 still contains ammonia. I do not have a new Hoppe's #9 bottle handy to double check but if I recall correctly its contents list includes ammonium hydroxide which is ammonia diluted with water. Hoppe's #9's Material Safety Data Sheet lists ammonium hydroxide as an ingredient. You can read it here courtesy of Brownell's http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/MSDS/699-003-022_.22%20RIFLE%20CLEANING%20KIT%20-%20593_default.pdf

Now a quick true story. One of my old hunting partners decided he'd been a bachelor too long so he ran an ad in the Little Nickel Want Ads. His ad wrote likes camping, hunting, fishing etc. I was outside his place when a skinny blonde with two very nervous little girls in the back seat arrived. I do not think she'd mentioned the girls while arranging the date. He stuck his head in and smelled his match. She had a Hoppe's #9 ornament dangling from her rear view mirror.

 

[exavid]

Nice pictures of my favorite aftershave.

 

[Tom W]

Hoppes #9 doesn't have an odor..... it has a fragrance. And a fine one at that!

 

[Rick Courtright]

Rick C.,
Hoppe's #9 still contains ammonia. I do not have a new Hoppe's #9 bottle handy to double check but if I recall correctly its contents list includes ammonium hydroxide which is ammonia diluted with water. Hoppe's #9's Material Safety Data Sheet lists ammonium hydroxide as an ingredient. You can read it here courtesy of Brownell's http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/MSDS/699-003-022_.22%20RIFLE%20CLEANING%20KIT%20-%20593_default.pdf

Hi,

k22fan, thank you, and I stand corrected, as I was relying on the labels around here, not the MSDS. But now being curious as well, I dug into my Hoppe's stash. There's about an ounce or so left in my last quart bottle of "real" stuff, and two quart bottles of differing newer vintages. This is what I read:

1. Called Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9 (Notice name's been changed on the current product in the pictures to Hoppe's No. 9 Solvent)
Made by Frank A. Hoppe Div, Penguin Industries, Inc., Parkesburg, PA
Contains: nitrobenzene, ammonia, denatured ethanol and kerosene.

This is my oldest jug, and the "real" stuff according to some. It takes out copper fouling as well as the newer Bench Rest 9 Copper Solvent in another bottle.

2. Called Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9
Made by Frank A. Hoppe Div, Penguin Industries, Inc., Coatesville, PA
Contains: ammonia, denatured ethanol and kerosene.

This will do ok on copper, though not as good as the product labeled Copper Solvent.

3. Called Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9
Made by Hoppe's, A Division of Michael's of Oregon, Co., Coatesville, PA
Contains: kerosene.

This is the newest jug, and I haven't opened it, but I suspect it won't do much on copper, as that would be bad for sales of their dedicated copper solvent products. I suspect a toss up between this version and good ol' home brew, aka Ed's Red, which I use whenever copper's not on the menu of stuff to clean out of a barrel. I've got janitorial strength ammonia for copper fouling. Look for Ace 1qt Ammonia (10183A) at your friendly local Ace Hardware store. It's a 10% solution, so use it outdoors!

FWIW, the copper solvent is the newest product I have:

4. Called Hoppe's Bench Rest 9 Copper Solvent
Made by Hoppe's, A Brunswick Company, Coatesville, PA
Contains: kerosene.
MSDS: http://www.hoppes.com/Hoppes/files/67/678cd0a0-7530-40c6-9c7b-62b85bdef363.pdf

Interesting that ammonia's what gets the copper out, and there are two varieties in this product per the MSDS, but it's not listed as an ingredient on the bottle. To me, it seems to work about the same on copper fouling as the old "real" formula.

Rick C

 

[cleardatum]

i'm wondering the same thing, maybe op got a bottle of #9 benchrest? does NOT smell good. regular #9, however, smells wonderful ...

 

[Kevin]

This thread did get me curious. I just went and cleaned 3 guns. My range is just starting to come back to life from the tornado, so needless to say all my guns are clean.

But I have two bottles of Hoppes. One is #9 "bore cleaner" and the other is older and #9 "solvent." The bore cleaner definitely had a better aroma. The "solvent" had to have ammonia in it, not pleasant at all. And while I don't mind Hoppes much, I couldn't sleep with it in the same room.

But my question is to the OP, after you clean the gun with Hoppes, don't you wipe it down with a dry cloth and then some light gun oil? That should remove the Hoppes, I would think.