I’ve been using Hoppe’s my whole life. I’ve tried other stuff over the years, but always came back to Hoppe’s. It’s always worked great and the smell....well, that’s just what guns are sopposed to smell like.
That said, the last couple bottles I’ve bought just don’t seem to have the punch that it used to. Has anybody else noticed this, or am I imagining it? Maybe they’ve had to tweak their formula to avoid a Prop 65 warning or something?
Conductor, you are right. The new Hoppes #9 is not the same.
When I found this out about 5 years ago I grabbed 2 or 3 bottles of the old real stuff from a forum buddy.
Here's the data. According to Hatchers Notebook page 352, the old Hoppes #9 Nitro-Solvent was composed of:
Oleic acid 16%
Neutral saponifiable oil (probably Sperm Whale oil) 24%
Nitrobenzene 6%
Light mineral oil (kerosene) and Amyl Acetate (banana oil) 54%
The EPA banned benzene as a carcinogen, so it was removed. Whaling was banned, and so a synthetic substitute for the whale oil had to be secured.
Hatcher said the formula he used (page 352) at the Frankford Arsenal around 1920 was equal parts acetone, kerosene, sperm oil, and turpentine mineral spirits.
https://www.tngun.com/wp-content/uploads/Hatchers-Notebook.pdfEd's Red is a modern equivalent of this, being equal parts acetone, odorless kerosene, ATF (replaces the sperm oil), and odorless mineral spirits (replaces the turpentine). I just mixed up a batch last week and used it. Alot easier on the nose!