hoppes no. 9 blackpower solvent and patch lube

[Kansas Jake]

I still have a glass jar of the BP Hoppes #9 out in the garage. It still is about half full and originally contained about of pint of the solvent. I'll have to go dig it out. I use it to refill a plastic bottle in my range box. I purchased the bottle back in the early 1980's.

 

[Billnpatti]

"I suspect benzene was still present"

I think the aromatic ingredient was nitrobenzene not benzene. I have a can of nitrobenzene that I use in making my own cleaning solvent for modern weapons that use smokeless powder and it has the smell of the old products. I love the smell and wish I could make an aftershave with it.

 

[hanshi]

The first time I bought Hoppes #9 BP solvent, it was not as thick a liquid as the current formulation. It came in a plastic bottle.

Just a few years ago I bought a gallon drum of Hoppes and it is the thicker formula but still works like magic. It certainly does smell a little different from the old stuff.

 

[Maven]

Wasn't the most memorable aromatic ingredient banana oil (isoamyl acetate)?

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/isoamyl_acetate#section=Top

 

[Billnpatti]

Not to the best of my knowledge but it could have been present. I am not sure what purpose isoamyl acetate would have served. Nitrobenzene is a very good solvent for smokeless powder residue. I know it was used in the old formula but they may have used some isoamyl acetate, too for some unknown purpose. Often aromatic chemicals were added simply for the smell and to hide the presence of other chemicals that the manufacturer didn't want people to know where in their formulation. My brother in law did this to a substance that was used to remove graffiti. His additive was something that smelled like bubble gum. His formula was secret so I have no idea what went into it but it seemed to work rather well. Anyway, isoamyl isotate could have been in the old Hoppe's No. 9 formula, I just don't know but I do know that nitrobenzene was in it.

 

[hanshi]

I'm pretty sure current Hoppes #9 has kerosene as one of the ingredients.

 

[Billnpatti]

Hanshi, you are correct about kerosene being in the new Hoppes. http://www.copquest.com/knowledgebase/MSDS_Hoppes_No_9_Solvent.pdf

Maven, I couldn't find anything on the composition of old Hoppes #9 but the new Hoppes #9 contains a material, amyl acetate, that is essentially the same as isoamyl acetate. Both can be formed by reacting amyl alcohol and acetic acid. In looking the two up, both have the same atoms and from the illustrations for both they are arranged the same way in both compounds. So, I have no idea why the term "iso" was added to isoamyl acetate. According to what I found online, both have a double bond oxygen atom on the second carbon atom and a methyl radical on either end of the carbon chain. In the case of isoamyl acetate, I would have expected the double bond to occur on a different carbon atom. But, for all intents and purposes, the new Hoppes #9 contains banana oil. But, like I said, I could fiind nothing on the composition of the old Hoppes #9 so I don't know if it, too, contained the amyl acetate or not.

 

[Maven]

Thanks for that, Bill. I wish I knew when (and why) Hoppes changed to the new formula, but I suspect EPA rules and $$$ were factors.

 

[Billnpatti]

Apparently it was a safety issue. When you read the MSDS for both you will see that nitrobenzene is more toxic than amyl acetate

Amyl acetate MSDS: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927434

Nitrobenzene MSDS: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926260

Note that in the top right corner of both MSDSs, there is a diamond. Look at the square that has the health hazard. For nitrobenzene it is 3 while for amyl acetate it is only 1.

 

[Micah Clark]

After reading something Hanshi wrote on the web about his .32 Crockett and his best load being with Hoppes BP Solvent and Patch Lube, (not same as Hoppes # 9) . . . I began using it a few years ago.

I don't have the Crockett anymore, but got lots of that Hoppes BP stuff.

I use it when hunting with my Lyman Great Plains .50 . . .I soak patches in it. Took a small buck last weekend using 80 grains of 3F schutzen a felt wad and one of those patches that had been soaking in a can in my hunting pouch since last year.

I am not sure yet if it works well in my new .32 with a Rice barrel, but I'm sold on it for my Lyman GPR in the woods.

I have not used the Hoppes BP to clean with. . . .

 

[hanshi]

While Hoppes is a fine patch lube, I certainly wouldn't recommend mixing cocktails with it. :rotf:

 

[azmntman]

I bought 3 bottles of it on amazon a few years ago.....the smell = many happy memories of a store called K-Bees here when I was 10 and got into BP. You could buy water dogs there too! (mud puppies for you mid westerners)

**make sure it says black powder solvent. I cant tell the difference in the originals in the this plastic bottles (which I still have and pour from the new round ones to pack to the woods

 

[Billnpatti]

An interesting fact to keep in mind when using any product with banana oil (amyl acetate) in it. Banana oil smells similar to a pheromone that the bees give off when agitated. There have been reports of bees attacking anything or anyone who has banana oil or anything containing banana oil on them. The European bees may not be as inclined to attack but the Africanized bees need little to provoke an attack. However, I have never read nor heard of anyone being attacked by bees when using Hoppe's #9. Still, it is something to keep in mind if you will be hunting in an area where bees are kept.

I have had no personal experience with bees and banana oil, it is just something that I read in a source that has credibility. You can find it online.

 

[hanshi]

An interesting fact to keep in mind when using any product with banana oil (amyl acetate) in it. Banana oil smells similar to a pheromone that the bees give off when agitated. There have been reports of bees attacking anything or anyone who has banana oil or anything containing banana oil on them. The European bees may not be as inclined to attack but the Africanized bees need little to provoke an attack. However, I have never read nor heard of anyone being attacked by bees when using Hoppe's #9. Still, it is something to keep in mind if you will be hunting in an area where bees are kept.

I have had no personal experience with bees and banana oil, it is just something that I read in a source that has credibility. You can find it online.

I eat a lot of bananas; does that count? :hmm: :grin:

 

[hrchotaw]

:rotf:

 

[m-g willy]

This is NOT the old Hoppes No. 9 solvent used to clean barrels on smokeless powder guns.

Thanks Zonie,,,I was wondering about that,,,,In fact I was about to give it a try,,,

 

[sproulman]

I have bottle of it but only use it to clean barrel ...Only reason is cost I make my own from grinding oil for patch like Cayagud rec to me years ago over on huntingnet forum...

if it was more of liquid I might have used it for patch lube to soak and shoot dry patch like I do but thick as it is I do not like that I would like to soak strip of pillow tick and cut a barrel.
So I like it only as cleaner etc BUT I know many that use it as patch lube and said it is great ..shoots good and cleans barrel..

But for me cost and unable to soak my pillow like done with grinding oil from napa I just use it to clean bore...