The Best Way to Clean Your Gun

Professional shooter Jessie Duff excels at two things: destroying the competition and making guns dirty — very dirty.

"I have tons of horror stories where my guns just stopped working," said Duff, who fires upward of 50,000 rounds per year. "These high-end firearms are finely-tuned machines that must be kept clean. In practice, I get lazy and think, 'Oh, I can get in another 500 rounds before cleaning.' Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't. There are plenty of times where the gun just quits because there's so much gunk from not being cleaned."

That's when Duff calls in a medic — Gun Medic, to be exact. This all-in-one cleaner and lube from Hoppe's is her go-to solution for reviving dirty firearms.

"Typically, I clean my pistol after each practice session, every 500 or so rounds," said Duff. "However, to see if Gun Medic really works, I got my pistol extra dirty. I didn't clean it for three practice sessions — 1,500 rounds — and then sprayed it down with Gun Medic and shot. I was skeptical, but it went another 500 rounds without issue, and the gun performed as if I had cleaned it."

All-in-One Solution

To learn how Gun Medic differs from the competition, I spoke with Sherryl Nens, marketing manager for Hoppe's. Nens said that Gun Medic merges the best attributes of cleaners and lubricants.

"This product was made with the repetitive shooter in mind, the competitor or high-volume range shooter," said Nens. "Unlike lubricants that leave gunk behind or cleaning agents that lack lubrication, Gun Medic is the first to a have a cleaning agent and lube agent backed with an aerosol spray."

Those three components — aerosol, cleaner and lube — are what make Gun Medic so effective. Debris and sludge are removed from the firearm's action by the aerosol and cleaning agents, which then evaporates completely within 60 seconds. All that's left behind is a thin layer of lubrication. It's enough to keep things running smoothly, but not enough to attract dust.

Call a Medic

If this sounds cutting edge, that's because it is. In fact, Nens explained how the lubrication technology was borrowed from the aviation industry, where it's used in jet propulsion engines (this likely explains Gun Medic's operating temperature range of -65 to 500 degrees).

That said, cutting edge doesn't mean total cleaning solution. According to Nens, Gun Medic "won't replace a deep clean. It won't clean out copper fouling. Gun Medic is simply designed to get your action back into action quickly. Think of it as a 911 for guns."

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Duff also cautions against complacency. "Gun Medic is by no means a solution to not cleaning your gun," she said. "But if you're in a jam, your day is not lost. Spraying Gun Medic throughout your firearm's action will give you another day's session. That's why I keep Gun Medic in my range bag for emergencies."

Gun Medic is easy to apply and fast in action. This revolutionary new line from Hoppe's will bring your firearm back to life. The range hero we've needed has arrived. And this one has an M.D.

This Happened to Me!

Three horror stories from the pros.

1. Northern Exposure

Mike Stroff isn't a competition shooter, but that doesn't mean his firearm maintenance is lax. Quite the opposite, says the lifelong hunter. "Guns are essential for hunting," he said. "In order for them to be reliable and accurate, they must be kept clean."

Stroff found this out the hard way a few years back on an Alaskan float trip. "I was out there with my dad, and it rained nonstop. We got so much grit in the safeties of the rifles that they stopped working. This wasn't a malfunction — it was purely our fault — but the guns just got so dirty. Having some lubrication and spray would've helped immensely."

Sand and grit don't stand a chance against Gun Medic. Its pressurized solution drives deep into the inner crevices of firearms to flush out debris. It then evaporates in less than a minute, leaving behind an extremely thin layer of lube. There's little doubt that Stroff's next hunting trip will have a medic on staff.

2. Push it to the Limits

As a shooter who has blown up a half-dozen firearms, Todd Jarrett knows that proper lubrication of a firearm is critical to a safe and enjoyable time on the range. But that wasn't always the case.

"Way back in the '80s, I was shooting a stainless steel 1911 and did not lube my gun properly. The results were that I essentially galled the pistol so badly that it would not operate. I literally sheered off metal because the gun didn't have enough lubrication. A well-oiled firearm is far more important than most shooters realize."

A spray of Gun Medic would have saved Jarrett's high-dollar 1911. This "all-in-one" formula cleans and lubricates the action of firearms in one fell swoop.

3. Crack Under Pressure

As one of the top shooters in the world, Julie Golob competes in extremely stressful events. But nothing ups the stress like a broken firearm.

"The NRA Bianchi Cup is the most intense and nerve-wracking competition I shoot," Golob said. "We use very specialized guns in the Open Division that have compensators, optics, shrouds and wings! Yes, I said wings. The slides are even skeletonized to maximize efficient slide movement with light loads.

"Practice days leading up to Bianchi are very intense. We often shoot over a thousand rounds a day. You clean your gun every day, sometimes more than once. During one of those sessions, I discovered my slide had cracked. At first I was devastated. You get attached to your main gun because you like the way it shoots. Catching the crack early though allowed me enough time to switch to a backup gun. Who knows what would have happened had I kept shooting the gun with the cracked slide."

Gun Medic won't fix a cracked slide — that requires welding. However, taking a minute to inspect your firearm is time well spent, and there's no better time to do this than during the 60 seconds it takes the Gun Medic to dry. As they say, "An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure."