Really simple question about brushes and caliburs

[newTexan]

Bought myself a cleaning kit today (Hoppes 9 Deluxe Cleaning Kit) to take care of my new baby (9mm pistol). It's supposedly good for all sorts of pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Now, here's my questions.. Which brush do I use?

It came with 5 brushes, none of which are marked with their size. According to the box, the brushes are .22, .30, .38, 20 ga, and 12 ga. My understanding is that the .38 cal brush is used on 9mm guns like mine. Is that right? Any easy way to tell it apart from the .30?

Also, which of these (if any) would I use if I were to get say, something in .223?

Thanks!

[G.A. Heath]

The size should be stamped on it just above (towards) the threads. .223 is a .22 cal. bullet so you would use the .22 brush.

[TDDude]

9mm is essentially the same size as a .38 or .357.

.30 cal will be a bit smaller. The number is the diameter of the bullet in hundredths of an inch.

The main thing is to never, ever, stop and reverse directions when using a brush. Push it all the way through and then pull it back. Reversing directions will cause the bristles to put tremendous force on the inside of the barrel and can damage to the bore coating. The purists will tell you not to pull the brush back at all but to remove it and pull the empty rod out, especially on long rifles.

[joe817]

Hoppe's #9, mmmmmmmm.....my favorite scent of perfume. I love the way it smells.

I've been using Hoppe's for as long as I can remember. And it works great.

I think you bought an excellent gun cleaning system.

[dicion]

I love the smell of Hoppes and WD-40

I do not like the smell of CLP :(

I use mainly Hoppes and CLP to clean everything.

[USA1]

i love the smell of gunfire on a brisk fall morning

[newTexan]

Couple clarifications..

The brushes and patch jags don't have anything stamped on them relating to size. The brushes don't have any markings. The plastic jags just say "Hoppe's". No huge deal as I can tell small-med-large pretty easily.

And just to make sure I'm understanding this... a .223 rifle barrel has the same bore (that word means inner diameter in my head) as a .22lr barrel?

[Pinkycatcher]

Couple clarifications..

The brushes and patch jags don't have anything stamped on them relating to size. The brushes don't have any markings. The plastic jags just say "Hoppe's". No huge deal as I can tell small-med-large pretty easily.

And just to make sure I'm understanding this... a .223 rifle barrel has the same bore (that word means inner diameter in my head) as a .22lr barrel?

Yup, a .22 size brush will work on any caliber that starts with a .22 (.223, .22-250, etc.)

A .38 brush will work on .357, 9mm (all 9mm) .38, .380, stuff that size. (though if you're shooting a weird cartridge like a .38 super-duper black demon, check the actual caliber of the bullet, all 9mm and .38's fall around the .354-.358 size range ish)