While I was stocking up on my normal Cleaning supplies at Sinclair International, I noticed they had a new product called “the TM Solution”. It’s in their latest printed catalog, but not exactly in the online catalog.  So I ordered a bottle of it along with my normal, regular bore cleaners I’ve learned to trust.

First Impression:  No smell.  They still have the normal, standard
“Danger: Flammable Keep out reach of children.
May be harmful or fatal if swallowed.
Avoid contact with skin...Well ventilated areas…don’t breathe vapors”, etc.

You know the Safety Drill.

So I started cleaning out my PSS that had 80 FMJ rounds shot through it the day before.
The carbon went out about as fast as I expected it.  Then the patches slowly started turning blue.  They didn’t get a darker blue that I’m used to seeing.  I kept switching between plastic and brass cleaning brushes.

After a while I tried the bore as best as I could and used a patch with Butches Bore Shine on it.  I got a nice deep blue.

In short, TM Solution works.  It doesn’t work as fast as my Butches, but it still did a very good job.  If you want a cleaner that doesn’t stink up the place, this is it.  While it doesn’t work as fast as you might be used to, it still works very well as a multi-purpose cleaner.

To order, check out Sinclair International on the web, Sinclair International or, reading from the label;

TMS
6355 Malplecrest Road
Fort Wayne IN 46835

I saw that product in their catalog too.  They advertise it as a carbon/crud buster, not a copper buster.  Their theory is that for years everyone's been wigging over getting the copper out, but carbon's been getting the short shrift.  They maintain that fouling is essentially multiple layers of crud -- barrel steel, copper, carbon, more copper, more crabon, more copper, more carbon, etc.  It's the carbon that traps the copper underneath, so to get to it you gotta attack the carbon first.

Interesting theory, I'm not saying they are wrong, but there are tons of good cleaners out there.  Still, if you use this product, you probably should follow up with something like Butch's or Sweets to get the copper.

I still think plain old FP-10 or some Ed's Red, first on a patch followed by bronze brushing takes care of carbon very nicely.  Ed's Red has some issues with using proper ventilation, but make up a gallon of it and store it in an empty paint can, it has many uses for firearms parts cleaning as well as other small parts (tools, auto parts, etc.).  Plus the price is right.  I might not feel this way if I had to deal with it every day of my life but using it as infrequently as I do, I think it's all you need.