Pull the trigger on one of Huntego Limited’s CleanShot shoot-thru bore cleaning cartridges and that’s it; your 12 gauge bore is clean. With different layers of scrubbers and patches and 9,600 psi of outward pressure, it’s supposed to remove carbon, lead, plastic, and other fouling and debris.

First I needed a dirty barrel, and my over-under graciously provided two of them.

Okay, so taking cell phone photos of the inside of a chrome-lined barrel on a sunny Texas day proved extraordinarily difficult. I think the third photo is the most telling, as you can easily see the lead and plastic skid marks in the bottom barrel. They were both very dirty, full of bits of carbon, paper, unburned powder, lead, plastic, and whatever else.

I loaded a CleanShot in each chamber and pulled the trigger. I was surprised by the amount of boom and thump they produced. It isn’t as loud or as powerful as a 12-gauge birdshot load, but you will want ear protection and, as Huntego makes clear, treat it just as you would live, deadly ammunition.

And voila! The bore was clean. And even harder to photograph to show it. Actually, I was truly surprised just how clean and shiny the bores were — legit mirror clean. Other than a couple little flecks of unburned powder or cleaning medium, it was flawless quicksilver chrome.

Running a clean patch down both bores didn’t show much. Some dust from firing what Huntego says is a uniquely clean-burning propellant or possibly just some loose carbon that the CleanShot broke free, but didn’t wipe out the front. Impressive at any rate, as this patch would have come out jet black prior to the CleanShot’s passage.

I couldn’t have done much better if I’d broken out the cleaning kit and solvent, used some elbow grease and done it the old fashioned way. Then again, the old fashioned way wouldn’t have cost $5 ($2.50 per CleanShot times two barrels).

According to Huntego’s Twitter feed, we’ll be seeing their product in Walmart stores very soon.

Specifications: Huntego CleanShot Shoot-Thru Gun Bore Cleaner

Caliber: 12 gauge 2-3/4″ (more shotgun calibers and possibly pistol and rifle calibers planned)
Firearm: for both smooth and rifled bores
Lethal: Yes. Treat like live ammunition.
100% Gun Barrel Safe
MSRP: $2.50 per round

Ratings (out of five stars):

Function * * * * *
It really works!

Utility * * * * *
It’s really easy!

Value *
It’s really expensive!

Overall * * *
It’s really cool! But you have to be willing to trade a couple minutes of your time for $2.50 per bore cleaning.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

68 COMMENTS

  2. I though this was an April Fool’s joke in August.

    But the results look legit. And I HATE cleaning my shotguns.

    I gotta look at getting a box of these.

  3. Interesting. I have a Benelli that could use this treatment. I doubt it would cycle a semi auto, but that’s not really the point.

    • Wouldn’t cycle a semi, though if you have only one barrel you’d need only one CleanShot. Fire and eject manually. It was *barely* powerful enough to kick the single trigger on my O/U over to the second sear.

  4. Good lord people, there are real problems in this world we need to fix like…..Cancer???? remember that one?? Let’s get science onto something that matters!!!
    Jeez, just clean your damned guns

      • While I could see having the technical chops to design a product such as this, I’d be of zero use trying to cure cancer. I don’t think Huntego’s efforts are detracting from cancer research efforts haha

        • Well, as far as my comment goes, I guess I appreciate the work that went in to the thing and there is certainly the “huh. it actually works. how ’bout that?” aspect, but a bore snake works pretty well, quickly, and cheaply.

          Not as fun to use though, I’ll give it that.

    • Honestly, for shotguns, it’s not a horrible idea. It’s not prohibitively expensive and seems effective. I clean my scatter guns every 250 rounds or so, so the cost is negligible.

    • And what, pray tell, have you done to advance the body of human knowledge recently?

      Ever try to get funding to research a new idea, from either the government or a private foundation? Any clue what fraction of even good well-ranked proposals get funded?

      And oh by the way, research is expensive, so be sure to write your congressman to say you want to pay more taxes and more should.go to r&d.

      • Speaking only for myself, I complain about things I don’t really care about all the time on the internetz, and occasionally add “me, too!” to any thread trashing non-drop safe firearms.

        Also, unlike many of the people here today, I *will* go home to split the atom tonight.

    • Then you should go remove the electric starter from your car along with all the other power equipment it has,to prove your superiority.

    • matty 9,

      Since you brought up cancer, this product could literally reduce cancer rates in frequent shooters who will frequently be in contact with LEAD and NASTY CHEMICALS.

      Unless you think it is fun to don a chemical respirator, hazmat suit, and nitrile gloves, you are exposing yourself to lead and chemicals when you clean your firearms. This approach to cleaning eliminates that problem.

      • “Unless you think it is fun to don a chemical respirator, hazmat suit, and nitrile gloves,”

        What happens in my bedroom is none of your business.

    • Yeah, that’s why cancer hasn’t been solved, not enough unqualified people working on it. If only the shotgun cleaning people would get on curing cancer, the world would be a much better place.

    • This is a fine idea. Not every gun entrepreneur can cure cancer. How is the testing for your cancer cure coming along?

  6. I wonder if it would be possible to somehow recover the projectile without destroying it, to see what it removed.

    The lazy devil on my left shoulder says this is totally worth it. What’s another $2.50 after you just burned through $25 on ammo and another $20 on clay targets? The only downside is you have to remember to do it while you’re still at the range.

    The tightwad conservative on my right shoulder says grow a pair, squirt some cleaner down the barrel, drag a bore snake through it and call it a day.

    • It would probably survive being fired into a series of cushions, though how that would affect the results I’m not sure (i.e. the dirty part might ablate into the cloth or batting.) Plus even if you get your cushions at the dollar store I reckon it would take at least three, making the analysis a more expensive prospect than the round itself.

      Or you could just fire the same number of the same rounds through a double barrel of your choice, put one of these through just one barrel and compare the two.

  7. Drill + 12ga Brush = Fast, easy shotgun barrel cleaning. (Ditto for revolver cylinders with the appropriate size brush.) However, I like this cleaning method. Easier than a bore snake.

    John

    • I know this is a late response.

      Last week I bought a couple of boxes of these and tried them out. I have quite a few guns and recently bought a Benneli M4 with a 14.5 in barrel that is harder to clean than I thought it would be. This is the first shotgun I’ve owned and getting crud out of the barrel is a bitch (I shoot 00 buck and slugs).

      After shooting 20 rounds of buckshot and slugs I put one of these cleaning rounds though the gun and the results were good, not great like the pics here.

      I went home and tried the brass brush on the drill and it worked like a dream. Thanks for the perfect solution.

  8. I’d be weary of using this in a semi-auto. Not sure what all that cleaning crud would do to the gas system. Otherwise, looks legit. Not sure if it would be practical for smaller bore firearms due to interior surface area vs cartridge volume issues.

    • I’d still wanna run an oiled mop down the bore before putting it up, living in the sub-tropics.

      I don’t mind the few min. with the bronze brush at the end of the day while enjoying a refreshing beverage, it’s all a part of the experience, for me…

    • Actually, the wound would be filled with whatever was in the barrel, so I’m thinking its a good defensive round, even if you don’t kill them there’s a good chance of some serious infection that may finish the job down the road.

  11. Idea for a followup review: Try shooting a clay pigeon or two with these. If they are good enough, then just use these for your last shots of the day.

  13. $2.50 to clean a barrel is reasonable. Would you be willing to pay someone $2.50 to clean your gun? I would. Cleaning isn’t something I particularly enjoy, but it has to be done. In fact, is there anyone here who wants to earn a couple bucks (literally) to do the job for me? My free time is worth something to me, and I can relax or spend it doing other things that will save me even more money, like load some rounds or fix a fence or transmission.

    • Don’t forget: the barrel isn’t the only thing that needs cleaning, especially on gas operated semiautos, so this clever device has limited utility for high volume shotgunners.

    • To clean the action? Sure, that’s time consuming. To swab the bore? No, that only takes about thirty seconds. I don’t think my time has ever been worth $300/hr.

      • Mercury,

        It takes me a LOT longer than 30 seconds to clean my shotgun bore. If you do it old school:
        (1) 30 seconds to run a brass brush up-and-down the barrel several times
        (2) 30 seconds to run a solvent soaked patch down your barrel
        (3) 15 minutes to allow the solvent to actually work
        (4) 30 seconds to run a brass brush up-and-down the barrel several times
        (5) 30 seconds to run a solvent soaked patch down your barrel
        (6) 30 seconds to run a dry patch down your barrel
        (7) 30 seconds to run an oil patch down your barrel
        That adds up to 18 minutes, not including time to set-up put away your cleaning supplies.

        And all of that assumes that you only need to do each step once. I have often found that I have to run multiple patches and brush multiple times to truly clean the bore.

        Of course this could go much faster with a bore snake (assuming they work, I have never tried one). You still have to handle and clean the grimy bore snake.

  14. Well my BPS Buck Special is a smooth bore made to shoot slugs, the barrel is “tighter” and is a royal pain to clean all the lead out. I,bought a special jag and use with steel wool as a first step .

    This seems a bit easier.

  15. These shoot-thru bore cleaning shells could be a real boon for people who shoot plastic sabots through rifled barrels.

    Without this product, I have to use brushes, patches, traditional solvent, more patches, and finally brake cleaning fluid with patches and brushes to remove the plastic fouling.

    • And there is another reason that these shoot-thru bore cleaning shells could be a boon for people who shoot plastic sabots: I am only able to shoot about 4 sabots before their associated plastic fouling starts to significantly degrade accuracy. In fact, accuracy degrades so much, so fast that it is very difficult to sight-in my shotgun.

      It would be nice to shoot a 5 shot group, blast a shoot-thru bore cleaning shell, adjust my scope, and shoot one more 5-shot group to be sure I am on target. And if I needed to make one more adjustment, blast one more shoot-thru shell through the barrel and verify final alignment. Then of course blast a third and last shoot-thru shell to KNOW that my barrel is clean and I will be shooting on target.

      Given that shot shells with plastic sabots cost anywhere from $12 to $16 for five shells, these shoot-thru bore cleaning shells could actually save you money if they significantly reduce the number of plastic sabot shells that you have to shoot to sight-in.

      • ” I am only able to shoot about 4 sabots before their associated plastic fouling starts to significantly degrade accuracy.”

        Is it possible you have a bit of roughness in the bore that is exacerbating that condition?

        My grandfather’s break-action 12 Ga. had a bore with some rust spots in it, and I could feel them ‘grabbing’ onto a patch when I ran it down the bore.

        A cotton bore mop with polishing compound on it driven by an electric drill got all but the worst of it…

        • Geoff PR,

          I see what you are saying … I have never noticed my fabric patches catching at any locations on the barrel.

          Since it is a rifled barrel and the bullets exit the barrel at 2,000 fps, I am guessing that they melt a lot of plastic in the barrel on the way out. Or maybe my particular barrel just fouls up really easy. I wish I knew. At any rate, these shoot-thru bore cleaning shot shells seem like a nice solution.

    • You know, I could certainly see spraying a bit of solvent into the bore and letting it sit for a couple minutes before firing off a CleanShot in the case of extremely heavy fouling like what you’re talking about. I had some obvious streaks of lead and plastic inside of my bore but I don’t think it was as bad as what y’all are describing from sabots. Probably wouldn’t hurt to soften it up a bit before shoot-thru cleaning (though I’d verify first with Huntego that it’s safe and acceptable).

      • Because standard cleaning solutions are flammable in nature, Huntego Limited does NOT recommend placing anything in the bore prior to shooting a CleanShot round. CleanShot has been engineered to utilize the bore pressure to power-scrub the bore, trapping particles and send them down range.

  16. Where the heck were these a couple months ago? I had a customer bring in a 9:30 JM Pro and a couple other Mossberg shotguns that I don’t think he ever has clean the carbon out of the barrels. After about an hour of scrubbing I decided just to use a flex hone ultra fine chamber and bore honing to get the mess out of his barrels. I have never seen so much carbon come out on a flex hone before. These would have been absolutely amazing and a lot quicker LOL.

  17. I could see these coming in handy…clean your oven while cleaning your shotgun…might even work on your car.

    Also good for home defense…what could be better for filthy scumbags.

    • Well, you could load a little powder, a clean, dry patch, a couple of solvent soaked patches and then fire. Of course, you would probably still need to run a wet patch and an oiled patch afterwards to get the powder from that last shot out.

      I think I’ll try this next time I pull the ole muzzie out. I have some hoppes muzzleloader cleaning fluid and I think I’ll soak a few patches and throw them in a zip lock before I head to the range.

      This makes me wonder: What is the smallest load of powder that I can get to ignite and pop a few wads of cotton out of the bore? Hmm.

  19. I’d love it if they made them for .22 . I’ve been trying to get through a brick of the dirtiest .22 I’ve ever seen. I have to keep stopping to take the rifle home to clean it.

  21. Another joke gimmick for people to shiftless and lazy to properly clean their guns. There no way in hell that method would take out streaked leading. I spent enough hours doing hard labor to know how difficult it is to get out even when you have a minimum amount in the bore.

    I am also betting this device would damage the bore with continued use as well.

    • Instead of knocking it why don’t you try it I have and it does work ! I have been around guns for over 45yrs and wish this product was available years ago. It would have saved me countless hours cleaning the bore.

  29. Wanna cure cancer? This would help. Instead of taking the time get out the cleaning supplies, do the cleaning, clean up after the cleaning, and put everything away, you put one of these in, pull the trigger, boom, you’re done, in a few seconds. Now you have more time to research cures for cancer, or to make some more money to donate to someone who will, or to do something to help prevent cancer in yourself. It’s simple economics. Go read Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Technology is a win-win, everybody benefits. I need it in 20-gauge.

  30. Great for me as my sporting clays gun (Perazzi) doesn’t have chrome line barrels. I normally clean after about 500 rounds. Great when I was shooting 10-15K rounds per year. Now I might shoot 500 over 3 months. Pop a couple of these in after 100 rounds and don’t worry with full cleaning, hinge pins, extractors, etc until 500 rounds.
    Great for me….

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