Gear Review: Iosso Triple Action Oil and Bore Cleaner

When Nick came to visit Texas (and reduce the hog population), he passed on some sage advice about doing this whole “blogging” thing. Important things like asking for “press pricing” and, most important, making sure no good deed goes unnoticed. So when I did my short review on the Iosso AR brush set, I sent the link to the article over to the fine folks at Iosso. Lo and behold, they were shocked – appalled even that I was using Hoppes #9 with their brushes. They practically overnighted a package to me containing their Bore Cleaner and Triple Action Oil for testing and evaluation. The problem was that I didn’t have any dirty guns when said package arrived. . .

Then I realized that I still had the Colt/Umarex AR 15 clone. And it shoots .22 LR. And as most people know, .22 LR is dirty dirty shit. So after 500+ rounds downrange, the receiver of the mini Colt was crusty. The bilateral symmetry that I hated during my review was now a blessing in disguise.  I decided to set up a litte competition. I would give one receiver half to Hoppes and one to Iosso. Each chemical would get a receiver, brass bristled brush, and endless supply of cotton swabs. Keep in mind that I followed my typical regimen of vigorous scrubbing followed by a hot water rinse, final detail clean, dry, and lube.

First up was the Hoppes. I knew what to expect and got good results. Hoppes has always seemed a bit too “solventy” for me. And yes, I did just make up the adjective of solvent. Inevitably, I always feel like I’m pushing grit around in the receiver when I’m using Hoppes. And, as always, heavy grime turned to grease, which then had to be wiped away in layers. At the end of it, I had a clean receiver.

So how about this Iosso stuff? It’s good. Like real good. So good in fact, I have to find a home for the three bottles of Hoppes I got in my stocking. First impressions are that it is more oily than Hoppes and seems to really bind to grease and grime. Whereas the Hoppes would take two passes to clean away grime, the Iosso TAO does it in one.

Add that to the fact that the TAO seems to be much more water soluble and you have a winning combination. After cleaning the receiver halves, I ended up using the TAO on the rest of the miscellaneous parts as well as the barrel. Call me nitpicky, but having it in a bottle with a convenient application tip is quite nice as well. No more sloppy pouring or #9 drips. After you get everything put back together, you’ll see that your parts have a nice coat of lubrication on them. Not so much that your gun is dripping in oil like Burt Reynolds in “Striptease” (Heads up, that link goes to the trailer for “Striptease” which might not be SFW)

Now here’s the real kicker. Straight from the product description.

This solution is biodegradable, has no petroleum distillates, or ammonia. This solution will not freeze or dissipate in hot weather. It lubricates in extreme temperatures to avoid weapon jamming. Works to -74F(-65C). This bio-based formula is made from plant extracts. While keeping our environment healthy, it also reduces our dependence on foreign resources.

The only downside I can find is that the TAO can’t replace Hoppes as your favorite cologne. It smells a little fruity to be completely honest. However, if you want to get a better clean with a nicer coat of lubricant while remaining “green”, Iosso’s Triple Action Oil Solution is for you. $6.60 buys you a 4 oz tube straight from Iosso.

After the success with the Iosso oil,  I gave their bore cleaner a shot. Let’s face it. You don’t dip your toothbrush in Listerine to brush your teeth. Why should the lands and grooves in your barrel be any different? Paste just makes sense. It will actually stick to the inside of your barrel instead of running out on the floor. Now keep in mind that Iosso recommends that you use their TAO liquid first to prep the barrel before you start getting pasty. This is a two part system. Here is your step by step guide on barrel cleaning.

Step 1. Run patches soaked in TAO down the barrel. I ran five wet patches. Why five? Because I started getting far less residue on the patches after five patches and it seemed like a nice round number.

Step 2. Coat your cleaning brush in paste. Run through the bore several times. I did it three times and used a gentle scrubbing action on each pass. I reapplied paste at the start of each fresh pass.

Step 3. Push dry patches down the bore until they come out clean.

Step 4. Push one or two more TAO soaked patches down the bore.

Step 5. Push dry patches down the bore until they come clean like a Mexican Cartel boss.

Step 6. Look down the bore at a very shiny barrel.

I’m not best person to talk to about keeping guns shiny clean. Mine stay clean, but you shouldn’t eat out of the receiver or use my barrels for a party straw or anything. That being said, using the paste seemed to make a big difference in the speed with which I was able to clean the little Umarex.

Normally, I’ll send an endless supply of wet Hoppes patches down the barrel without any appreciable change in cleanliness. No matter how hard I scrub, I always seem to get slightly dirty patches coming out of the business end. Using the two part Iosso system seems to have cleared up a lot of those issue. A $20 bill will buy get you the bore cleaner paste and TAO Solution. Or you could buy another box of Zombie Ammo. My money is on the chemicals.