Just don't understand why anyone would need anything that harsh to clean a shotgun?
Do some clean their guns once every five years whether they need it or not?
Common sense would dictate that you should use what you actually need. For a well maintained shotgun with clean shiny bores, plain old Hoppes No. 9 or most any inexpensive bore cleaner would be fine. Removing leading in a revolver barrel or bullet jacket deposits in a varmint rifle bore is going to require something that dissolves that material without harming the barrel steel.
Hammergun reports he is able to scrub plastic deposits out of his bores with steel wool and WD-40. An older neglected gun that has some bore pitting might need a bore solvent that is stronger or more aggressive. Oftentimes, guns were neglected to the point that bores needed honed or polished to clean them up. And sometimes enough metal is removed that the barrel wall thickness may become dangerously thin. I see guns all the time at Gun Shows that would sell much easier and for more money if they were given even a quick cleaning job.
At the other extreme, we have one OCD guy here who recently announced that he wipes down his guns and waxes his cars at least twice a week. That seems a mite excessive, unless you live in a tent on the Alaskan peninsula.
Last Fall, I bought a set of 28" double barrels on Ebay that were sold as unknown brand. I recognized them as 12 ga. Syracuse Lefever, and was the only bidder. I bought them very cheap at the opening bid price, which included free shipping. They were totally covered with a brown-green-black spray paint camouflage job, which was evident in the photos. I cleaned them with one coat of citrus paint stripper, and then finished the stubborn spots along the ribs and in the rib matting with the more potent methylene chloride paint stripper. The original blue underneath remained and was unharmed. Using the correct cleaner made the job quick and easy.
