Lacquer thinner, or any kind of alcohol, rubbing, Isopropyl, denatured, will work. Brake cleaner has some other compounds in it that just work very well. That is why it is recommended for this specific chore. If you have a good gun solvent, like Hoppes #9, the old standard, or Shooter's Choice, you can use them also to clean out the factory sealer.
I like to pour some down the barrel after plugging the touch hole, or flashchannel, then put my thumb over the muzzle and shake the stuff back and forth in the barrel like a cocktail mixer. That tends to get the solvent well distributed, so that when I run a cleaning patch down the barrel the coating is dissolved and immediately soaks into the patch for removal.
It takes several patches to remove all the solvent unless you first pour the remainder out the barrel. I like the idea of the solvent coming out with the crud on my patches. I can judge better how much gunk has come out, by the clarity of the solvent on my patch.
I also like to be able to scrub the bore a bit. If My first patch comes out really dirty, I will use a bore brush to scrub the bore, putting in more solvent or alcohol to aid the scrubbing work, and then take it out with cleaning patches.
I want to feel the condition of the bore through those patches,to know how smooth or rough the lands remain. It tells me much about the condition of the bore, and whether I am going to need to do some polishing after I get the factory sealant off the bore's surfaces.
All this is totally foreign to a new ML shooter, but in time, it all makes sense. I made my mistakes with my first gun. The next gun I did much better. The third was almost perfect, and now, I do much of this out of habit, considering several different things when I choose a particular procedure, or several steps to accomplish this cleaning. I didn't know how to tell some of these things when I began, nor understand their importance, then. But, then, this forum didn't exist, and good information was much harder to come by.
My best advice is never be in so much of a hurry that you can't stop and watch how some very good shooter-- the guy who is always winning matches-- cleans and shoots his guns. I learned much of what I know by watching the best shooters I could find at any match I attended. And, don't hesitate to ask them questions during breaks. Most are happy to explain why they do something, and what kind of product they are using.
I continue to watch, listen, and learn even today, and I started with BP back 45 years ago, and became an active shooter about 30 years ago. And I still ask questions. Sometimes I see good shooters doing things they don't even recognize they are doing, or don't think its important enough to mention.My personal experience now tells me that some shooters have no clue what they are doing right, some are very lucky, and some are just doing things because that is how their father, or grandfather showed them to do it. Some are doing almost everything wrong, and don't know why, and won't ask for help. Just because a guy is old doesn't mean he knows anything more than you do about shooting. But give that old guy a chance. He has probably made more mistakes than you will ever dream of making. At the least, he can save you from making many of the same ones, yourself.
.
