Discussion Forums

Thomas Pavelka

Thank You Nathan! The internet can be a source for a wealth of information, such as this very site.

Howsomever, there are times when I think we should have a button on our keyboards that is labeled "Bullshit Eliminator".

Which is the prime reason why I don't last long on many of the websites they have out there pertaining to hunting.

It never fails, somebody posts about for example the killing power of a 380 pistol on Cape Buffalo. The question in itself has to come from a mad man. But not to worry, the thread will come alive with first hand testimony, or rather I should say, "My buddy shoots em right in the eye and kills them stone dead every time."

I once got in to a pissing contest with a very well respected moderator on one of the forums. His favorite caliber was a 280 Remington. In spades the 280 is just about identical in ballistic performance to the 270 Win. What one will do the other will do. He killed a lot of deer with his rifle in New York State but otherwise had not hunted anything larger.

But then the subject of Alaskan Moose came up on a thread. The thread evolved to the point of absurdity. Now this dude with the 280 was betting all who would go for it that he could drop the biggest Moose Alaska ever had with a single shot and at any distance with his 280.

I sent him a PM and asked him to knock off the foolishness because some fool would sooner or later swallow that bunk. It went even wilder from there.

He was so adamant about it that he challenged me to hunt in Alaska for those Moose. The deal was, we each shot a moose. The Moose that was on its feet the longest would be considered the loser of the contest. The prize was to be a a steak dinner paid for by the loser.

I saw red at that point. And so I changed the rules of the game. We each had one shot. And for every second that his Moose was on its feet he owed me $1000 per second. And for every second my Moose way standing I owed him $1000 per second. It was a bet he could not possibly win and his balls shriveled right up.

I have shot enough Moose to know that they are a big animal and can take a lot of punishment. A Moose hit fair in the lungs is a dead moose, but I have not seen a single time when they fell in place. They usually wander off, lie down, and expire. A 243 or a 30-30 can kill a Moose I have no doubt of it. But, it comes down to exactly when, and how long the Moose suffers.

If, that hunt would have happened I would have been carrying the 378 with a very stiff 300 grain bullet. I'd have shot to take out both front shoulders. Without the framework to support the Moose he would be down at the shot. I am glad that hunt never materialized.

But to the original topic of the thread, Hoppes is indeed some wonderful stuff. But as you point out, it congeals over time, and left long enough it forms a hard jelly like substance.

So I do the normal cleaning with the Hoppes and then swab the bore dry. Then I run a patch of Safariland's Break Free CLP in the bore. I use the Break Free on my waterfowl guns too, which spend a lot of time getting wet and have never had a spec of rust show up on a firearm. Good stuff.