Rifle cleaning kit

camoman

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Anyone have a recommendation for a good kit and any other necessary items? I don’t put a ton of rounds through my rifle and it’s kept in a very temperature controlled environment, but want to be able to take care of this chore on a more regular basis myself.
 


Mr. Stevenson

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I received one of the first Air Force M-4's out of cosmoline and treated it as such.

Back in the day weapon quals were spiced up a bit by adding five bucks in a beret. My last victory was in my first days of E-6 when I was reminded of "Gambling With a Subordinate". The Air Force is a clubhouse for Democoms and I stopped my fun even if I don't know if this was "gambling". I do realize there were always inepts joining the pool in want of inclusion.

I won decent beer money at Moody then some at Minot. Things got real pussified up here.



I respect the bbl more than a brake pad as it's the last bastion of accuracy. I wish I'd invented the Bore Snake and had one after quals. I was also not adverse to brake cleaner, Windex and Simple Green. However I quickly cleaned the gun; it was properly lubed after a retard inspected it.

My Air Force 25yd groups were usually a .35 cal hole with M-855 and sometimes opened to a dime with the gay frangible stuff.

I don't remember the rifle's serial #. It was stamped #36. I was it's first "owner" from cosmoline, the retardation periods and my retirement in 2011. It went to Iraq and came back without a shot.

Also without firing a shot in anger is: 1029799 #74. My pistol from Jan 2000 to retirement: On the hip for many traffic stops, domestics, Hip Hop/Latino nights and fell out of my leg holster in moon dust to the horror of myself and ghoul clad women outside the main gate of Kirkuk AS in 2005.

The kids in the armory would save this gun for me after the system of issue was changed and the scratched "74" was essentially
meaningless.

I was on the 5th side. That is all.
 

Kentucky Windage

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I’ve been using One piece coated rods by J Dewey for many years.

FYI, if your an archery guy, arrows have the same thread size as standard rods, jags, brushes, and mops. I use a couple of arrows for cleaning the action and chamber of a rifle, BUT NOT the barrel.

I use an old tackle box to store and transport my gun cleaning stuff.

Some items I keep in the box include: Jag set, brushes, bore mops, patches, old cut up t shirts as rags, solvent, oil, a metal dish for solvent, sharpie marker, ear plugs, lens cleaner (alcohol), bore guides, and a few wrenches for various screws( barreled actions, rings and mounts, etc.).

- - - Updated - - -

I’m sure I’m forgetting some items and others here will add to the list.

I’m not really a fan of any “Kits” out there. Kits are like fishing rod combos, one is good, the other is junk. Put together your own kit. Scheels has historically had 20% off of cleaning stuff in the fall. That’s a great time to buy

- - - Updated - - -

Add a patch collector for the end of the muzzle. You can buy one, or just use empty water/pop bottles with a piece of rag to fill the gap so the bottle stays on.

- - - Updated - - -

And a gun vise
 


LBrandt

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Wife bought me a gun vise for xmas last year. How the hell did I ever clean or work on guns without I will never understand. If you dont have one get one. Makes every thing 50% easy-er. LB
 

PrairieGhost

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Get a good bore guide and always clean from the breach. I also agree with a one piece rod, but not the coated kind. Also use tight patch. Start with stabbing the bore a couple times with a carbon solvent. then follow up with a good Cooper solvent. I had to recrown a barrel after using an agressive ammonia based solvent. The best copper solvent and easiest on the bore I have ever used is the foaming cleaner called Wipe Out. I have known people who traded off rifles they thought shot out that simply needed copper removed.
 

SDMF

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Dewey, Tipton, or Bore Tech 1-piece rods.

Tipton Ultra nickel-coated jags so you don't get a false positive on copper fouling from a brass jag

Properly sized to your bore bronze brushes. I rarely buy less than a 3-pack as I pretty much toss them after 1 bbl cleaning session.

A can or 2 of Wipe-Out as well as the hose-applicator for same.

A bottle of Butches Bore Shine and/or Bore-Tech eliminator

A bottle of Montana Extreme copper solvent for true "basket-case" copper fouling removal.

I use a smallish plastic chest of 3 drawers. Top drawer is jags, bore-guides, sharpie, etc. The next 2 drawers I separate stuff by a range of bore diameters so I know .277 and below is in one drawer and .284 and above is in the other.

If traveling/cleaning @ the range, Plano 3700 boxes for all the brushes, bore mops, chamber/action cleaning stuff.
 

Wags2.0

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Dewey, Tipton, or Bore Tech 1-piece rods.

Tipton Ultra nickel-coated jags so you don't get a false positive on copper fouling from a brass jag

Properly sized to your bore bronze brushes. I rarely buy less than a 3-pack as I pretty much toss them after 1 bbl cleaning session.

A can or 2 of Wipe-Out as well as the hose-applicator for same.

A bottle of Butches Bore Shine and/or Bore-Tech eliminator

A bottle of Montana Extreme copper solvent for true "basket-case" copper fouling removal.

I use a smallish plastic chest of 3 drawers. Top drawer is jags, bore-guides, sharpie, etc. The next 2 drawers I separate stuff by a range of bore diameters so I know .277 and below is in one drawer and .284 and above is in the other.

If traveling/cleaning @ the range, Plano 3700 boxes for all the brushes, bore mops, chamber/action cleaning stuff.


what’s your order of operation while cleaning a bore with what you have listed?
 

PrairieGhost

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SDMF Dewey rods and high doses of prednisone don't mix well. I picked up a new 6.5 caliber Cooper Phoenix and couldn't wait to get it going. At the time I had pneumonia and was on 80mg of prednisone. Chemicals had swelled the coating on my Dewey rod and I was unaware of it. The rod diameter new was small enough for 6.5, but after years more it was to large diameter. On prednisone I should never buy anything over a dollar or use any tools. What I thought was a tight patch was in reality an over sized rod. My wife came into my gun room about 3:00am and said buy a new barrel in the morning. By that time my fingers looked like Oscar Myer whiners because no knuckles were evident. Evidently I'm also a poor shot with a rubber mallet while on prednisone. The factory was unable to remove the rod and the new barrel cost $442. I dont know why, but they would not give me my old barrel back.
 


SDMF

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what’s your order of operation while cleaning a bore with what you have listed?

If I plan right, wipe out the night before, couple dry patches, wet patch of Butches. If that comes through clean, I’m done “cleaning”, then run a couple of rubbing alcohol patches through, then a couple dry patches and I’m done.

if I get blue on the Butches patches then I make 10-20 swipes with a bronze brush followed by a couple wet patches. Rinse the brush w/alchohol, Repeat until patch #2 comes through w/no black or blue.

if I have to do the above more than 2X I go to Montana extreme, follow their directions until there’s no blue. Then a couple patches of Butches to get the copper cleaner out, then finish w/alcohol patches and finally a couple dry patches to dry the bore as much as possible.
 

Jiffy

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I used to be the most anal "bore cleaner" in the world until I finally just started using wipe out.

Seriously save yourself lots of time and headaches and just use it. Don't even mess with anything else. Unless, like SDMF stated, you get color on a patch. I pretty much do the exact thing he just described.

I wish I had a quarter for every patch I've pushed through any give rifle/rifles.
 

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