cheap walmart/Canadian tire/dollar store plastic boxes are a big help to me.Important stuff in each boxes sorted by calibre/weapon/ use.1st and foremost you are less likely to lose stuff.I keep brushes, jags in one box for instance. Corrosive cleaning stuff in one, etc.You can stack em and see what's in them easily and they only cost $5 or less each.
Must-have gun cleaning neccessities
- Thread starter mrks_jnz
- Start date
-punches
-patches
-cleaning rods
-brass brushes
-bore solvent
-gun oil
-water for corrosive rounds
-funnel for water
-allen wrenches of all sizes
-scew drivers of all types
-small vise with rubber (so you don't scratch anything)
-hammer
-patches
-cleaning rods
-brass brushes
-bore solvent
-gun oil
-water for corrosive rounds
-funnel for water
-allen wrenches of all sizes
-scew drivers of all types
-small vise with rubber (so you don't scratch anything)
-hammer
Fair enough, but with respect, taking up a lot of space and costing lots of money doesn't make for a cleaner barrel, either. Will putting unnecessary stuff in his caddy at home help?
Aside from metal fouling, which I agree CLP doesn't do much about, CLP and a carefully used bore snake do a fantastic job...
In my opinion.
That's the problem, right? Neither of us have any objective evidence to back up our opinions, because it's basically impossible to test. We've got anecdotes galore, I'm sure.
What I see is: I go to the range and shoot 30 rounds of hunting ammo or 250 rounds of 223 from a sporting rifle, then I wet the bore with CLP, wait 5 minutes, and boresnake twice, and the barrel is mirror bright.
I'll confess, I do have an Otis pull through that I use to wet things down with a patch of CLP before I boresnake. I recently added it to my little bag.
A dog's age (literally) ago, I put together a field kit like I described before: CLP, boresnake, rag, and it worked so well, I stopped using anything else, even at home on the bench.
For field disassembly, I always had my leatherman, so it might be worthwhile to include that.
For my non-hunting firearms, add a punch and a bronze toothbrush to my list.
Actually, myself and many other people have proven that accumulations of copper do have a negative effect on accuracy. I have had firearms brought to me that shot poorly despite being cleaned regularly with Hoppes or similar all in one cleaners, and after removing large amounts of copper deposits with a proper copper solvent, the accuracy returned to normal levels. That to me is evidence that a proper copper solvent is beneficial. As to replacing proper rods and bore guides with a bore snake, I have run a proper patch with proper cleaning solvents through barrels that were cleaned with bore snakes, and the patches often did not come out clean. Just because a barrel looks shiny, as you look through it, does not mean that there is no fouling present. Benchrest shooters are after the ultimate in accuracy and preserving the accuracy of a barrel, and they use proper rods and guides rather than bore snakes. If you are satisfied with 1-2moa groups , then using a bore snake might work for you, but if you expect to regularly shoot sub moa or sub 1/2 moa, your odds go up dramatically, when you use proper cleaning solvents and tools.
Out of curiosity, how many firearms do you own, that you consistently shoot sub 1/2 moa with? How about moa? I am not talking about a fluke group now and then, but rather consistent groups at those accuracy levels.
I agree, and so did my post to which you replied. Cheers.
As you say, naturally. These remain anecdotes. It's impossible to test this objectively.
There are F-class shooters, and good ones, who *only* use boresnakes. Must be true. Read it on the intarwebs!
Getting to consistency, doesn't fouling accumulate shot to shot? Isn't the change in fouling from clean to first shot a larger increment than from 12th to 13th?
Isn't a fouling shot a routine part of precision shooting?
There are a lot of legends and pseudoscience in rifle cleaning.
My Remington 700 in 308, my Weatherby 270, and my Tikka 6.5x55. Those reliably pull half MOA. My other two Tikkas are a hair over.
Out of curiosity, what does that have to do with the price of eggs?
- Location
- West Quebec
Wide mouth plastic bottles at dollar store to store pull thru snakes.
thanks all for the great insight. I am now starting to see why some of you have a whole work station. I am going to start with this lil portable caddy. but may have to quickly consider a corner of the basement for a bench.
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You are right about this. A dedicated bench with an area for a reloading press, vice, and maybe a small drill press would be an ideal second gun project.
- Location
- Manitoulin Island
I would add a set of jags to fit the rifles and gun oil as well as the bore cleaner. I would also add set of bronze bore brushes and a larger cloth wipe for exteriors. One piece cleaning rods aren't practical unless you never clean your guns away from home. I would like a small sturdy case that has all of the elements. My Outers kit doesn't contain the bore cleaner and oil. I added the jags. Dislike carrying two packages. Don't believe in over cleaning, but field conditions sometimes make frequent cleaning necessary.
- Location
- West Quebec
+1 on the Renaissance wax it works well, still looking for my own Wheeler torque driver
