Rogue Elite

I have stopped using Hoppes gun cleaning solvents for a very long time and it was mostly due to complaints from family members about the smell.  The older I get the more I think about the chemicals that I expose my friends and family too and it is worth considering changing the product lines that you use in for your gun cleaning.  M-Pro7 gun cleaning products are non-toxic and won’t stink up your home.  There is nothing smelly about them and they actually do work.  Carbob will disappear from your bolt carriers quickly.

Wearing gloves for gun cleaning can be a hassle because there are so many small parts on a firearm that it is very difficult to feel them.  Many gun cleaning supplies will work, but like we mentioned above, not all of them are good for you.  Having a safe gun cleaning station that doesn’t expose your kids to lead or other harmful products is a good thing especially now that so many people are testing for it and concerned about it.   Otis has a very inexpensive gun cleaning mat that can be rolled up and put away.

We all know we need to have good working magazines and a firearm that is ready to go if we are serious about protecting ourselves but many people tend to not stock up on gun cleaning supplies.   I understand not everyone shoots as much as I do and sometimes a 32oz bottle of Break Free or MPro7 is going to last a decade but for those of us that shoot a lot, it’s good to know what we have at hand.  I’ve changed my gun lubrication standards and have moved away from using CLP on everything.  It just does not seem to stay on the firearms as long as the Mpro7 gun oils.

It’s one thing to keep your guns clean, but its another to know that the gun is going to stay lubricate even if you aren’t going to be shooting it anytime soon. Having gun cleaning supplies doesn’t mean just brushes and cleaning rods it means  having everything that you need to maintain the firearm.   Most firearms might just need a wipe down but for firearms that are being stored you need gun lubrication that stays on and will keep the gun at its optimum operation standards.  I’ve seen firearms go down after a few hundred rounds just because they had not been lubricated.

Although we sell these gun cleaning kits and accessories to gun cleaning, everyone at Rogue Elite is a gun owner and a shooter.   We all started out with Hoppes gun cleaning kits that were 3 piece cleaning rods and all have our stories about how we had to air the house out because we spilled cleaning fluids on the floor.   Gun cleaning has gotten simpler although our amount of interest in cleaning may not have changed.   Hoppes bore snakes have made cleaning semi-auto guns like the Mini 14 or M1 Garand much easier due to the designs of the guns and that traditional cleaning rods might damage these.   The Otis gun cleaning kits are compact and portable and extremely versatile.

Mpro-7 gun cleaning spray bottles have really over taken Break Free products even though you are doing a 2 step cleaning plan.  The Breakfree CLP is a pretty darn good for gun cleaning supplies because its basically an all in one product, but it’s biggest drawback is that it does need to be shaken all the time and it does not last as long as the Mpro-7 gun oil the LPX.   You will be able to tell the difference when you cycle the slide on a firearm when you use the M-Pro7 gun oil.

I guess I’m going to have to say that I am well on on board with the MPro-7 gun cleaning supplies.  I still haven’t personally used all of their products myself, but I will continue to post after trying them out.   I attend a great many gun shops and trade shows and have plenty of sample gun oils and lubricants from various manufacturers but that’s not something I would jump on board with because quality control with liquid products is something that I have learned to be aware of.   Even something like a bottle of Coca-Cola can change from lot to lot and don’t forget all of those variances with rifle ammunition and accuracy.

When it comes to gun cleaning supplies, the biggest criticism that I would have to make that is from my expereince, valid, is that CLP is not consistent unless you shake it properly, CLP will stay in my gun cleaning supplies box, but I have given up on depending on it for firearms that I consider might be a defensive firearm.   I’ve seen gun stocks melt and barrels glow red and for anyone taking serious training or wanting to replace something that the military has issued, it’s time to move on to the MPro-7 gun  oil.

It’s kind of like being in a cult when you acquire certain firearms.   The Kalashnikov crowd is a cult and so is the AR15 crowd.   AR15′s are so common now that it’s  not really as much of a cult anymore, but the furniture  you use on  your firearm and the  optics you use may put you in a certain cool category.    When I first heard about the Otis gun cleaning systems, I was wondering how someone could have devised a system that would be so much better than a cleaning rod and a cleaning patch, so I walked around at a trade show and went right up to the guy running the Otis booth.   I was lucky enough to have asked enough questions that I was given the AR15 buttstock cleaning kit and the Pistol cleaning kit.

When I got home, broke out several of my AR15 guns and a could handguns and tried to use the system.   I found the Otis cleaning kits to be very complicated but I have enough life experience to know that that just means having patience and find out why gun cleaning supplies were designed the way they are.   I have never had to use a scraper or a brush on any of my AR15 guns because I clean them so often there is really rarely any long term build ups that I missed.  I do think that the Otis Cleaning Systems do slow down the cleaning process because of all of  the fumbling I do with the accessories, but the compact bags make

We all know that most of the Military has been using a CLP for cleaning, but now that we’re actually in full fledged combat in parts of the world, certain things are becoming out dated.   I’ve noticed for years that Breakfree CLP is a very good gun cleaner and protector, but it always seems to disappear from your gun even if you don’t shoot it.   I’ve put enough guns in gun safes for long periods of time to notice which guns hold lube, and if you are a Sig Sauer fan you should know that those guns need lubrication to keep up with the modern world.   I have picked up some of the Mpro7 products to test them out due to friends telling me about it and here’s some feedback.

I am not one to like wearing gloves but if you are around all of this stink, it’s something to be concerned about.   Gun cleaning supplies like CLP are smelly and in the winter you may have issues with ventilation.     MPro-7 cleaner does an outstanding job of stripping gun oils and carbon off of your gun and this is a must for anyone running a direct impingement firearm.   The Pro-7 gun oil also seems to  hold on to firearms better and I could feel the difference on my Sig handguns as soon as I racked the slide.   I’ll have to shoot them for awhile to tell if they hold up better than when I used CLP, but I have had guns jam on me after 400rds or so when I only used CLP and let them sit for a few months.

I have several gun cleaning kits laying around my gun cleaning room and some of them are close to 20yrs old.   I still use various elements of them since not all of the kits are still intact.   Most of the non-one piece cleaning rods I have used in the past have become broken or bent and have been tossed, but I have some of the Hoppes gun cleaning solvent and a few cleaning brushes that have moved in with my gun cleaning kits.   The bore snakes that I have, have pretty much replaced the gun cleaning brushes but there have been a few times recently that I have gone back to using tradition cleaning kits.   I have been testing out many of the Otis gun cleaning kits to basically get use to the product line.

Otis gun cleaning kits aren’t going to clean your guns in some magical new way.   They really are just another mode of gun cleaning supplies, different type of cleaning and lubrication, different way of using a metal cord instead of a cleaning rod, but other than that, it’s just a compact way of keeping your gun cleaning kit something that can go in a range bag. The larger multi-caliber cleaning kits make a ton of sense if you own a lot of firearms, but if you don’t they will be a major over kill.   Gun cleaning patches are something we know we should throw away at certain point, but I see many using gun cleaning brushes for far longer than they should.   If you are noticing that you can’t get a barrel clean, try replacing the gun cleaning brushes you have.   Getting lead out or cleaning a gun that has not been cleaned all that well in the past is harder if you don’t have the right tools.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a thorough check of my gun cleaning supplies, and today I decided it was time to do a brush check  to see if I need anymore gun cleaning brushes.  Some of the gun cleaning brushes I have seem to have really taken a beating and especially with my rifles, I thought it was a good idea to replace them because I didn’t know if they were really doing the job anymore.  I was  happy to find out that I completely forgot that I have an Otis 5.56 grip cleaning kit that was unused from over a year ago.

I met with a rep that worked for Otis at a few conventions and he hooked me up with a few of the Otis gun cleaning kits.  The Otis 5.56 grip cleaning kit is meant to fit exactly where you think it goes, the pistol grip on  your AR15.    These gun cleaning supplies are meant for AR15.  When I was cleaning my AR15 rifles, I was thinking that I should be using a chamber brush, unfortunately the Otis pistol grip cleaning kit doesn’t come with one.  I find that somewhat disappointing because I would think that any AR15 cleaning kit would come with one of these.  The chamber area is one of the hardest parts to get to on an AR15 and on a direct impingement carbine, this is where the most dirt can collect that usually causes jams.  The kit is nice for being a compact kit, but I’d still add a a chamber brush to it.

I recently had a walk in customer look up at all of the Otis gun cleaning systems that we have in stock and mentioned that he never got into the Otis thing.   Well, the gun rod thing works well if you have a good cleaning rod and not one of those 3 piece starter kits that you got for your 22LR.   I’ve bent them myself and seen others do catastrophic things to them.   I’m not going to rave that the Otis System works better than any cleaning rod system, but there are advantages.

About the only disadvantage of the Otis system is that you might not be able to push forward on the cleaning patch as well, but yet again, what the hell are you doing that you need to push a cleaning rod that hard?   The Otis gun cleaning kits are small, compact, they hold the lube, and there is almost no chance that you will have to carry a bottle around with you that will leak all over your gear.   The cleaning systems are advanced or simple and can be used specifically for an AR15 style rifle.

The is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things, there are also many ways to do get the same job done, but efficiency really matters to most of us.   I do admit that I like cleaning some of my firearms, some guns are really annoying to assemble and re-assemble.   The Ruger MKII is probable the most annoying handgun I ever owned, but my tolerances for complicated things has increased and I probable should have never sold it.   The real problem with guns like that is when you haven’t shot them in awhile and the learned knowledge floats out your brain.  I’ve read several issues of SWAT magazine where excessive gun cleaning can cause damage and after watching a recent DVD from Dean Caputo on the AR15 I thought I’d bring this up.

Boresnakes are definitely the fastest and easiest to use, but it won’t do a very good job on a really dirty chamber or in the bolt carrier of an AR15.  You will still gun cleaning supplies other than just CLP Break Free and a bore snake.   The Otis gun cleaning kits that are specifically designed for the M16 or AR15 is probable  the most complete gun cleaning kit for an AR15, but they gotta be used the right way.  One of the biggest screw ups I see with the cleaning tools are the chamber brushes.   The chamber brush is only meant to be pushed down so far and the fast majority of the ones I have come across look like someone tried to jam it down the barrel.  Watch what you are doing so you don’t damage the gun doing something you aren’t suppose to be doing.