All posts tagged Otis cleaning brushes

Old School vs. New school cleaning

otis gun cleaning kitsotis gun cleaning kitsI have the original bottle of Hoppes gun cleaner that my first 22lr cleaning kit, I’ve kept it as a time capsule as to how long ago it was that I first got into shooting.   I remember the first time I got a cleaning patch stuck in the barrel and when I bent the 3 piece rod and ended up going out and picking up a larger and stronger cleaning rod.    We learn most of our wisdom from trial and error and putting large cleaning patches down the barrel of a 22 caliber rifle is a learning experience.   I’ve only ruined one cleaning rod to date, but I really don’t use them very much anymore.

Bore snakes were really the thing that did in the  use of me using cleaning rods.  Ever since I picked up an my first AR15, which was a Bushmaster XM15E2 with a heavy barrel, I was happy to eliminate a considerable amount of time in gun cleaning.  I was well aware that the direct impingement guns were dirty, but considering how many cleaning patches I went through on just the chamber, I was glad to have a boresnake.  Another step to my collection of gun cleaning supplies were the Otis gun cleaning kits were another step forward for  me because I got the same compactness that the Hoppes bore snake gave me with even more cleaning tools in a tiny case.   I have a cleaning rod for rifles and one that is specific for handguns, but I’m using them less and less in comparison to Otis and boresnakes.

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Road trips and cleaning firearms

I was never one to jump on the bandwagon that it should  be necessary for someone in the military to break their M16 down every day and clean it.   I always thought that if the gun needed that much attention, they really should think about a new design.   The real reason the military does this for many soldiers is basically to keep everyone occupied and give them something to do.   I don’t think even an M16 needs to be cleaned more than 2 or 3 times a week, even in dirty conditions.   I’m sure that it some situations you are better off keeping  your chamber hatch closed and not opening to clean it when the air is full of sand and will just attach itself to the gun lube on your  bolt.   We sell a lot of Otis gun cleaning kits to the military for a reason though.   Everything you could want to clean a pistol or rifle is in a small compact case.

I personally find using rifle cleaning rods to be easier and for some reason I feel like I am getting a thorough cleaning.   Bore snakes work very well, but I have found them to become real messy to use if they are being used often.   You have to put them back in the clear case they came with and sometimes I feel it’s easier and cleaner to toss out dirty cleaning patches instead of putting the filthy boresnake back in it’s patch.   Bore snakes are easy to clean if you want to toss them in a wash machine, but this isn’t practical if you are on a road trip.   Otis gun cleaning kits, depending on which you purchase, should have just about every tool and brush you need to clean your firearm.   I did jam a patch in a rifle once and i did have to resort to using a cleaning rod to unjam it, but after I got the right method for “taking a pinch on the patch” and not using too much of it for a smaller caliber, I got the job done.   Otis has plenty of videos you can watch before you buy a cleaning kit if you think the kits are a little overwhelming.

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