I need a new gun cleaning kit..and I want a tough one..

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indy1919a4

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Can anyone recommend a good.. No a great gun cleaning kit..

Ok I have bits and pieces of about 4 cleaning kits that I have accumulated over the years.. I break a piece here, and bend a rod there.. I strip some screw threads there. For some reason my inner child comes out and breaks these things. I will admit that I purchased cheap sets..

I kinda want to throw alot (going to keep my bore snakes) of it out and get a good industrial kit that has strong parts that will resist me breaking parts.. Would love to hear recommendations of such a cleaning kit from you guys.
 
My rifle cleaning rods are either Tipton or J. Dewey coated one-piece rods. I have one long rod for .22 and up and a shorter for .35 and up.

My handgun rods are Pro Shot one piece rods, again one for .22 and up and one for .35 and up.

My brass jag set is a Tipton that has tips that go from .17 to .45. These will last forever if they’re not abused.

I use pro shot brass brushes when I need to scrub a bore. They last as long as any other ones in my experience.

I have an old four-piece 12 ga shotgun rod that has no name on it. It, too is older and works like a charm.

I also have a Ruger-branded handgun set I keep in the range bag. This I haven’t used much since I do 95% of my cleaning at home after shooting.

Stay safe.
 
Dewey.
At least for range and home cleaning of any kind.
Just stop by any local target rifle match and Dewey is mostly what you'll see in the racks behind the line.

I have taken to using a Pachmayr .22 kit for field use with revolvers when shooting target quality ammo though.
Handy for giving the chambers a quick brushing to aid in loading the shells.

JT
 
A one piece rod will last longer then a section rod. I have 4 one piece rods, three of which I made. I used the fiberglass rod from driveway markers and made wood handles and brass ends. These work great for 270 and up. I have them set up for 30 cal., One with a patch end, one with a brush, and one with a jag. My 4th rod is a coated steel rod that will do .17 to 22 cal. I have short one piece brass and aluminum rods for handguns.
I don't buy cleaning kits because, most often that have stuff that I don't use in them.
 
My rifle cleaning rods are either Tipton or J. Dewey coated one-piece rods. I have one long rod for .22 and up and a shorter for .35 and up.

My handgun rods are Pro Shot one piece rods, again one for .22 and up and one for .35 and up.

My brass jag set is a Tipton that has tips that go from .17 to .45. These will last forever if they’re not abused.

I use pro shot brass brushes when I need to scrub a bore. They last as long as any other ones in my experience.

I have an old four-piece 12 ga shotgun rod that has no name on it. It, too is older and works like a charm.

This is pretty much what I use except I have a fiberglass rod or two and my shotgun rod is one piece made of brass. I don't put anything steel down my barrels. I do, on very infrequent occasions, use brushes but usually only use Wipe-Out on patches to clean bores. I put no oil or grease in the barrels or on other gun parts. Everything, as a last coat gets Prolong or, less frequently, Microlon.
 
IMHO Every kit should include a can of Wipe-Out bore foam

The simplicity of spraying bore foam into bore, and...walk away. Go to supper, concert. yard work. Overnight sleep. Then, simply patch out the goop, and at your discretion, re-apply once. The only added advice I could provide is, leave the barrel tilted slightly a degree or two, and a rag under the end to capture gooze that runs out.
 
Dewey one-piece rods. Dewey jags and brushes. Your choice of patches. Tornado brushes. Your choice of solvents. I like good ol' traditional Hoppe's #9 and Sweet's 7.62 Solvent. Your choice of lubricants. I prefer Break-Free CLP and Slip2000 products. A Tico Tool for shotguns. Several brushes in plastic, brass, and stainless steel. Plastic and real dental picks. A Lewis Lead remover if you shoot lead from pistols. Gun Scrubber or Non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Keep either off any plastic. If you are flush with cash, an ultrasound cleaning tank and fluid.
 
Dewey and Tipton. I will admit to two screw-together leftovers. One for shotguns I never shoot and one for large bore rifles that I haven't fired in years.

For storage, I made a "rack" out of 1X4 of suitable length and drilled holes for each rod to be inserted and hung it on a wall (if you have any open wall space in your "den".)
 
I like the old Outers aluminum rods with the hollow bulbous black plastic handles.
Pick 'em up at swap meets & garage sales.
 
Dewey and Tipton. I will admit to two screw-together leftovers. One for shotguns I never shoot and one for large bore rifles that I haven't fired in years.

For storage, I made a "rack" out of 1X4 of suitable length and drilled holes for each rod to be inserted and hung it on a wall (if you have any open wall space in your "den".)
I’d love to do that but I’m out of wall room. :(

I have to leave mine in the thick cardboard shipping tubes they came in from Brownells and lay them on top of my safe.

Stay safe.
 
Just like tools, or kitchen knives, or most things: you never want the kit. Build your own.

I have a hell of a lot of stuff (too much to list!) in an older Plano drawer toolbox, and a pile of Dewey and Tipton rods (and a Tico Tool) on a rack on the wall. In the range bags I have some small spray bottles of Ballistol, a rag, and a pullthrough boresnake of the relevant calibers, in case a problem emerges in the field.

Don't forget gun-specific stuff, like replacement springs as maintenance items, punches and proper screwdrivers to take the gun apart, bore guides to keep rods centered.

But cleaning anymore is rare, so happens at home. Most good guns will last a long, long time between needing to be cleaned, even bores wiped, so the toolbox works well. Last time I did a good cleaning of a carbine was when I had to crawl through a culvert and it went underwater for a while; figured it should get fully, fully broken down and cleaned after that. Having a full kit that does all I need is very useful then.
 
Can anyone recommend a good.. No a great gun cleaning kit..

Ok I have bits and pieces of about 4 cleaning kits that I have accumulated over the years.. I break a piece here, and bend a rod there.. I strip some screw threads there. For some reason my inner child comes out and breaks these things. I will admit that I purchased cheap sets..

I kinda want to throw alot (going to keep my bore snakes) of it out and get a good industrial kit that has strong parts that will resist me breaking parts.. Would love to hear recommendations of such a cleaning kit from you guys.

I’m big on the PROSHOT kits - got 5 of them!

Al
 
I will echo others in saying it's best to build your own kit with what you want/need. The most important ones for me were:

-Tipton Ultimate Gun Vice (I wouldn't pay full price for it, but I got it on sale and LOVE it)
-Tipton carbon fiber rods as well as their Ultra Brush/Jag set. I also have a no-name chamber brush rod from awhile back.
-Wood-stick cotton swabs (these are a godsend)
-Bore guides for my bolt actions and my AR; wouldn't go without them now that I have them.
-MPro7 is my main cleaning chemical brand, although I also have RemOil, CLP, etc.. My go to lubricant is Lucas Gun Oil.
-Various copper and nylon brushes as well as some toothbrushes.

I swear I'm not a Tipton fanboy, they just have been one of the better bangs for the buck when I've been buying. That is also my bench stuff, I have a smaller kit I keep in my range bag in a small clear weather-resistant case. It has all the brushes for the calibers I own as well as bore snakes and a 3 piece rod (which I only use if it's my only option). I also keep sample sized bottles of lubricant, CLP, and cleaner my range bag as well.
 
Riomouse1911 covered it pretty well.

1. I don't buy kits any more, I buy quality components and make my own kits.
2. ONE piece coated steel rods. I don't do jointed rods any more--I've broken too many of them. I have yet to break or bend a one-piece coated steel rod.
3. Brass jags that fit the bore. I've never used the loop style attachments and see no point to them. Anything they can do a jag does better, IMO.
4. If you need them, brass brushes. Stainless steel is too aggressive, and nylon isn't aggressive enough. I say "if you need them" because I don't use brushes on rimfire barrels any more and don't use them as much as I used to even on centerfire guns.
5. I use a nitro-solvent (they all seem to work about the same) and either a good foaming bore cleaner (like BreakFree or Outers) or a low-odor borecleaner (like MPro-7 or Hoppes Elite Cleaner) for bore cleaning. The nitro solvent takes out most of the fouling, the other cleaners help with copper fouling.
6. Breakfree CLP is a good oil/lubricant, or you can use something like Hornady One Shot that sprays on wet and leaves a dry lube in place, but, to be frank, picking a good oil is probably the easiest thing to do and the least critical. Almost any oil will work ok; I've used Ballistol, Dillon Snake Oil, Lubriplate FMO-350AW, Mobil 1, ATF, Lucas Oil and a lot of others to good effect. For heavy duty lubrication, I've also used white lithium grease, Wilson Combat Ultimalube, Lubriplate SFL-B, a molybdenum disulfide powder based grease I mix up myself, and a number of other grease products. Probably the biggest difference between the oils tend to be how well they protect against corrosion, not so much how well they lubricate. If you're going to use grease, be very cautious in colder climates to insure that the grease doesn't harden and cause function issues in low temps.
 
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