Firearms maintenance is essential if you would like to have a gun that functions when you need it to. This means regular cleaning and maintenance and for that you need firearms cleaning kits.
We feel you need several kits all capable with tools and material to service all your guns. We’ll concentrate on two of these kits; a small portable kit for your Survival Bug Out Bag and a larger kit for your house. The Bug Out Bag Weapons Cleaning Kit ensures you have the tools and material to service and clean your firearms when in the field, on the run or when just mobile. The Main Weapons Cleaning Kit is the kit you will routinely use at your house during periodic maintenance or when you come home from the range.
We are not fans of the duel purpose solvent-lubricants. We believe you use a dedicated solvent for cleaning and separate, dedicated oil for lubricating and protecting your firearm. If you use an all-in-one solvent-lubricate, you’ll get less than optimal results in cleaning and lubricating.
On a trip to Amazon.com or to your local gun or sporting goods store you should see many decent and inexpensive gun cleaning kits that usually consist of sectional rods to put together to make a longer cleaning rod; different end pieces such as a bore brush (to clean the barrel) or patch jag (to hold patches as you push down the bore/barrel after your clean it); bore solvents or cleaners; lubricating oil; general nylon cleaning brush (looks like a toothbrush); and patches. Add a general mechanics rag to your kit and this is basically what you minimally need to perform routine cleaning and maintenance on your guns.
Outers and Hoppes (as well as others) manufactures small, inexpensive cleaning kits for specific calibers and type of guns (e.g.. pistols or rifles). Ensure the kit you buy has sectional rods long enough for your barrel(s) and has separate solvent and lubricant.
For the Survival Bug Out Bag we like the small compact kits like the OTIS Deluxe Law Enforcement Cleaning Kit. This kit comes in a small round zippered bag that contains a plastics coated flexible rod section with extenders; several different sizes patch jags; four bore brushes; and unfortunately a combination solvent-lubricant called O-85 cleaner-lubricant. However, in a pinch, we would not hesitate to clean then lube our guns with this product, it’s just better if you could add two small bottles, one of solvent and one of lubricant to this kit. There are many good solvents and lubricants, however if we narrow down our choices to which ones are in compact, plastic bottles then we would recommend Hoppes Elite Gun Cleaner or Remington Bore Cleaner as your solvent and Hoppes Elite Gun Oil or Remington Rem-Oil as your lubricant.
The OTIS Deluxe Law Enforcement Cleaning Kit is designed to clean and maintain 9mm through .45 caliber handguns and .223 caliber to .308 caliber rifles and 12 gauge shotguns. Brass scraper and handy picks will help you get the carbon and junk out of hard to clean places. A really handy item is the cut down toothbrush that is used with an extension rode. First class kit!
