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[–] wild_injun ago 

i ise bore snakes on all my fire arms especially on my edc postols and field rifles. so add those to it. they are good for getting the everday grime out of the barrel and a quick swab after a 100 pistol rounds. get one! next are nylon brushes for the moderate cleaning, it is just less abrasive plus it helps season a barrel between load changes and heavy cleaning. the bronze brush are usually every 500 rouns or so or when i change loads in the hunting rifles.

cleaning rods, looking into the fiber glass or carbon fiber rods from tipton or gunslick. they run approx $50 and each rod size services a smaller number of calibers but they are worth it.

when it comes to regular "at the shop" cleaning i say use dedicated cleaner and lubes avoid CLPs. If you are just doing at the range swab-ups CLPs are fine (mpro-7 or, gunzilla or hoppes).

when it comes to my edc pistol i always use dedicated cleaners and lubes. CLPs tend to be found lacking for me.

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[–] 6double5321 ago 

Bore snakes are a nice addition to your cleaning tools. Hardware stores also sell air/paint gun brush sets that work well for odd places to reach.

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[–] zaitcev 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago  (edited ago)

Ironically, on AR one can get away with a cleaning rod made from iron. I had one of those GI kits for years until I managed to squish its brush holder with an ammo can. The reason it works is that on AR you stick the rod in from the breech side, thus preserving the crown. An iron rod damages the crown easily, but it does not wear the lining along the length of the barrel so much.

Russians continue cleaning their weapons from the muzzle even today, and they use iron rods just like we do. They do it by using a centering cap that prevents a contact of the rod with the crown.

That said, of course it's better to use a rod that is softer than the barrel. A plastic or aluminum rod works.

As you already found out, your patch holder has to be small enough.

Before you start dealing with crevice tools, remember that Armalite even had to circulate official warnings against excessive cleaning. They were concerned that cleaning with tools caused damage as people tried to remove carbon build-up. They told to leave alone all the areas where the gas tube meets the carrier. It is only needed to remove the carbon from friction areas, such as cam cutout. Unfortunately, I don't have a link handy, but IIRC it ended with a conclusion that all you need is a brush. Nylon brushes are essentially disposable nowadays.

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[–] Shillhunt42 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I got the Otis AR specific cleaning kit, comes with everything you need for maintaining and cleaning your rifle. Uses cables instead of rods and it comes with the B.O.N.E. tool for scraping and cleaning your BCG.

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[–] zaitcev ago 

I heard from people who had a head of the boresnake separate and become stuck inside. In addition sometimes in the field you need to pound out a stuck case. For these reasons, a sturdy rod is still necessary to keep around, although of course if you have a cable, use that in preference.