The first reason to buy a gun cleaning kit is that your gun can be your best friend in a survival situation. Whether it is a great caliber rifle, a barrel, a shotgun, or a beretta pistol, you should take good care about their condition. To help you learn how to do it withoud danger to yourself and your gun, learn what tools you should have, and what you should avoid, we have created this article.
Introduction
Secondly, using your firearms with no proper maintenance is just unreasonable and irresponsible. Because being a gun owner is not only about owning guns. It’s also and foremost about caring about guns:
- keeping them safely locked, away from children and strangers;
- having ammo stock full;
- and keeping firearms clean at all times.
Because if you don’t take care of your gun, your gun may not take care of you when you need it most. Yes, it is always about being fully prepared. A clean and properly maintained gun will never let you down and is always ready to shoot and hit the target. So our recommendation is to clean your firearms always, even during mere shooting practice, and even if you are not using them too often. If your guns are locked in a gun safe, you should also check on them and clean them from time to time.
But again, if you are an experienced gun enthusiast, you know all that. So we believe that at least the first half of our article is mostly for those new to guns and gun maintenance. But the final section may be of much interest to anyone owning guns since we will list the top ten gun cleaning kits you may want to buy.
The Top Ten Gun Cleaning Kits
design, sets of additional items, and prices divided into three separate categories.
Universal kits
1 – Universal Gun Cleaning Kit by Gloryfire
This kit comes packed in a solid carrying case, so you can take it anywhere you want, being able to clean your firearms at all times.
The kit includes an impressive assortment of brass rods for pistol & rifle/shotgun cleaning, muzzle guards, brushes & patch loops, cloth for exterior polishing & component adapters.
These settings provide versatility and excellent cleaning quality.
2 – DAC Winchester Universal Kit
- Cleaning rods & brushes;
- Cleaners and lubricants;
- Wipes & swabs.
The bad news is when we last checked, this gun kit was out of stock.
3 – Otis Elite Cleaning System with Optics Cleaning Gear
This is one of the most generous kits with gun maintenance supplies that pack almost everything you can think of when looking for a fully versatile kit. Otis Elit Gear includes a full set of gun cleaning items plus optics cleaning gear.
4 – Otis Tactical System for Pistol, Rifle & Shotgun Cleaning
This cleaning kit has a smaller assortment than it’s bigger brother above but works just fine as a portable set of firearm cleaning supplies. A customer will surely find this kit’s settings appealing.
5 – Hoppe’s Elite Gun Care On The Go Kit
6 – Real Avid Gun Boss Pro Universal Kit
Unfortunately, this kit is also out of stock. But you can always visit the manufacturer’s website to buy the kit from them directly.
- Before we continue, we would like to remind you that our top kits list is just a recommendation you can refer to while doing your own research. So don’t just take our word for it. We encourage you to check customer reviews, compare prices and item assortment. Don’t hesitate to address manufacturers for more details on their products. Remember that there are many options, and they are not limited to only ten titles that we chose.
Gun Cleaning Kits for Rifles & Shotguns
7 – Freetime Upgraded Kit
This kit packs supplies fit for all types of rifles and shotguns. As an addition, you can even clean pistols using the items from this set. Freetime Upgraded Kit comes in a smartly organized solid plastic case. It’s not too big in size, so it will not take up too much space in your firearm storage or the back of your car.
Our point is that this kit may well be a great combination of price and quality. Plus, it is versatile and portable. It seems like it has everything you may be looking for in a gun cleaning kit to keep your arsenal in perfect firing condition.
Handgun Cleaning Kits
However, not everyone is an avid hunter or an owner of a large arsenal. Many people just own pistols and revolvers and have no need for large gun cleaning kits loaded with numerous items. A regular customer would look for something smaller and at a lower price.
This section of our top cleaning kits guide will show you the best kits for handguns.
8 – Hoppe’s Elite Zombie Assault Pistol Gear
A zombie apocalypse may well be just a work of fiction, but should this fantastically frightening thing ever happen, you will want to have your handgun ready for action at a moment’s notice. So you must have your handgun in perfect firing condition.
Hoppe’s Elite Zombie Assault gear will let you have your handgun clean at all times. The cleaning supplies include basic items such as cleaning solvent, gun lubricant, a utility brush, and bore snakes. Thanks to its small size, you can carry this gear with you anywhere—an excellent choice for the price.
9 – Real Avid Gun Boss Gear
Make sure to watch the video below for more details on the product:
10 – Realtree Pistol Cleaning Kit
Read through our broad survival and prepping guide and be ready for absolutely anything! Discover the first-class survival gear you can buy online, and the most important survival skills you , as a real prepper, true homesteader, and keen survivalist, must have and develop only build up!
The Basics of Firearm Cleaning
Well, because this lets your guns stay rust-free and function properly. A clean gun is also a safe gun. Surely, you’ve seen it enough in action movies when a dirt-clogged pistol barrel explodes, blowing a gunner’s head off. And while in real life, a badly maintained gun will less likely do just the same, it is still unsafe to use an uncleaned firearm.
That is why it is so important to have high-quality gun cleaning equipment to maintain your firearms and know how to do it in the first place. Below is the step-by-step instruction on cleaning a gun that you must know as a firearm owner.
Step One: Make Sure Your Gun is UNLOADED!
When proceeding with cleaning a gun, you want to make sure it will not go off right into your face. So unload it before you start the procedure.
To unload the gun, extract the magazine and cock the gun several times to be completely sure there is no round in the chamber left. When you’re through with it, we advise you to double-check the chamber again.
Step Two: Dismantle a Firearm
Another thing gun cleaning is good for us that it gets you familiar with how your firearm is designed. Taking apart your pistol, rifle, shotgun, or whatever firearm you use and assembling it is a good practice. So don’t neglect it.
To dismantle a pistol, you will need to take apart its basic parts. They are a barrel, a magazine, a frame, a slide, and a guide rod.
Usually, field stripping is not required for basic gun maintenance. Although when you field-strip a firearm, you get to know more about how it works. So our recommendation is to learn how to do it, just in case.
Step Three: Make Yourself a Comfortable Workspace
When cleaning a gun, you may mess up your home interiors with oil. So before proceeding with the task, arrange yourself a comfortable cleaning spot. You may use a piece of cardboard or old newspapers to cover your desk.
Another thing to remember is proper ventilation. Chemical cleaners that are used to clean firearms may cause dizziness and nausea, so make sure your room is ventilated.
Step Four: Clean the Barrel
Use cleaning patches to clean the gun’s barrel. To do it, dip a patch into a gun cleaning solvent and then use a cleaning rod to drive it through the barrel. Our recommendation is to start at the back of the barrel and move towards its front side end. When the cleaning patch appears out of the gun’s muzzle, take it off the rod and pull it back.
Step Five: Interchange Cleaning Patches with Brushes
You may want to use cleaning brushes to replace patches during the process. It will help to increase the quality of cleaning. Brushes will let you remove more dirt from the barrel.
Step Six: Lubricate the Barrel
Gun barrels also need to be lubed up. Once you’ve cleaned your firearm’s barrel with cleaning swabs and brushes, you may proceed with lubricating it. Use cotton patches for this.
Take a cotton swab and soak it with gun oil. And then, using a cleaning rod, drive it through the barrel. Note that the lubricant lawyer must be ever thin, so don’t try too hard.
Step Seven: Clean and Lubricate the Action
Utility brushes are universal cleaning tools. So you may as well use them to clean pistols, rifles, and any other type of firearms.
With a cleaning solvent, brush all elements of the action and then dry them with paper towels. After that, proceed with lubrication. Again, remember to put a thin layer of lubricant.
Step Eight: Assemble the Firearm and Wipe It on the Outside
When your gun is reassembled, use a piece of cloth to polish it clean. Try your best because you will want your gun to look just as good as new.
Watch the video below on how to clean a rifle properly.
Remember to clean your firearms after each use. This is especially important if you’ve been using it heavily on the shooting range. When fire lots of rounds, a lot of debris builds up on the inside of a gun’s barrel, which can cause lots of problems over time. So be responsible and provide your firearms with proper treatment.
And to do it, you will need high-quality gun cleaning gear. There is a lot of gun cleaning kits out there. So choosing the right one may become quite difficult. Read on, and you will learn a few tips on how to choose gun cleaning supplies. We will then move on to our top picks of the best gun cleaning kits on the market.
Choosing a Gun Cleaning Kit
But here’s the good news: you can find yourself a convenient and high-quality gun cleaning kit to keep your firearms clean at all times. And you can find one for a reasonable price as well. Check out these tips.
Tip One: Is It Portable?
When it comes to choosing a proper gun cleaning kit, portability is one of the main features. Since you don’t just keep your guns locked at your home gun safe, you may want to have a possibility to clean them anywhere outside your house – during a hunt or out on the firing range. Let alone, if we’re speaking about a survival situation when you most likely will have to change places a lot. So we guess you may want to look for a cleaning kit with a carrying case to go with it.
Also, you may want your cleaning kit to be not too big and heavy. But at the same time, you don’t want to compromise the quality and versatility of it. And the latter is our next point.
Tip Two: Can It Clean Various Gun Calibers?
Versatility is another key feature of a high-quality gun cleaning kit. Maybe you already have a vast home arsenal or are thinking of expanding it in the nearest future. So you must be sure that all of your firearms of different calibers will stay in perfect condition.
Sadly, not every kit fits for cleaning pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Each firearm type requires a certain type of kit. And you can’t clean firearms of different calibers and types using the same set of cleaning tools, or can you?
The answer is, you can. But it takes a cleaning kit with a universal set of tools. So if you have more than one type of weapon, look for a versatile kit. More details on that later.
Tip Three: Is It Built to Last?
In other words, you should not neglect quality. Your kit may be versatile and portable but is it any good if the cleaning tools in it are of poor quality? If you’re using a cheaper cleaning kit at home, you can easily replace a broken tool. But there may be a variety of cases when you don’t have such a possibility. So the quality and reliability are of great importance. Don’t take chances to save a couple of bucks buying a cheaper type of gun cleaning kit. Our recommendation is to always go for as much quality as your wallet can let you afford.
So before we move on with our top picks of the best gun cleaning kits on the market, let’s make a summary of what an ideal gun maintenance kit must be:
- It must be portable. Not too big and not too heavy.
- It must be versatile and fit for at least two different gun calibers;
- It must contain cleaning tools of the best quality possible.
And here are the basic items that your kit must have:
- A brass cleaning rod;
- Gun oil or any other lubricant;
- Cleaning solvent;
- Utility brushes;
- Bore brushes or a bore snake;
- Cleaning patches & cotton swabs;
- A nylon cleaning brush.
That is very important: if the kit you’re offered lacks ANY of the aforementioned items, you should not buy it even if the price seems too tempting. To keep your firearms in working condition, you must buy a kit that has a complete basic set of cleaning items listed above.
Best Gun Cleaning Kit Summary
Our recommendation is to look for a high-quality gun cleaning kit. And while the price is important, don’t narrow your choice down to cheaper options. Lower-quality cleaning kits are not reliable and will eventually fail you when you least expect it.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ
What Comes in a Gun Cleaning Kit?
All sets of firearm cleaning supplies, despite their prices, sizes, and other extra features, must always include a basic assortment of supplies such as cleaning rods, cleaners & lubricants, utility brushes, bore brushes, cleaning patches & cotton swabs, a nylon cleaning brush.
Are All Gun Cleaning Kits Universal?
There are different gun cleaning kits for different gun calibers and gun types. These cleaning kits vary in packaging solutions, numbers of items, and prices. When looking for a kit, a customer should consider a caliber and type of a firearm. Or a customer can choose a set of versatile cleaning equipment that will work great for most firearm types and calibers. Of course, the bigger the kit is, the higher its price. So if you want to get yourself an ultimate firearm maintenance kit, be prepared to spend some extra money.
What are the Best Gun Cleaning Kits?
Several brands produce the most reliable and popular gun cleaning kits in the market. Among those brands are Real Avid, Otis, and Hoppe’s, to name a few. So it is no surprise that some of the best cleaning kits belong to these brands. These kits include:
- Real Avid’s Gun Boss Pro Universal Kit;
- Otis’s Elit Cleaning System;
- Hoppe’s Elit Zombie Assault Pistol Cleaning Gear.
What is the Best Gun Cleaning Kit For a 9mm?
According to online customer reviews, the best of all 9mm gun cleaning kits on the market is а Pro Handgun Cleaning Kit by Real Avid. It is a high-quality 13-item set in a durable plastic case and is perfect in portability—a great combination of quality and price.
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