When headed out for a day or weekend of shooting, keeping your guns up and running can mean the difference between creating enjoyable memories or sheer frustration. No one wants to get to their favorite range and spend more time clearing jams than pulling the trigger. Here are a few tricks and a look at a gun cleaning kit to help keep you shooting.
Pre-Range Check
Before heading out, make sure everything is clean and functioning properly. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is worth mentioning up front. You will be shooting a lot of rounds and introducing a lot of grime into the system. A clean system will run well for a much longer period of time than one with already is gunked up from prior range sessions.
Cleaning
The frequency of cleaning while in the field or at the range is largely dependent on how much shooting you are doing. If you fire 50 rounds through your Glock 19, just wait until you get back home. If, on the other hand, you are putting 2,500 rounds of cheap ammo through your gun over the course of a weekend, cleaning it during some downtime makes a very good idea.
You want to have a very good portable cleaning kit with you to make the job easy. I’ve got a lot of cleaning tools at home, but I carry a small kit that covers the basics when I head out to do some shooting.
Squeeg-E Gun Cleaning Kit
A tool to clear and clean the bore is important, but a long rifle rod is simply not reasonable. For this reason, I like the pull-through systems like the one included by Remington. This gun cleaning kit has a flexible, lightweight cable that allows you to snap various brushes to the end so you can clean most major calibers including .223, .308, 9mm, and .45. To go with the pull-through system, the kit also includes a compact 6” pistol rod for working shorter barrels.
If you are shooting an AR – especially with dirty ammunition – cleaning can be critical when doing volume shooting. Included with the Remington kit are a bronze gas tube brush, carbon scraper, and a carbon pick. These can help keep the gas system running smoothly.
Other cleaning tools are included in this gun cleaning kit, such as lubricating oil, a nylon brush, and a brass punch. The entire package is then included in a zippered case that can slip easily into one of the pockets of your backpack or range bag.