Decided to try out the universal gun cleaning kit I got for Christmas.

Not QUITE everything went wrong. I didn't have little tiny pieces go flying through the air, get lost, and cost me fifty bucks to replace. Everything else, on the other hand?

I spent ten minutes trying to figure out which tiny little brass attachment would allow me just to stick the frigging handle onto the cleaning rod. No instructions or explanation of what piece did what, just a list of what caliber brushes were available. I immediately noticed that there was no oil (a bottle of which I got as an additional gift) and no powder solvent, which I had to borrow from one of my dad's cleaning kits.

Disassembled my WASR-10 and went to work. .30-cal brush immediately refused to go into the bore, so I pulled it back out. Eeeeeexcept it remained where it was. Lovely. Ten seconds into using my new cleaning rod, and it's stuck in the gun. It eventually became unjammed when I removed the rod, fiddled to keep the brass attachment bit attached to give it enough length for me to pull out with a pair of pliers.

Okay, yo know what? Screw it. I removed the cleaning rod from the AK and flipped it upside down to remove the kit from the buttstock. Here's where I really began getting pissed off; my thumb doesn't even fit in the hole. But of course, the moment I push the little trap door open, my thumb shoots in and gets stuck between the door and the cleaning kit inside, effectively trapping it. Disgusted, I reach for the screwdriver and remove the buttplate from the rifle and free my hand before I lose the rest of the feeling in my thumb.

Okay, back to business. I successfully cleaned out the bore but in the process noticed that my cleaning kit was missing another vital component- a rod attachment so I could use patches. It included patches, but no way to use them. Brilliant. I continued to use the cleaning kit included with my AK clone and- is that what I think it is? Oh, lovely. These cleaning patches leave cotton fibers the entire length of the bore and all over the rod. Joy.

In any case, I finally get the rest of the gun cleaned and oiled and it's time for reassembly. I've disassembled and reassembled my AK so many times that I can literally do it blind-folded. Except wouldn't you know it, I can't get the frigging thing to go together. For some inexplicable reason, the bolt/bolt-carrier is getting caught on the internals and not going into place. I spent ten minutes trying to get the thing to go back together with no luck. Eventually, it randomly just slid together the way it was supposed to in the first place. Okay... Finish assembling the gun, spend another three minutes trying to get the receiver cover to go back and end up having trouble with THAT too.

Then I stared at the rest of the cleaning kit and my other guns, which are much more difficult to clean than the WASR-10. Screw this. I grabbed a soda and sat down to watch Mythbusters. Kari dancing around in a bikini improved my mood somewhat.

Ridiculous. What SHOULD have been a relaxing time cleaning my guns absolutely SUCKED. I'm not going to openly complain about the cleaning kit since it was a gift from my parents, but it sucks. And then the entire experience sucked because things kept inexplicably going wrong for no reason whatsoever. To think, I typically enjoy cleaning guns and the entire time is ruined.

Welcome to my world. Cept i was hung in a chamber for an hour.

Was that the OTIS cleaning system? The one that everything pretty much fits into a CD case looking thing?

If so, I got the same one for Christmas, but I haven't tried it out yet.

I love my Dewey and parker hale jag, however even after 6 months I still don't quite understand how to use the jag properly

I like the 2 piece bore snakes from Knockout (I think) - I rarely use the brush one though.

Quoted: Was that the OTIS cleaning system? The one that everything pretty much fits into a CD case looking thing? If so, I got the same one for Christmas, but I haven't tried it out yet.

No, it came in a wooden box that actually looks pretty cool.

Ummm...it's a cleaning kit.  It's not rocket science.  






(the part about getting your thumb stuck reminded me of a Ronman post)
honestly, I've used the Otis kit before, and you're right--it does leave a lot to be desired and it doesn't come with instructions....it's a matter of trial and error seeing which parts fit.



( I guess I'm challenged too)

Sounds like you should have posted this here:

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=532203

Quoted: I love my Dewey and parker hale jag, however even after 6 months I still don't quite understand how to use the jag properly

I know it looks like a sex toy for hamsters, but once you work it out it's very effective.

The trick is to find a patch that fits correctly or cut them to fit.  Even the patch brand makes a difference as the fit of a PH jag is so close to the bore that the thickness of the patch can throw you off.  Lay the patch on the tips of your fingers and put one corner at the center of the jag.  Roll the rod to pick up the patch using your thumb to curl it over for the first turn.  As you insert the rod into the guide, give it a twirl to keep the patch on the jag.

I got one of those cheap china or taiwant built universal cleaning kits that comes in what looks like a mini-breifcase in stainless steel.  They seem to sell them everywhere.  It's actually worked quite well for me, though I really don't have enough calibers to try a lot of the stuff out.  A week after I bought it was Christmas and my father got this cool percision tool set, and it was in PRECISELY the same mini-briefcase in stainless steel.  Only differance was the insert in the case accomodated his doodads instead of the doodads that came with my gun cleaning kit.

It even came with a .17 brush and a 270 brush, and didn't expect either of those.  Didn't have a 10ga though.

It says DAC Gunmaster on it.  The company actually sells two kits that sound like the one you're describing, though I can't see a whole lot of differance in the type of components between the sets.

www.dactec.com/store/items.tpl?cart=11676441785746&gunCategory=kitsrods&category=Kits%20and%20Rod%20Sets&startat=1

I bought this one...
www.dactec.com/store/detail.tpl?cart=11676441785746&sku=UGC_76C&itemCategory=kitsrods

EDIT: Even though the kits serves my purposes fine I still want a set of boresnakes to put in my small range bag.

Quoted: Was that the OTIS cleaning system? The one that everything pretty much fits into a CD case looking thing? If so, I got the same one for Christmas, but I haven't tried it out yet.

That thing is worthless IMHO...

Get a nice dewey rod, brushes, jags, a high performance solvent like Montanna Extreme, and decent oil...I like Eezox.

boresnake + copper remover + brake clean = happy gaspain

Quoted: I got one of those cheap china or taiwant built universal cleaning kits that comes in what looks like a mini-breifcase in stainless steel.  They seem to sell them everywhere.  It's actually worked quite well for me, though I really don't have enough calibers to try a lot of the stuff out.  A week after I bought it was Christmas and my father got this cool percision tool set, and it was in PRECISELY the same mini-briefcase in stainless steel.  Only differance was the insert in the case accomodated his doodads instead of the doodads that came with my gun cleaning kit. It even came with a .17 brush and a 270 brush, and didn't expect either of those.  Didn't have a 10ga though. It says DAC Gunmaster on it.  The company actually sells two kits that sound like the one you're describing, though I can't see a whole lot of differance in the type of components between the sets. www.dactec.com/store/items.tpl?cart=11676441785746&gunCategory=kitsrods&category=Kits%20and%20Rod%20Sets&startat=1 I bought this one... www.dactec.com/store/detail.tpl?cart=11676441785746&sku=UGC_76C&itemCategory=kitsrods EDIT: Even though the kits serves my purposes fine I still want a set of boresnakes to put in my small range bag.

DAC Gunmaster, that's the one.

I have the same thing.  It was a bitch to clean all my guns at once, so I went out and bought 2 bore snakes.  I use those and gun scrubber, and I get them clean in a couple minutes.

otis is ok and boresnake too

I helped two friends clean their rifles (a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .308 and a Springfield Model 1898 in .30-40 Krag; yes, I'm jealous.) last fall and thoroughly enjoyed it. Did it with a cheap .30-cal cleaning kit from Wal-Mart. Comparing it to the universal kit I got for Christmas, it had MUCH better patches, had the jag so you could actually use the patches, came with bore cleaner and oil (parents got me Rem-Oil though, so it's cool), and the .30-cal brush actually fit into a fricking .30-cal bore. And I didn't need to fiddle with little bits and pieces to figure out which one would let me attach a handle to the cleaning rod.

I think once I have the cash, I'll pick up the cheap Wal-Mart kit and use it instead. My universal one should have some uses, but I'll go with the set I KNOW works.

Go OTIS and be done with it.