Posted: 11/25/2005 1:51:10 PM EDT
| OK, convince me to either buy one or not. I'm religious about cleaning my guns and use coated rods and occaisionally pull throughs, but have never tried an Otis kit. What's all the hype about - are they worth it? |
| they are good for field kits. frankly they do about the same as a boresnake. they are useless if you actually need a rod. I have one and used to use it a good bit. after the novelty wore off i went back to a rod. it was just easier. for the field they are nice to have. |
|
Like posted above, they're good for field cleaning. I use a boresnake someone gave me as a present for my O/U after a round of clays. I use it in case I don't go home right away and can't detail strip it clean. Only after a detail cleaning can it go back into the safe, ready to go 'bang' the next time out. -mac |
|
I have to disagree with TBS. The Otis kits, especially the ones designed for .17 through 12 gauge, seem to work very well for me for all applications, including cleaning at home. They are simply the “pull-through” concept with materials designed to avoid any damage to the bore. They have the obvious advantage of being able to clean any firearm from the breech to the bore, and thus avoiding the pitfalls of crown damage on rifles that are impossible to clean from the breech with a rod (e.g., M1A, Garand, Mini-14, any revolver). Also, due to the nature of cleaning with a rod, the cleaner is constantly forced to confront the following situation: when I push the rod through in a bolt action rifle or other breech-accessible rifle, I am faced with either pulling the rod back through the rifle bore with the brush, or, taking the brush off, retracting the rod, reattaching the brush, then pushing the brush back through. Using a pull-though system, I can have achieved the same in the time it took to read the preceding sentence. Personally, I have abandoned my Dewey rods for the Otis system, and have almost no reason to use a rod at all. What am I trying to push that I can not pull during normal cleaning? That is not to say that the Otis system is perfect. Cleaning .22 caliber revolvers is a PIA due to the short length of the action and the length of the brushes. Also, the system seems to work better using the .17 caliber loop and “rod” rather than the .22 (it’s a bit tight, otherwise). Also, the system forces you to use larger patches, and I regularly use 3” patches to clean large caliber rifles. You can flip the patches around to use them twice, but the “6 uses/patch” claim by Otis is, well, not recommended by me. Anyway, I like the Otis system and use it almost exclusively. |
|
I actually use both types of cleaning kits. The Otis kit is great to run through the bore before going to the range. I usally coat my bores with CLP when I clean them, so wiping them out before shooting is a good idea. Due to the flexible cable in the Otis kit, you can clean the bore of an AR by simply opening the bolt. You don't have to knock out the takedown pins. When I finish shooting at the range, I again use my Otis kit to run through the bore. This gets all the residue out while the weapon is still warm (sort of like washing off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher). When I get home, the bore is much cleaner to start with. For bench cleaning, I use a conventional Dewey rod with patches. However, my "last pass" in cleaning is to run the Otis cable through one last time to make sure everything is clean. Good luck. |