I wish I had thought of this one,

Buy a dental pick at the next gun show.
Now bend the tip of the pick into a 7 shape.
Now go buy a box of those cheap (hollow) plastic shaft Q-tips.
Get your scissors out and cut the heads off the Q-tips.
Cool you now have 1000+ lug cleaning swabs for $3 bucks.
Now slide the decapitated Q-tip onto the dental pick and Presto!!
You can now clean behind your locking lugs…
Also works great on the charging handle groves...
Fit’s in the cleaning kit as well…

http://home.attbi.com/~pittrap/pick.jpg
Q&A
Q. I keep stabbing myself with the the pick.
A. Heat (with blowtorch) and bend a small bit of the point back on it’s self.

Q. I’m not allowed to play with fire what now?
A. Slide a piece of shrink tubing over the point.

Q. The Q-tips keep falling off.. it’s driving me nuts!!
A. Calm down… both of the above answers fix that…

Q. I’m not allowed to go to gun shows.
A. You can also find dental picks in craft stores in the clay section.



If this info is helpful maybe you could tack it to the top of this forum.

Most of us use a device specifically designed for this task,
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=1254[/img]
as this saves time and does a much better job...

Ya can get one here: [url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=7&t=108277[/url]

Mike

Please read my post B4 you reply.....

I have a chamber brush and it does not!!!

Clean Behind  (the back side) of the locking lugs, worth a dam...

In my opinion a normal chamber brush tickles the build up on the backside of the lugs.

So please Try this idea B4 you post a negative comment.

You will probably find, like I did a mass of dirt behind the lugs.

please note I am saying as above that this will clean the backside (the engagement surfaces) of the lugs.

[v]I hope the above post is not associated with a company, as it would be an attempt at post hijacking.

I read your post completely, see/saw nothing that would indicate "build-up behind lugs, missed by a chamber brush product" in original post.....

I have no build-up behind my lugs as I use the chamber brush exactly as it was designed to be used and it does a wonderful job, IMO of cleaning behind the lugs.

Sorry ya think I'm bs-ing or hi-jacking your thread, I'm not, just attempting to show a product designed to clean all the chamber/lug surfaces.

Mike  

[img]http://www.tulsafirearms.com/images/cleaning-products/birchwood-casey/gun-scrubber.jpg[/img]

Once again....

Please try it....

For those who don't want to...

Get your own post...

I feel like I'm saying the world is round...

ps.  I thought I to was getting the junk out from behind the lugs. I then took the advice of the person who thought of this and tried it. Hmmm  black Q-tips....

Pss. this is not a nice board to share ideas on so far...

No, it is.  What will happen in a few months you will start seeing people talk about trying it.  The trick to this forum is to post your information then wait.

I think the original post is a great idea.

Using the chamber brush is such a pain in the butt that I never dig it out anymore. I have been taking Q-tips, bending them to about 80 degrees, and running them around in that area. It works, but this idea sounds even better.

Thanks for the tip, ncc1701.

Yea, what AR10 said.  

ncc1701, THANKS for sharing the idea.

NCC,

Like DOOOHOOOOD!!!!
Great idea!
It's kinda field expedient but after using several different tools to do the same job,see where this would work as you posted it.

OH!
Another source for dental picks is at flea markets(Swap meets),and at the local small town hardware stores that sell the things(Made in China) for like a buck....at least around here.

Chin up.
You are 100% correct.
The Military chamber brush,spray solvents,and bent Q-tips will NOT remove deposits from the barrel extension locking surfaces.They might loosen the crud,but not get it out.

Folks that see it as unneccessary might just take a gander at a Sinclair catalog and notice the bolt lug tool sold by them,and then notice that the same or similar lug tools are used by all 4 branches and all the reserve teams match armorers,and are endorsed by the leading black rifle accuracy smith's and shooters.

FACT:
Crud on the extension lugs will wear against bolt lugs,leading to less than square lock up and off center bolt thrust.
Off center bolt thrust will lead to accuracy issues,though to be fair the spray and pray crowd and casual shooters will not notice.

Been using a lug tool on rifles since the mid 80's.
Back then it was a hand made job machined from aluminum stock and used the gauze rolls the dentist shoves in your cheek.

Currently use either a midway tool(CHEAP and WORKS!) or the Sinclair depending upon application.

The dedicated tools will cost more than your brilliant dental device,but do a quicker job of it.However I may just end up using the idea when in a fix some day....
Thanks for the "Kink",and I will pass it along to some friends.

Hang in there.
It's appreciated!

S-28

Interesting idea.

My first step is always the chamber brush.  However, I’ve always felt that while it does loosen up the crud, it just moves it around.

I typically then use a .45 patch on a slotted loop to try to clean that area out, but it’s hard to apply pressure in the right direction!

This sounds worth a try!!  Thanks.

Good idea. I'll try it. I usually used cloth patches wrapped (think "twirled" like you'd do w/ spaghetti on a fork) around the tips of dental picks for all sorts of cleaing. I've also ground the tips of picks w/ a dremel so they don't scratch

Simple.  Inexpensive.

I like it.

Hoppy

 I like it, too!

I just tried it and it works!

I rarely use the chamber brush.  Your idea sounds good.  I do something similar but with bent pipe cleaners.  yer idea will be more solid.  Coooooool!  Chamber brush just moves material around and can spray it everwhere.  If you have a Chrome C&B I think the chamber B. is overkill.  I molded a toothbrush like the dental pick and use this to loosen the crud on the lugs and within it.......then I'll go with your method for cleanup!

Well I just got My AR two days ago. I like the idea and will use it. I was useing Q-tips after I brushed the area any way.

Had to study the original pic a few times, but NOW I SEE.  Great idea, cheap, easy to use. Works for me!

I tried it, I likes and it works good.

Now I have "Assault" Q-Tips.[:D]

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for telling us.

A chamber brush just kind of smears the crud arround. I had to wrap strips of cloth arround a chamber brush, attach it to a drill and run at low speed to clean all the fouling out. It ruins a chamber brush and cost me $1.50 every time.

Very cool, you guys are saving me money already.

Try a 12 gauge bore brush to loosen the stuff, and then the 12 gauge bore swab to dry up the solvent.  Just stick the tip in and rotate it.

Great idea ncc1701. I improvised your idea a little and it worked great for me. I used a hemostat with the curved nose and Q-tips with the hollow plastic stem. The hemos can be opened and the tip of one of the jaws inserted into the hollow shaft and you can lock the thing shut so you have no shifting/movement to the Q-tip head. Works great!!

Shabo

That's like a fine pair of needle nose pliars that lock and are curved on the end?

How is it for angles with the finger loops.. i.e. do they get in the way? when trying to rotate.

Yea they look like that. You can find them in electonics stores or medical supply houses. Radio shack may have them. With the lockable jaws I am able to get whatever angle I need to clean behind the barrel extension. I have to take the one jaw out of the hollow shaft and reclamp near where I cut the shaft to get to the upper left portion of the extension.

Great idea made better with the hemos. Much cheaper than the lug tools also. Thanks again for the post.

Shabo

I love Q-tips.  I was just thinking yesterday (before reading this thread) that maybe there is a different (? better) way to clean the back-side of the lugs.  Don't worry about naysayers.  Give out your advice and people will do what they want.  That's what the board is for.  Nice job with the pics btw.

Ask your dentist for old tools.

My buddies mom is a dental hygienist, she keeps us well stocked [:)]

Agree the metal picks work the best to remove "crud" from the locking lugs etc.

Addtionally fFor areas which you do not wish to scratch with metal due to finish etc. there are plastic picks for sale (do not last as long nor work as well, so you really need both).

[url=http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/778870]Tipton Scratch-Free Gun Cleaning Picks from Midway[/url]