View Full Version : New/First House...Need Gun Stuff
I just bought my first real house! My wife owned a townhouse when we got married, so I moved in there and have lived there since college, but now I have a garage, yard, bonus room (read: room for guns/gun stuff). Now that I have a place to keep my stuff, I need some. Here's the deal, I work at a Gun Shop part-time for ammo money, and so any cleaning/maintenance I have done in the past was either on the shop bench or with my crappy steel rod 3pc universal cleaning kit on the living room floor.
Weapons I'll need to clean:
AR
.308 Remington Bolt gun (Precision)
12GA shotgun
.410 shotgun
.22lr
9mm Glock
1911 45ACP
Let's pretend I know absolutely nothing about gun cleaning/maintenance. If you were starting from scratch, what would you get? Do you go the OTIS route? Just buy a nice Dewey rod and a bunch of brushes?
Also, now that I'm done saving for my house, I want to take some formal training. It seems like a good idea to take some cleaning/maintenance stuff with me to a class/competition. Is there a smaller field kit, or do you take the good stuff with you from home?
I'm concerned about using the segmented rod in any of my guns, but especially the Remington.
What's the goods? Thanks guys and great site (7 year ARFCOMMER)
I use only coated rods the correct length/size for the barrel along with a pointed jag properly sized for the bore, and I buy good gear from Midway such as Dewey but there are several who make nice rods and jags for gun cleaning. I use an action cleaner spray sometimes on actions and wipe them off. Then I work on the barrel and cylinders gently with bronze brushes if necessary (but often isn't) and then use a pretty potent cleaner. Sweet's or something like it. For lube I use Tetra or Slip EWL. I never oil the barrel unless I am storing it, but I live in Colorado where things don't rust unless they get wet. For shotguns I use an Outer's Tico Tool mop which is just amazing at removing plastic residue. At least as important at picking a good lube is knowing the places to apply it.
If you don't have one, buy a decent safe for your collection.
That's my 2 cents.
Various caliber BoreSnakes, old tooth brushes and FP10
First off, you'll need a proper MAN CAVE to do your gun stuff. I'd set aside an area in the garage or the den or something, so that you won't ever have to clean guns on the living room floor again ;)
My old standbys are: Eezox, Kroil, Ballistol, foaming bore cleaner, Mobil 1, and grease.
Whatever you do, claim a room and fill it with your stuff as quickly as possible. Once it is a firmly established fact that it is your room to do with as you please, set it up however you want. If you leave an unused room unclaimed or unused long enough, it will end up being a "sitting room" or a "formal living room" or some other made-up nonsense.
More on topic... I like bore snakes, I like the Otis system, I like rods and jags... As long as you use them properly you'll be just fine. I have bore snakes in .22 and .30 since they will clean most of my guns, an Otis that came with one of my guns that I only use on that gun, and a 'traditional' rod that I use for everything else since it's the most adaptable.
Bore Snake seems like a good way to go for semi-auto .22's to avoid cleaning from muzzle end, but I've heard that they're only good for one pass, otherwise you're just dragging the dirt back through the bore. True?
Any more thoughts? What about safes? Best for $500 or less? I read the article on the benchrest site, but $2500 + for a safe just isn't going to happen. Whatever I get will be bolted to the slab.
Any more thoughts? What about safes? Best for $500 or less? I read the article on the benchrest site, but $2500 + for a safe just isn't going to happen. Whatever I get will be bolted to the slab.
Frankly, nothing under $500 is going to be secure against much. The inexpensive gun "safes" on the market are thin gauge steel walls with a formidable looking door that can be broken into with an axe. A gun cabinet will save you a lot of money and have the same functionality as one of these safes--keeping your neighbors honest.
Check out the Gun Safe Buyers' Guide (http://www.6mmbr.com/gunsafes.html) on 6mmbr.com. It's the best no-BS safe information I've found all in one place. Boiled down: you want as much steel as you can afford primarily and after that you want over 500lbs empty weight, bolted to the ground, and external hinges. Also keeping it away from things like power tools and pry bars could save your butt a little.
Do Not Buy a Cheap Chinese Safe! Think about what you're protecting. Spend at least a grand and probably twice that for a good safe. Just spin the dial on a real safe VS the cheap ones and you should quickly be able to tell what poor quality they are. One AR/SBR with an optic, sling, redimod, X300 is over. $2K multiply that times all of your guns and buying a cheap safe quickly becomes a very bad idea.
If you buy the right kind of safe.it can be the crown jewel in your man room. The paint on some of those babies is freaking awesome. Also buy a safe you can grow into. Look around for a used high quality safe.
arbninftry
11-08-10, 09:57
Every Man/Gun room needs a good reloader and a gun safe too. If you are going to do it, do it right the first time. Those two items will save you in the long run. You can always put a TV and a couch in there as well. They come in handy sometimes.:big_boss:
Militant83
11-23-10, 17:57
I'm gonna second a good gun safe. I have a collapsible table like you use for cookouts and yard sales or get you a good work bench. I use a craftsmen 3 drawer top chest to store cleaning tool and various other gun related tools. There are various type of gun maintenance stands that you can get as well. And I use the otis cleaning kit, but mainly because i got one issued for free.
Cheap safes are better than nothing, but they're cheap. You might be better off claiming a closet instead. Put a solid door and deadbolt on the closet door and keep it low-key. Any BG determined enough to bust through the drywall or door frame will rip open a cheap gun safe just as quickly.
First off, you'll need a proper MAN CAVE to do your gun stuff. I'd set aside an area in the garage or the den or something, so that you won't ever have to clean guns on the living room floor again ;)
My old standbys are: Eezox, Kroil, Ballistol, foaming bore cleaner, Mobil 1, and grease.
Or the dining room table. Your wife probably won't appreciate the cloudy spots bore cleaner makes on the finish. Trust me on this.
i love bore snakes for handguns. For rifles, (especially hunting rifles or anything you'd consider "precision") a good one piece steel cleaning rod is the way to go. For AR's and AK's with chromed bores a bore snake is a good way to go though.
if there's any gear at work that you find makes working on your guns easier, i'd pick that up too. You probably get a nice discount on accessories there right?
aspiderfreak
11-29-10, 17:29
Whatever you do, claim a room and fill it with your stuff as quickly as possible. Once it is a firmly established fact that it is your room to do with as you please, set it up however you want. If you leave an unused room unclaimed or unused long enough, it will end up being a "sitting room" or a "formal living room" or some other made-up nonsense.
:D QFT!
For safes, if you decide to save for a high quality one, take a peek at the Pendleton safes. It's what I'm saving for.
http://www.pendletonsafes.com/
I've not seen one in person but I like the idea of the Pendelton.
Otis all the way, I love their field kit. Also use Hoppes oil wise never go wrong.
goneballistic
01-27-11, 01:16
I'd get bore snakes for most of those and call it good. maybe a good coated rod for the rifles.
I own all of them including the otis system. That thing is cool looking and seemed like a good thing to throw in the bad but it's a huge PITA to use. tips unscrew, threading it down bores etc. it's OK but not easy to do.
bore snakes basically do the same thing a lot easier. some good gun cleaner, lubricant, bore snakes and maybe the coated rod and you're good.
That Pendleton safe is pretty cool - like a lazy susan of gun safes. I went the more conventional route however and picked up a Liberty Franklin. Decent price, and its really aesthetically pleasing - its a great center piece for my man-room.
The longer I have been shooting, the less I find a need to be anally retentive about cleaning; if I owned your weapons, what I would do is as follows:
AR15 -- For a carbine, keep it wet with lube; spend 15 min cleaning every 5000 rds or so.
.308 Remington Bolt gun (Precision) -- Get a good Dewey rod, bore guide, proper tip, and patches; clean it after every practice session.
12ga shotgun & .410 shotgun -- They're shotguns, wipe em down and run a swab through them occasionally.
.22lr -- It's a .22, clean it if you want.
9mm Glock -- They need to be cleaned??? Seriously, while I keep a duty/carry Glock fairly clean, the training ones go many thousands of rounds without cleaning.
1911 45ACP -- Keep them lubed; strip them and quickly clean them every 1500-2500 rounds or so.
I would get a nice work bench, table vise, and a craftsman tool box for storing jags, patches, etc..
Me personally I really like the Tipton carbon fiber cleaning rods. I used the J.Dewey cleaning rods before and I just don't like the extra flex it has when going down a bore. As for the Otis kit... I used it ever since it came out and was impressed but now I freaking hate it! It's a good field/emergency kit but not an kit I would use to clean my firearms after the range.
As for a safe... There is so many options... I been researching so many safes my brain is ready to explode!!! You have to look at warranty, cost, fire rating, and value of your guns. Is it worth the money to spend 9000 on a safe to store a couple of 10/22's and other guns that you can easily replace. Expensive safes do nothing but give you credit on this forum just to say that you have one. What you want a safe to do is to prevent a lock out (most common situation), deter a thief, keep the kids out, be able to hold inside temp if your house catches fire, and the one that everyone ignores.... WATER.... There is no way you can avoid it because most safe companies don't build them to stop water. You might question why water? Cause if your house ever catches fire and your safe is in a basement or near the fire source the fire department will spray tens and thousands of gallons of water onto that nice shiny 9000 safe. So my word of advice to you, is to make sure that you have good home owners insurance to COVER all your guns. Get a decent safe to your liking that will keep thieves, kids, raccons, donkeys, and all of the above out of your toys.
Unless you spend huge money fire rated safes are a waste they don't protect long enough for the length/temperature a house fire is likely to produce. I don't think anyone is trying to impress you with their safes. The first reason I have a safe is to protect my guns from unauthorized hands the second is protection against theft. I agree if you have a few $100 guns get some gun locks. If you have a significant collection then protect it as You see fit. I have a lower end AmSec safe. I wish I had a more substantial safe and will some day. Its all about your comfort level and priorities.
At home I use coated rods. For my range bag I have a OTIS kit. Both get the job done.
Jay Cunningham
02-21-11, 23:10
Let's pretend I know absolutely nothing about gun cleaning/maintenance. If you were starting from scratch, what would you get? Do you go the OTIS route? Just buy a nice Dewey rod and a bunch of brushes?
Also, now that I'm done saving for my house, I want to take some formal training. It seems like a good idea to take some cleaning/maintenance stuff with me to a class/competition. Is there a smaller field kit, or do you take the good stuff with you from home?
I'm concerned about using the segmented rod in any of my guns, but especially the Remington.
What's the goods? Thanks guys and great site (7 year ARFCOMMER)
Check and see if there's an NRA Basic Pistol class in your area - they are usually a lot better than people give them credit for and they cover cleaning and maintenance.
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