AR upper vice block for cleaning?

[fuse]

while cleaning my barrel the other day, I wished I had some sort of AR upper vice block purpose made for the job.

I have this ( http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=730930 ) for assembling uppers. I am thinking of buying another one, and cutting most of the plastic away that actually goes into the receiver. that way the upper is held only by the takedown and pivot pins. and I would have a nice stable platform for running a rod through my barrel. and it would work with a bore guide, as well.

the DPMS above is out of stock, so I may try this one ( http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=730930 ) as well.

is there already some product made for this, that I am not aware of?

[crazymoose]

I've seen all kinds of devices intended for this, usually some kind of cradle or rest. I suspect you could use one of the clamshell-type action blocks. As long as you plan on buying another, it would definitely work better than removing a bunch of material from the kind you have.

In any event, I think a good bore guide is priority number one.

[fuse]

I agree.

what I am looking for is max stability, not having to remove optics (wouldn't the clamshell-type block force me to remove optics), and minimizing mess of solvent and oil getting everywhere.

seems like a vice cleaning block I describe offers all of these.

honestly with the AR craze I am surprised no one has come up with this before.

[Eric D.]

A quick google search yielded these results:

http://www.parallaxtactical.com/store/pri-upper-assembly-vice-block-ar-15-ar-866.html

http://www.ar15products.net/itmidx14.htm - look down the page, the AR15 "link" and a lower vice block make a good combo.

Here's an article on the "link"
https://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10701/guntechdetail/Gun_Cleaning_Clinic__Make_Cleaning_Your_AR_15_Easier

[goneballistic]

if you are just looking to hold the upper for cleaning, you could make one of those but I have used leather padded magnetic vise jaw grips before and it worked great.

I had a 24" target upper with a rough barrel and I clamped it in the vise with jaw pads and ran a bunch of JB bore paste through it to smooth it out, it worked fine.

you could cut one of the upper clamp blocks out but it would be a PITA.

[Hmac]

I use a Sinclair upper/lower link. Really simplifies cleaning for me. I use a mag well vise block clamped to the bench instead of a cradle.

http://mccollister.info/sinclairlink.jpg

[AlanD]

I've been using the PRI for years and it works well.

[Col_Crocs]

IIRC, there's a rail mounted one that secures your upper upside down on a vise. You could mount it on your rail (HG) so you dont have to take your optics and BUIS off.
An old riser should work just as well if you have one lying around.

[pilotguyo540]

Seems much to clinical and sterile to me, but to each his own. What about clamping a lower receiver block in the vise and stuffing it in the magwell. Similar to the picture above. You could even cut down a two by to fit if you wanted cheap and now. Pop the rear pin and work from the chamber side. I prefer the ghetto route of sitting in the floor and working in my lap.