Best (and Worst) Products/Accessories

[JEBland]

He did a great job at analyzing the data.

Agreed 100%. I've had it bookmarked and shared it several times over the last couple of years. There is a lot of value in simply putting something to the test Mythbuster's style.

My previous post was attempting but failing to state that I think everything except the density/displacement test has value for gun owners. To clarify what I believe is an issue with that particular test: He says,

Many of the products I purchased for this evaluation make claims in regards to being a water displacer or that they have water displacing properties. Its an interesting claim but it got me to wondering why I should care?? ... This is a pretty easy claim to prove or disprove since the very definition of displacement occurs when an object that is introduced to water, pushes the water out of the way and takes its place (displacing the water). If a product simply floats on top of water, it does not 'displace' it.

But this is a buoyancy test and not a test of the bonding to the surface at the microscopic level where the manufacturers are making water displacement claims. A more fair comparison to examine the pieces of steel that had the water "bead up" since the effect of the water beading is directly related to wetting vs. nonwetting at the surface where the cleaner/CLP/whatever was applied.
Interestingly, he gets to this a little bit, but he misses that this thin film sticking to the steel is the point of the claim:

There was no floating compound on the surface of any of the 3 products. I then rolled and tilted and shook the bottle to see if the compound clung to the metal surface and kept water off the metal part. In all cases, the metal part was coated in the compound and resisted water clinging to the metal. After this agitation I allowed the bottles to rest for an hour to see if the compound separated or changed in any way after being exposed to the water. No change was noted.

He circles back to the idea that these products are more dense than water and don't mix with water.

Again, it's a great article and an even better first test of these ideas, but that particular aspect of water displacement testing is lacking. It doesn't invalidate the rest of the work, just gives me motivation to create a similar test after this school thing is done with.

 

[Cameramonkey]

On a parallel, I have used 1/4" graph paper index cards and put a 1" dot in the center to track ammo variances, sight in scopes, etc. Makes adjustments super easy to calculate.

And if you have a HP multifunction laser printer, it will print out those graphs for you. I dont recall where they are in the menu, but you can print out various grid sizes directly, without going through a computer.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1017402725?pid=602417

Brass cleaning picks. I used Tipton polymer picks for a little while but they were prone to breaking.

 

[Ark]

Worst products/accessories: The Magpul BAD Lever is a negligent discharge in a box, don't @ me on this.

 

[BigRed3588]

Worst products/accessories: The Magpul BAD Lever is a negligent discharge in a box, don't @ me on this.

+1. If you want a bolt release on both sides, just get an ambi lower.

 

[BluePig]

Gunzilla: Cant say enough good things about it. Not only use it on guns, but also used it at work to save a shipment of stainless steel tubes we got from China. For some reason, they changed the protective coating to something we couldn't get clean enough to braze. It was hard and wouldn't come off with nothing short of heavy buffing. On a whim, I brought in some of my gun cleaning solvents and Gunzilla was the only thing that got it cleaned. Company ended up getting a couple of 55 gallon drums of it.
Saved scrapping the whole shipment and getting another shipped.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Wait. What… BreakFree don’t work anymore…..kids….

 

[gregkl]

Wait. What… BreakFree don’t work anymore…..kids….

I have no issues with Break Free. I have an old can and still use it. I don't use a lot of product anyway so what I have I have had for years.

 

[gregkl]

Wright Leather Products brand holsters are overrated in my opinion. They cost a lot of money, take a long time to get and they don't offer a customer satisfaction guarantee. Tucker Leather is just as good and if you don't like it, he will make it right. Though his lead times are a little long right now also.

 

[JEBland]

Wait. What… BreakFree don’t work anymore…..kids….

I think you're referring to the article RR and I discussed above. If BreakFree works for you, it works. What the author demonstrated was in conditions designed to rust the plates, that BreakFree didn't provide optimum protection compared to other products. If you are wiping the gun off after rainy shooting and re-oiling then not storing in the same conditions... then it's not the same conditions in the test, and that's probably a good thing. Having read some of your reviews, I'm certainly not going to tell you that the products you prefer don't work for you.

 

[BigRed3588]

Wright Leather Products brand holsters are overrated in my opinion. They cost a lot of money, take a long time to get and they don't offer a customer satisfaction guarantee. Tucker Leather is just as good and if you don't like it, he will make it right. Though his lead times are a little long right now also.

Do you carry IWB or OWB? I’d be interested in trying one of their IWB holsters but would like to know what kind of width it adds.

 

[Leo]

Every hobby ends up with 100 kinds of snake oil and people strongly for or against whatever they choose. Gun lube and car products are like that also.

I belonged to COG (Kawasaki Concours owners group) for a couple decades. We hand multiple hundreds of members with over 100,000, 150,000 and quite a few that had reached 200,000 miles without engine rebuild. Trying to figure out what maintenance products worked was futile. After checking the data, the common denominators were; 1) use some kind of appropriate oil changed regularly, and 2) don't get in a wreck.

I have never used anything special on firearms. I had a little paint can of WWII era lubriplate and some Outers gun oil I used for years. Shooting NM High Power rifle competition, I wore out a barrel in an AR every year and a barrel on my Long Range rifle every year, and a Barrel on my Palma Rifle every two years. Nothing else ever wore out.

Is the expensive stuff better? Does it gain anything? I'll never know.

 

[patience0830]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1017402725?pid=602417

Brass cleaning picks. I used Tipton polymer picks for a little while but they were prone to breaking.

I ask the dentist for worn out scrapers occasionally. Stainless is pretty tough

 

[gregkl]

Do you carry IWB or OWB? I’d be interested in trying one of their IWB holsters but would like to know what kind of width it adds.

OWB

 

[OakRiver]

Two quick questions for the wisdom of INGO:
- what are your thoughts on side saddles for shotguns to carry more shells, and what are some reliable brands. I'm looking at Esstac, TacStar, and Lyman side saddles but don't have any experience with those products
- what belt mounted AR magazine pouches do you recommend

 

[Trapper Jim]

I think you're referring to the article RR and I discussed above. If BreakFree works for you, it works. What the author demonstrated was in conditions designed to rust the plates, that BreakFree didn't provide optimum protection compared to other products. If you are wiping the gun off after rainy shooting and re-oiling then not storing in the same conditions... then it's not the same conditions in the test, and that's probably a good thing. Having read some of your reviews, I'm certainly not going to tell you that the products you prefer don't work for you.

Didn’t mean to step on any toes or put down any products one use. Yes as far as Salt Corrosion tests there are products that score higher. But at what costs. The snake oil marketing adds to the street price and if you are in a area that replicates the salt wash tests, a rusted up gun will be the least of your worries. All toying aside use what works for you and enjoy the sport!

 

[JEBland]

Didn’t mean to step on any toes or put down any products one use. Yes as far as Salt Corrosion tests there are products that score higher. But at what costs. The snake oil marketing adds to the street price and if you are in a area that replicates the salt wash tests, a rusted up gun will be the least of your worries. All toying aside use what works for you and enjoy the sport!

My toes feel fine!

I do think those tests have value, particularly so for guns not kept in dry safes or for deep storage; for instance, suppose I move to India for two years for a post-doctoral position. I can't bring my firearms there - so I would need some way to safely store them. I think this test would be useful for that hypothetical situation. If we take a favorite gun that gets shot every other weekend, cleaned after use, and put in the safe until next time, I don't think that testing is of great value. The friciton test might still be useful, but if it's "everything is slick," then maybe even if the difference might exist, but not be significant enough to deviate away from one's favorite lubricant. There is also a difference between something like a CLP vs. a multi-step system which also wasn't fully explored in those tests.

The testing is certainly not the end-all be-all of the topic, but it is interesting to take from it what we can. Implementing a repeatable testing methodology is what allows us to separate the snake oil from the real deal.

 

[Sitcomdad83]

That's a good one. Thanks for the tip!

Not used graph paper but will use that next time in shoot smaller caliber stuff. My oldest son loves math and has alot graph paper. Never really crossed my mind but the measurement of the squares could make thing simpler cutting out the serious numbers stuff.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

I ask the dentist for worn out scrapers occasionally. Stainless is pretty tough

do you worry about scratches when using stainless picks?

 

[jwamplerusa]

I use it for freeing stuck screws, nuts, bolts and such - guns, vehicles, and any other job like that. If it's something that is REALLY bad (crusty suspension parts of a vehicle), I will spray it down every few days for a week or two before I even try to budge anything. Same with really rusted gun parts. Had a Mauser stock bolt and nut that had been rusted together for probably 50 years that needed to be taken apart and installed in a gun. I soaked the part in a small jar for a month before attempting to separate the pieces. Kroil really does creep between metal surfaces. One unconventional use - I used it to help free a very badly stuck case from a full length resizing die. Applied Kroil, put die in freezer for a couple hours (metal shrinks in all dimensions), took it out, put die in padded vise, grasped case head with big channel lock pliers and gave the case a twist - case came right out. It wouldn't budge before that, no matter how hard I tried.

I also use Kroil in combination with Big 45 for removing rust from metal. Kroil penetrates and helps remove the rust. I have actually never used Kroil in a bore, but that could be a good use for it since it creeps between metal surfaces so well.

Kroil is what I start with in a bore. It truly is amazing, and if used over time it seems to ease cleaning in the future.

In a heavily fouled bore I will plug one end put a good amount in the bore plug the other end and then slosh it back and forth over hours or even sometimes days. Pull the plug and drain then brush. I have seen 22s that haven't been cleaned in thousands of rounds, have spirals of lead come out the bore.

Oh, and for automotive work especially on something like exhaust, take some cotton twine or string wrap around the area of the fastener that you are trying to release and soak in Kroil. Keep it wet with Kroil over a couple of days and you would be amazed at what will come apart.