Do I have to use patches?

[Snapdragon]

You could also just go with a bore snake.

I have a bore snake, but sometimes you just need to get into the nooks and crannies.

Ok, apparently I bought a cheap-@$$ cleaning kit, because my patches are not cloth, and they are very tiny. I guess all patches are not created equal. I have a lifetime supply of t-shirts and underwear, so I'm good.

 

[88GT]

I have a bore snake, but sometimes you just need to get into the nooks and crannies.

Ok, apparently I bought a cheap-@$$ cleaning kit, because my patches are not cloth, and they are very tiny. I guess all patches are not created equal. I have a lifetime supply of t-shirts and underwear, so I'm good.

Boresnakes are for bores. Nooks and crannies can be cleaned easily with q-tips. The only time we use patches are on the mil-surps that shoot corrosive ammo. The stinky **** that is used to clean the bores and breeches and etc is too nasty to sit on a boresnake (or mix with the other cleaning stuff already on the boresnake). You do have to be careful with getting a .30cal boresnake stuck in a .22cal barrel.

 

[Hillbillyblood]

Any good cloth will work.... Heck, invest in a good pair of scissors and your set!! If you run out of T-shirts or (whatever) Garage sale season is gettin close

 

[Jarhead77]

So...cut up paper towels are out of the question?

 

[45fan]

So...cut up paper towels are out of the question?

LOL, I use paper towels, Q tips, and just about anything else I can get my hands on to clean my guns. The only patches that I have found that I will not use are the Hoppes patches. For some reason they are made out of something that I dont think is natural, and tends to turn into a fuzzy mess if pushed through on a jag.

I keep cheep washcloths from the dollar store, towels, and even those micro-fiber towels around just for cleaning. T-shirts work OK for a bore patch, or other cleaning, but flannel tends to be much more absorbent, so I stick with them if I can.

 

[PGRChaplain]

+1 for Flannel.

 

[dmarsh8]

Boresnakes are for bores. Nooks and crannies can be cleaned easily with q-tips. The only time we use patches are on the mil-surps that shoot corrosive ammo. The stinky **** that is used to clean the bores and breeches and etc is too nasty to sit on a boresnake (or mix with the other cleaning stuff already on the boresnake). You do have to be careful with getting a .30cal boresnake stuck in a .22cal barrel.

For nooks and crannies I find these helpful Tipton Gun Cleaning Pick Set 4-Piece Polymer

 

[Snapdragon]

Yeah, I bought some of those 3/$1 microfiber washcloths at Dollar Tree.

 

[88E30M50]

Not only can you use t-shirts, but you don't even have to take them off first. Nothing tells others that you are a guru of guns than marks on your t-shirt from where you pushed an end of it through your barrel with a cleaning jag. Spouses may not be impressed, but you can be sure that everyone else will be.

 

[88GT]

For nooks and crannies I find these helpful Tipton Gun Cleaning Pick Set 4-Piece Polymer

What kind of crud do you have in your firearms that you need those implements of torture for?

 

[88E30M50]

For nooks and crannies I find these helpful Tipton Gun Cleaning Pick Set 4-Piece Polymer

I'm going to order a pack of these. I'm always chasing a bit of crud in corners that are tough to get into otherwise. One thing that helps sometimes is to use a patch or piece of cloth under a toothbrush to get into corners but these look like they can get the gunk out that is missed by that method.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I'm going to order a pack of these. I'm always chasing a bit of crud in corners that are tough to get into otherwise. One thing that helps sometimes is to use a patch or piece of cloth under a toothbrush to get into corners but these look like they can get the gunk out that is missed by that method.

I've got several picks, metal and plastic. The one's with square ends (like a standard screwdriver) really work with a thin patch wrapped over them to get gunk in tight places.

And, the only store-bought patches I've ever used are the ones I occasionally have given to me. Old T-shirts are good, flannel is really good. I've even used old bluejean material with a jag that's a little small for the bore.

 

[mashtatatoz]

Use your wife/girlfriend's underwear - she won't mind. Trust me.

What if she doesn't wear any? Then what do I do?!?!

 

[SERparacord]

What if she doesn't wear any? Then what do I do?!?!

Borrow your neighbors.

 

[Snapdragon]

Underwear or wife?

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Underwear or wife?

Yes.

 

[SERparacord]

Yes.

 

[Drail]

I have been shooting competition guns and smithing them for 30 years. Know what I use for patches? Paper towels. So does everyone else I know in the business.

 

[IndyT0m]

As long as the shirts you are using are "Cotton" you should be fine. Probably a lot better than the paper patches

 

[sheepdog]

Use junk shirts all the time on all guns, no issues