by John Boch
I hate cleaning guns.
On most days, I’d rather visit the dentist than clean guns.
Alas, both must be done from time to time.
So it was at the NRA Annual Meetings that a rather friendly gentleman from Swab-its captured my attention with that company’s “Bore-tips” bore cleaning foam swabs. Basically, they are a one-piece jag and patch which makes cleaning easier.
He gave me the quick pitch and I agreed to take a pack home and let him know what I thought of them.
They retail for about $5 for a six-pack, and are available in several common calibers.
While I was off for a few days, I took on the chore I had been putting off for close to six months… pistol cleaning.
I spent the better part of two days cleaning lots and lots of those dirty dogs, many of which were our GSL Defense Training loaner guns.
I broke the Bore-tips out and screwed them onto my cleaning rod. I liked them right away, as I wear heavy anti-chemical gloves during gun cleaning to keep my hands nice and girlie-soft. Threading cloth patches through the jag can be annoyingly challenging at times. I liked how these were friendly to dexterity-challenged fingers.
The first one was pretty dirty and soggy after a couple of .38 Special wheel guns, so I put a fresh on one and held it for the final swab of the cylinder walls to minimize leftover oil residues that might render primers inert from oil penetration if the gun would be stored loaded.
In this role, it worked wonderfully (exclamation point).
You can wash these up with dish soap to reuse them, but I already dislike gun cleaning. Would I want to spend more time washing out swabs? For me, I’m leaning towards no. Your mileage may vary though.
I like this product. Is it worth a buck a shot? If convenience is worth a few bucks to you, I think you would be quite pleased with this product.