Great cleaning/lubing tool for semiautos

[tromboneliness]

I admit, I've used toothpicks, Q-tips, pipe cleaners, fingernails, etc. when cleaning or lubing the rail channels in a semiauto slide. Cleaning is not bad. But when you like to follow the apply-a-thin-film-then-wipe-off-with-a-clean-patch method of oiling, getting the clean patch really into that rail channel is a challenge for me.

No more:



The Calbico Channel Cleaning Tool is a plastic tool with something like a screwdriver flat at each end; one flat is thinner than the other. With a patch folded over the end, you can clean, apply lube, or wipe the inside of the channels easily, and since it's plastic you won't ding them.

Tried it for the first time today, after a range trip: Oh, yes.

They're $9.95 plus shipping, which for me was a couple of bucks.

I am not affiliated with Calbico in any way.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I admit, I've used toothpicks, Q-tips, pipe cleaners, fingernails, etc. when cleaning or lubing the rail channels in a semiauto slide. Cleaning is not bad. But when you like to follow the apply-a-thin-film-then-wipe-off-with-a-clean-patch method of oiling, getting the clean patch really into that rail channel is a challenge for me.

No more:

View attachment 596253

The Calbico Channel Cleaning Tool is a plastic tool with something like a screwdriver flat at each end; one flat is thinner than the other. With a patch folded over the end, you can clean, apply lube, or wipe the inside of the channels easily, and since it's plastic you won't ding them.

Tried it for the first time today, after a range trip: Oh, yes.

They're $9.95 plus shipping, which for me was a couple of bucks.

I am not affiliated with Calbico in any way.

Great little tool, just ordered a couple!! Much better than a bend screwdriver or Q-tips.

 

[jlindy]

Cool tool!.. I'll have to add one of these to my range box. How thin are the flats, thin enough to get into the slide channels of a 1911?

 

[tromboneliness]

Cool tool!.. I'll have to add one of these to my range box. How thin are the flats, thin enough to get into the slide channels of a 1911?

I don't know. It would be easy enough to sand it down a smidge if it wasn't.

 

[jlindy]

I don't know. It would be easy enough to sand it down a smidge if it wasn't.

Thanks!

 

[Toothpick]

Yup, I need one

or Three

 

[Grumpy_Bottom]

I have a nylon pick set that functions similarly, makes me wonder how I lived without it for years. Sort of like a sight pusher.

 

[Wishoot]

I'll be the voice of dissent here...

For $10, I'm willing to dab a toothpick in a jar of gun lube, rack the slide a few times and tough it out old-school.

 

[DaltonGang]

Dissent#2. I've been cleaning my 1911's for over 32 years. Q-Tips, old toothbrushes, and a small screwdriver wrapped with a patch, will get to any nook and around.

 

[OkieStubble]

I can get all the carbon out of my AR with a dental pick...

 

[tromboneliness]

Hey, whatever floats yer boats, gentlemen, it's all good.

I can report, however, that my pistol cleaning is faster and easier with the gadget than it was without. Plus, I can leave the toothpicks and Q-tips where they belong.

And I confess that when I would use a small screwdriver with a patch to clean the rail channels, a couple of times I saw that the screwdriver had poked through the patch, and that gives me the willies. Prolly just me.

 

[OkieStubble]

And I confess that when I would use a small screwdriver with a patch to clean the rail channels, a couple of times I saw that the screwdriver had poked through the patch, and that gives me the willies. Prolly just me.

I've done this a few times also, scares me too.

 

[jason10mm]

I find it easier to switch to guns that just require a bore snake every now and then

Going from 1911s and AR-15s to glocks and AKs is a revelatory experience in the maintenance department.

 

[tromboneliness]

I find it easier to switch to guns that just require a bore snake every now and then

Going from 1911s and AR-15s to glocks and AKs is a revelatory experience in the maintenance department.

I know I clean excessively. I clean the pistol after ever range trip (usually 100 rounds or so). Then again, it's the bedside table gun.

The AR I decided to let it go for as long as I could stand it. That was only 400 rounds. Was plenty dirty, though!

 

[MrBryant]

Dissent#3 here. I suppose I'm a minimalist and I cant justify using special tools to clean a firearm that doesn't even require tools to disassemble...down to the frame.