|
OTIS
TECHNOLOGY'S GUN CARE SYSTEMS
Those
of you who spend a lot of time with a weapon in your hands,
be it military, police or sportsmen, know the importance
of weapons maintenance. There is nothing worse than having
to spend hours cleaning your firearms after a day on the
range because you forgot your cleaning kit. Up until now
I have always carried a toolbox full of cleaning solutions,
patches, rods, brushes and a host of other things, out
to the range to try and get a jump on my cleaning. I’ll
probably always carry it to the range. Having way more
stuff then is needed at the range is my sickness.
The problem I’ve always encountered was when I was in
the woods. How much cleaning stuff do you carry? The supplies
have to stored someplace convenient. When I was in the
military we were issued those green weapons cleaning cases,
yea you’ve seen them at the gun shows. The problem with
them is that they are the wrong shape to be worn on your
belt, so they get stuck in your rucksack. Not the best
place for it if you dropped rucks a klick back and you
need to clear an obstruction. In this kit you had to put
all your sections of rods, your CLP, eyelets, brushes
( which always were full of threads from the Velcro closure
) and patches, everything you needed right? Well, everything
you were issued to clean a weapon with anyway. Finally
somebody used there heads and came up with a kit that
was practical.
Otis Technology has designed some kits that actually fit
into a pouch the size of a clay pigeon. They added both
a belt loop and ALICE clips so it can be worn no matter
what your situation. They graciously sent me four different
kits, each one different,as well as a lot of very good
information.
All of the kits came in a black nylon belt cases that
are pretty rugged. They also included there detailed instruction
book , which is probably one of the best pamphlets on
gun cleaning I have ever read.
The kits include a lot of the same features like their
Memory-Flex flexible aircraft cable cleaning rods. Their
SupraTine micro-fiber cleaning brushes looked a little.....different
to me, the reason being, They contained twice the number
of tines and a thinner gauge of wire to help get into
the tiniest of areas. The Patches had me perplexed at
first, there were 6 slits in each patch. After reading
their manual it stated that , when done correctly, 1 patch
would give you 6 clean passes through the bore. Yea right!.
I tried it, it worked, I’m a believer now.
The first kit I played with was their new "Tactical
System" This kit includes everything you need to
clean a weapon from .177 to .50 cal including shotguns.
The Memory-Flex cleaning rods came in the following sizes,
32" rifle rod, a 6" pistol rod and a 24"
.177cal airgun rod. The included 5 Supratine brushes,
3 different sized slotted patch tips, Otis’ Premium Bore
Cleanser, a fiber optic bore illuminator a good quantity
of their Panaply all caliber cleaning patches and a rod
connector for connecting two Memory-Flex rods to an overall
length of 40".This kit is available on the civilian
market.
The following kits all have National Stock Numbers and
are currently in use by some military units,
The 223/M16 kit which includes the above equipment in
.223 as well as a coated lens cleaning solution, lens
brush, cotton swabs and an evaporating cleaner and 2 piece
chamber rod and brush. All metal parts are made of brass
and blackened.
The
M40A1 Sniper cleaning system which has equipment in both
5.56 and 7.62, both a sniper and his spotter can use the
same kit. Of course the optics cleaning equipment is included
and the brass parts are blackened.
The Last Kit , The MEUSOC 45 cleaning system
( that stands for Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations
Capable .45 cal pistol )
is a God send since these guys were one of the few units
to boot the 9mm in favor of a good old ( though tweeked)
1911a1.
I’m wondering how long it will be before they make a kit
for the new SOCOM pistol ( Special Operations Command
Pistol in .45 made by H&K). If they included what
was needed to clean the supressor, I’m sure some shooter
would kiss’em
For more information on these kits, Please contact Otis
Technology at 315-942-5484 or go to their web site at
www.otisgun.com
By: Ron England
|
