The Best Gun Cleaning Patches
So what are the best gun cleaning patches? Round? Square? Cotton? Cotton Knit? Flannel?
There are a ton of cleaning patches to choose from. I have tried quite a few in the past 30 years. My favorite gun cleaning patches used to be M-Pro7 patches. They were thick and coarsely knitted. They really scrubbed the bore and removed not only carbon but also lead fouling. I still have some but they have not been available for a long time.
There are 3 or 4 different shapes when it comes to gun cleaning patches…round, square, triangle and hexagon. I have used them all and cannot tell the difference. All the various shapes work well.
So what makes a good gun cleaning patch?
- Lint free
- Structural integrity – Doesn’t fall apart
- Tightly knitted
- Absorbent
Gun cleaning patches have to be lint free…well they don’t have to be but I hate lint left in the bore and chamber, so I won’t use a patch that leaves lint everywhere. A good gun cleaning patch has to be strong so it doesn’t fall apart when you push it down the bore. It has to stay put on the jag. A coarse and tightly knitted cotton patch will scrub the bore better than fine knit. And it has to be absorbent. A good cleaning patch will soak up cleaner or oil and hold it while it get pushed down the barrel. I have seen some patches where a drop of oil sat on top of the patch. Not good.
Here are the gun cleaning patches that I like.
- Southern Bloomer (cotton knit)
- Professional’s Choice (cotton flannel)
- Birchwood Casey (cross weave pattern)
- Pro Shot (cotton flannel)
I personally really like the Southern Bloomer patches. These are what I have been using for the past year or so. They are really soft and absorbent. Their story is quite interesting too! Shop Gun Cleaning Patches at Amazon.com.
Southern Bloomer Patches