Got a request from a friend for a bore snake for his wife, she is over in the sandbox somewhere.

He can handle her request (as I steered him to the correct product), but I got to thinking that this could be a nice thing to send to some soldiers. Wish I had thought of it when I sent the magazines to CD.

So... anybody want to chip in and put together an order? She is in Logistics.... so if I can get her to agree to distribute these, then we can send a box full at once, rather than a couple at a time.

I'm waiting to hear back from her if this will be a problem (can't imagine that it would, but you never know about Army rules and such).... and if it's feasible, I'll update this post.

A couple of questions for you military guys or with kids in service (Sure-Shot, Combat Diver, et al):

1. Would a .22 bore snake be a good complement to the standard M16 cleaning gear - and importantly - would they need anything else to accompany one (patches, solvent, anything)?

2. ANY possibility of this being a problem, being non-standard gear and such?

3. Very important - anybody know if the .22 pistol bore snakes (there's a rifle and pistol version) are long enough for an M16? If the retailer runs out of rifle kits, it would be good to be able to finish up the order with pistol kits, if they'll work. Cost is about the same for either.

I'd hope to find a retailer who can ship directly to an APO, will keep you posted on that as well.

Let me know what you think.

Mike,

Thanks again for thinking about us. Some troops do lack their own personnal cleaning kit. I'm sure every section does have one though. All your combat arms units the troops will have there own. It would be support troops and Navy/USAF personnel that would be lacking in my experience.

On the M16 with 20" bbl, the total length from the muzzle brake to back of the upper reciever is 28.5". For M4 carbine with the 14.5" bbl OAL is 23".
I don't know the lengths of the bore snake.

No, troops shouldn't get into trouble for having commerical cleaning gear.

CD

OK - thanks for the feedback, CD. If you think of anything else, let us know.

There's already interest coming via email, and I'll try to get this put together.

Someone with a .22 cal pistol bore snake, please let me know if it matches up to CD's measurements.

I think this is a great idea, Mike. I'm sure there are quite a few members here that would like to participate. As we emailed a bit earlier, I'm definitely interested in contributing.

A little snippet of a reply I got today:

Mike,

"Thanks so much for the info and offer! Only the senior officers and command sergeant majors carry 9mm's so if you were able to send a few kits, multiple ones for the M16's (5.56) for the soldiers would be very welcomed. I get to carry both - always good to have multiple weapons in this environment."

I'm going to place the order at the end of next week. You all are welcome to order yourself and send directly (I can provide an address), but it will most likely be easier / simpler to funnel this through me, and I'll pick up shipping to the APO.

Midway won't ship to APOs and Brownells couldn't answer my question when I asked them. If I can find a retailer who'll ship to an APO, that's who we'll use, otherwise I'll have the stuff send directly to my house and I'll forward it on.

Figure we'll send out .22 & 9mm kits in a ratio of say 5 to 1, or thereabouts.

Already have received commitments from several people - thanks!

If you'd like to add to this, email or PM me and I'll provide my contact information.

I was with the Marines over there. It seems like something that would be nice to have. I can't speak as to any soldiers lacking cleaning gear, because every Marine has a cleaning kit. But the bore snake would have been nice. Instead of assembling the rod to run a brush then a patch down the barrel, use the snake. It would have been nice for just swabbing out the bore real quick. Outstanding idea.

Mike
Count me in..
PM me with your address I'll send a check..

Mike...Just post the cost and I'll get a MO to you right away!

chris~

Chris, thanks for jumping in on this. I think that the best price I've seen has been at Midway for about $14 each (just the plain bore snake; the kits are about $20).

Contribute as you see fit; if we end up with an odd dollar amount (which is pretty much certain, given that I can't predict shipping, etc., right now), then I'll be bringing up the rear so to speak and will round up, in addition to my own contribution.

Planning on sending out the plain bore snakes, on further reflection; our money will go farther, and the soldiers should have enough other cleaning gear to compliment these things.

Thanks to all who are supporting this!

First check received today! :D

Will post a picture of the enormous pile of these things before they head out to the sandbox. Thanks guys!

Gonna order these tomorrow (Tues 10/19) or Wed. If you have something in the mail to me, let me know.... first class mail is taking a good 7 days to get to me, judging by the postmarks on the checks that have arrived. Your tax dollars at work, I suppose....

Anyway, just let me know as I'd like to get this underway.

thanks!!!

They're ordered!!! Thanks guys!

The Army has something new termed the
"Rapid Fielding Initative". one of the things being fielded to deployed units is the Otis M16/M4 cleaning kit. It is very similar to a bore snake and extremely effective.

I've seen those; are you referring to the kit that will fit up in the pistol grip of the M16 / AR15 rifles?

They're here!

Going out tomorrow in the mail, assuming something doesn't prevent me from getting to the post office.

Good show, Mike. Thank you so much for putting this together, your time, effort and energy.

They're here!

Going out tomorrow in the mail, assuming something doesn't prevent me from getting to the post office.

You du Man, Mike!!!! thanks for all the work.

Just a quick update... haven't heard that the bore snakes have arrived yet, but here's links to some web sites that cover the soldiers in the unit I sent these to:

http://www.strykernews.com/

http://www.tfopao.org/task%20force%20olympia.htm

Nice to put faces to the soldiers.

MikeG, Im sorry I just got to read this post. I have a wholesale connection for bore snakes, next time this happens PLEASE email me and Ill help out with cost on the purchase end. Would take about 2 weeks from order to ship to you. Will be cheaper to buy direct and get 2 instead of retail and get 1. And no, I wont make any money on it LOL Mike

You bet - will see what sort of reaction we get when they show up, bet they'd be glad to have more :)

Nice work mike, a lot of soldiers I've served with had nothing more than their basic kleaning Kit. Being in the EOD field we usually get a little more money than most units for IEU crap. We went ahead and purchased the OTIS kits and Boresnakes for our M-4's and our M-9's. But the real lifesaver in the desert was the right kind of lube. We used MIL-TEC dry lube, great for the desert, regular lube has a bad tendancy to attract sand right into your action...Bad day. Anyway just wanted to let you know your help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. there are an awful lot of guys shooting 7.62 as well.

I've been a bit behind on my email, they arrived a week or so ago. Here's the email I received:

Micki just got them on Friday and she says thanks very much! She is very
excited, and I'm sure the other folks in her unit will appreciate them also.
If you have a way to get the e-mails of the folks that sent them, I would
like to send them a quick note saying thanks. It is good to know Micki and
her fellow soldiers have the support of the folks here at home.

Gonna pass the email addresses of the contributors back to my friend, unless there are objections....

Thanks again !

Please do, and if there is anything else I can do to help the cause, please do not hesitate to call upn me

I'll try to get one for everyone in My Neice Platoon in Iraq.

Guys if you place another order, send me a PM and I'd be happy to contribute. Anything for the troops.

Bill C.