Real Avid AR15 Scraper

Gun cleaning can be an arduous process but it doesn’t have to be.

Last week I watched a young junior shooter (under age 21) struggle to clean his new AR. He put the bolt together after using just lubricant and a paper towel to “clean” off the carbon. The bolt was bone dry, friction reigning supreme.

I gently took the bolt from him and proceeded to take it apart and explain exactly what he needed to clean it with and how to go about the process. With some borrowed parts from others’ cleaning kits, we soon finished the process. His father, new to shooting, watched intently, asking questions and taking notes.

Then came the question: What is your must-have in your cleaning kit?

For cleaning ARs my answer is quick and always the same: the Real Avid AR-15 Scraper. There are many versions of this tool, but I don’t care for the triangular ones, preferring the design of the AR15 Scraper. Each part of the tool is designed to clean a certain area. A handy guide shows the 12 surfaces it is designed to scrub. I will admit I don’t use the tool to its full potential, but I have my favorite features.

The first is the ability to scrape carbon from the inside and outside of bolt tail and bolt tail shoulder. It is by far the dirtiest part of my bolt and no other hand tool has come close to matching the Scraper’s performance. Flip the pivoting cover and you now have a piece of metal that perfectly fits inside the bolt carrier. Twist it a few times and flakes of carbon will pile along the edges. Quite the step up from twisting paper towels and shoving them inside.