After my dad passed several years ago I discovered his gun cleaning supplies down in the basement. What caught my eye was a bag full of homemade flannel patches….the pattern of which looked suspiciously like the inner liner of my Boy Scout sleeping bag from 50 years ago. Happy to say they do work well, but unfortunately the smell of old campfires has apparently faded over the decades .
Cleaning Patches
- Thread starter Narragansett
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You could always buy underwear from garage sales and cut up. Lol.
kbm6893
SWCA Member
They’re so cheap I just buy the big bag of Hoppes patches. I use mostly 12 gauge size in my pistols to get a nice right fit. I’m not gonna waste my time cutting old clothing. They wouldn’t all come out the same size that way.
rockquarry
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I'm in agreement. I never considered cleaning patches expensive. Commercial patches are very convenient. As many as I use, I'd spend a lot of time cutting second rate patches.
Agreed! Lately I've just purchased cleaning patch kits online (box has both round and rectangular patches). Yes, they're from China, but they're cheap and work very well. Glad I bought some before the Tariff wars and the prices go up! LOL!
GypsmJim
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Now you piqued my interest. I'm going to go right down in the basement and check my Hoppes bag. If they are chinacrap I WILL start cutting up my under ware.
AJ
US Veteran
I have an old box of Hoppe's patches as well...from a gun store that closed decades ago.
I have a few shoe boxes full of surplus .22 (5.56) and .45 patches. Plus when We find them in estate sales we pick them up too. I just cut up a flannel Calif King-sized top sheet and pillow cases for cleaning rags.
I picked up this counter display for Hoppe's Patches quite a while back it is on a shelf in my collection. These are No.4 patches for .38, .44, .45 & .410. Yes, all the boxes are full. Have some other brands NIB around too.
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I have used old T-shirts and other odds & ends of clothing, leftover bits from my wifes sewing, whatever I had available at times. When we had the gun shop we sold the precut patches and used them in store. After we closed I brought what was left home. Funny thing, once we got in an order from one of the gun cleaning supply companies and they had filled out the box with the punched out sheets they cut their patches out of. The intact sections were big enough to get a lot more patches with a little scissor work!
I also have several boxes of the old patches like some of the other posters show. Somehow, I seem to become a collector of old gun cleaning gear. Hand me downs from estates, from box lots at auctions or just too cheap to pass up at yard sales. Complete cleaning kits and some well used ones, I kind of like having them around and even use some of them. At the last collectors show one of the guys I set up by had a 5 gallon bucket with a lid on it........ Turned out to be full of bags of K-Mart gun cleaning patches from years ago. He offered it to me cheap so now it's with the rest in my workshop. More than a lifetime supply I guess, can supply my kids if they need any!
I also have several boxes of the old patches like some of the other posters show. Somehow, I seem to become a collector of old gun cleaning gear. Hand me downs from estates, from box lots at auctions or just too cheap to pass up at yard sales. Complete cleaning kits and some well used ones, I kind of like having them around and even use some of them. At the last collectors show one of the guys I set up by had a 5 gallon bucket with a lid on it........ Turned out to be full of bags of K-Mart gun cleaning patches from years ago. He offered it to me cheap so now it's with the rest in my workshop. More than a lifetime supply I guess, can supply my kids if they need any!
oink
Member
I don't really like most commercial patches. Cotton Ts and underwear work very well. Flannel is even better. Sturdy paper towels are very effective for many tasks.
BKLooney
Member
I have a substantial supply of patches made by Southern Bloomer Mfg. Co., they make them right up the road from me. I won't say I have enough to last forever, but I do have enough to last for many years!
They started making their patches as a biproduct from the scraps of underwear they made for state/federal mental institutions and prisons.
They started making their patches as a biproduct from the scraps of underwear they made for state/federal mental institutions and prisons.
geeollie
Member
Most of you will not have a clue as to what I am talking about....
I still have a bundle 40 year old washable diapers that I use for my gun cleaning. I use cotton store bought patches for the bore but everything else gets diapers. Some are single ply others are the double ply.
I still have a bundle 40 year old washable diapers that I use for my gun cleaning. I use cotton store bought patches for the bore but everything else gets diapers. Some are single ply others are the double ply.
GypsmJim
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Well, I DO have a clue!
My last kid was born in 1982 and I still have not run out of diapers. They are the most awesome car waxing rags ever.
But lets not stop there. My Dad used them for the same thing. When he passed in 2013 I found that some were still left in his garage supplies. His last born was 1962, but they might justhave been from ME in 1949.
GypsmJim
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Now I am totally bumbed out. I DID look and my Hoppes are Made in China.
The under pants I have on today are a little ratty. They will be cut up tomorrow.
I plan to email the pres and suggest the tariff be upped to 500%. If I can't buy USA I'll do without.
(PS - should I wash them before I run them down the bore?)
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smoothshooter
Member
Cut up well washed 100% white cotton tee shirt material (MUST BE 100% COTTON.NO SYNTHETIC BLEND IN THE MATERIAL AT ALL) is the best thing I have ever used over the last 55 years. Cheap, too. Cut them up with scissors, sometimes in random shapes and sizes-doesn’t matter. Good wipe down rags too. Will never buy another pre-made patch. Waste of money to me.
I would be embarrassed to actually buy cleaning patches. It would be like “ man, can’t you even operate a pair of scissors?
I would be embarrassed to actually buy cleaning patches. It would be like “ man, can’t you even operate a pair of scissors?
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GypsmJim
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Are they made in China also?!!
Ed
Whoolllly ****. I just took my pants off and they are made in India.
Now I don't know what to do. We are screwed no matter what.
jbtrucker
Member
I couldn't handle the little bitty patches , switched to pellets with the spiked jag
My wife is the oldest of 8 girls. All our diapers got passed to the next pregnant sister.
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I buy my patches in bulk from Brownell's - 1,000 patches per bag. I will only use 100% cotton (their brand) and they are very good. I shoot a lot and they never last very long!
The patches they sell in the big box stores or even local gun shops are usually blister packs, expensive and rarely made of 100% cotton. The Hoppes synthetic patches are terrible!
The patches they sell in the big box stores or even local gun shops are usually blister packs, expensive and rarely made of 100% cotton. The Hoppes synthetic patches are terrible!
