Otis FG-750 Tactical Cleaning System, by Thomas Christianson

The Otis FG-750 Tactical Cleaning System is lightweight, compact and versatile. It is suitable for cleaning something with a barrel as small as a .177 caliber pellet gun, a barrel as large as a 12 gauge shotgun, and pretty much anything in between.

A clever system of proprietary patches greatly contributes to the system’s versatility and ease of use. But the slotted tips of the system could easily be pressed into service if necessary with standard gun cleaning patches or even with homemade patches made of cut-up rags.

A small zippered nylon pouch carries the entire system, keeping it neat, organized, and easy to carry for field use.

The system is designed to clean firearms from breech to muzzle. This helps to preserve rifle accuracy while preventing damage to the crown of the barrel.

The American-made kit cost $54.99 at the time of this writing at the Otis web site. I highly recommend it.

Background

I was watching the American Gunsmithing Institute’s Survival Gunsmithing course on DVD. They mentioned Otis’ Tactical Cleaning System in passing. The system looked versatile and compact, so I contacted Otis to see if they could provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. Not long afterward, a package arrived on my doorstep via UPS 2nd Day Air.

Description

The kit is built around three aircraft grade Memory-Flex cables. There is an 8-inch cable for cleaning handguns, a 30 inch cable for cleaning rifles and shotguns, a threaded connector to attach the 8 and 30-inch cables together for firearms with especially long barrels, and a lighter-gauge 34-inch cable with an integrated slotted-tip for cleaning .177 caliber firearms. The cables allow access through the breech of firearms that do not have straight line breech access for cleaning rods. The cables can also be packed more compactly than cleaning rods. A removable T-handle provides better grip for pulling the cables through the bore.

The kit also contains bronze bore brushes in .22, .27, .30, and .45 calibers; 9mm, and 12 gauge. The base of each brush is conveniently stamped with its size.

In addition, the kit contains three slotted tips (small, large, and shotgun), two obstruction removers (small and large), two patch savers to use with the shotgun tip to create full 360 degree coverage in a shotgun bore, and an empty chamber flag.

Supplies included ten 2-inch patches, ten 3-inch patches, and a 0.5 ounce bottle of solvent/lubricant (Shooter’s Choice FP-10 Lubricant Elite CLP). It is convenient that the tip can be removed from the solvent/lubricant bottle since refills tend to come in larger bottles. A four ounce bottle of FP-10 cost $10.99 at the time of this writing.

The kit came in a sturdy plastic clamshell case with a respectable latch and hinge. That is surprisingly impressive packaging. The kit comes in a smaller zippered nylon pouch, so that the clamshell case is unlikely to be taken into long-term use. The cylindrical-shaped nylon pouch measures approximately four inches in diameter and is approximately three inches tall. The plastic case also contained an Otis sticker, a card inviting the purchaser to join the NRA, and a 6.75 X 6 inch sheet of paper printed on both sides and folded to provide 12 pages of instructions.

No Nonsense Guarantee

The instructions included a No Nonsense Guarantee. It said, “Delivering quality products and taking care of our customers are top priorities at Otis Technology. This warranty covers both those priorities. If for whatever reason, and we mean whatever–broken part, missing part, manufacturer’s defect, you name it–you are dissatisfied, we’ll take care of it, either by replacing the item or issuing a refund. It’s that simple.”

Since my kit arrived without the 8-inch cable, I got to test the warranty right away. Rather than contacting the media representative who provided the kit, I sent an email to Otis Customer Service ( [email protected] ). That gave me a chance to see how they treat regular customers and not just reviewers. I sent my message at 7:48 one morning. I indicated that I recently got a Tactical Cleaning Kit, and that it came without the 8-inch cable. By 11:14 am that day, the customer service representative had replied with a promise to send me the missing cable. Five minutes later, she sent a tracking number. Not too many days later, a package containing the cable arrived in the mail. I was impressed.

Testing

I began my testing by cleaning my Son’s Mossberg B46B bolt action .22S/L/LR rifle. I followed the instructions that came with the cleaning kit to the letter:
I screwed the small slotted tip to the 30-inch cable.
I then created a swab according to the instructions using a 2-inch patch. This involves putting the slotted tip through a slot in the patch, pulling a fold of the patch through the slotted tip, and then tugging upward with the remainder of the patch. It is important to keep the instructions, because the directions for forming swabs vary according to caliber.
Next, I put a couple of drops of solvent/lubricant on the swab.
Then I inserted the cable into the chamber and fed it through to the muzzle. I then tried to pull the patch through from the breech to the muzzle. I was not able to do so, because the chamber was not long enough to accommodate the slotted tip while it was attached to the cable. Instead, I needed to remove the tip, pull the cable to the front of the chamber, insert the tip into the chamber, screw it on to the cable, and then pull the tip through the bore.
At this point, I was supposed to replace the slotted tip with the bore brush. I was not able to do so, because the bore brush was too long to fit into the chamber even when disconnected from the cable. The .22 caliber bore brush provided with the kit should be shorter so that it can fit into shorter chambers.
Instead, I skipped the brush, and went to the step of pulling a dry swab through the bore.
I then used the first patch to apply a thin film of FP-10 CLP to the rest of the metal surfaces of the rifle. I used the empty chamber flag as a tool to maneuver the patch into small spaces.

Following this first test run, I used the kit to clean the following firearms:

A Henry Pump Rifle in .22 WMR. Once again, the chamber was too short to accommodate the bronze brush.
A Remington Vantage Pellet Gun in .177 cal. I had not previously had a cleaning rod slender enough to clean a bore that tight. As a result, the bore was quite dirty, and required a number of swabs to be run through it before it was clean.
A Crossman P1377 Pellet Pistol. The chamber was so short, that it was a little difficult to introduce a swab into the chamber.
An 1893 Spanish Mauser in 7x57mm. Since 7mm is .276 caliber, I used a 3 inch patch with the small slotted tip, and the .27 cal bronze brush. The large slotted tip is used for .30 caliber and larger bores.
A Browning A5 Magnum in 12 gauge with a Hastings Paradox rifled slug barrel. I used the shotgun tip on the cable with a 3 inch patch and the large patch saver.
A Savage 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor. Since 6.5mm is .26 caliber, I used the small slotted tip and the .27 cal bronze brush.
A Ruger 10/22. Once again the chamber opening was too short to accept the slotted tip while attached to the cable, or the bore brush under any conditions. In the future I will probably just use the .177 cable when cleaning .22s with short chamber openings.
A Saiga .223. The chamber of the Saiga is long enough to allow the bronze brush to inserted into the chamber and then screwed into the cable. The instructions specify the use of a 3 inch patch for .223, but a 2 inch patch works just as well.
A Winchester Model 190 in .22L/LR. Once again, the chamber opening was short enough that I just used the .177 cable.
A Stevens Model 940E in .410 gauge. I used the large slotted tip with a 3 inch patch configured into a swab for .45 cal. I also used the .45 cal bronze brush.
The unmounted 12 gauge field barrel for the aforementioned Browning A5 Magnum. As with most tools, I found the cleaning kit to become easier and easier to use with consistent use. Familiarity bred competence.
A Savage Model 220A in 20 gauge. I used the smaller patch saver with the shotgun slotted tip to configure the swab. I used the 12 gauge bronze brush because I knew from previous experience that it could be pressed into service for use with 20 gauge.
A Remington Model 11-48 in 16 gauge. Once again I used the smaller patch saver and the 12 gauge bronze brush.
A Rock Island Armory MAPP FS in 9mm. This gave me the opportunity to test the 8 inch cable with a handgun. The system worked well. The only thing I missed from my regular gun cleaning kit was the brass dental pick for getting into tight spaces.
A Smith and Wesson SW22 Victory in .22LR. I needed to borrow a 1/8 inch Allen wrench from my regular gun cleaning kit to field strip the handgun. Other than that, the Otis kit did an outstanding job.

Throughout my testing, I found that the FP-10 CLP produced very little odor. It produced so little odor that I dared to throw used patches away in the under-sink kitchen trash container rather than in the outside trash can.

The Otis patches have 3 sets of slots near the edges of the patches. This allows the patches to be repositioned and then turned over, so that each patch may be used as many as six times.

Replacement patches cost $7.99 per 100 for the 2-inch patches and $9.99 per 100 for the 3-inch patches at the time of this writing. I found the Otis patches to be so useful that I invested in a pack of each size. Directions for use with the various calibers and gauges are printed on the packages that the patches come in just in case the instructions that come with the kit become misplaced.

Conclusions

The Otis FG-750 Tactical Cleaning System is quite clever in its use of cables and in the design of the patches/swabs. This results in a highly versatile cleaning system in a compact package. For a cleaning kit that can be stowed in a small space and used on just about any firearm, this kit is hard to beat. I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer

Otis provided me with a sample of their FG-750 Tactical Cleaning System for testing and evaluation. American Gunsmithing Institute provided me with their Survival Gunsmithing course on DVD for a previous review. Henry provided me with a sample of the Pump Rifle in .22 WMR for a previous review. Savage loaned me a sample of their 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor for a previous review. I later purchased the rifle. Rock Island Armory loaned me a sample of their MAPP FS for a previous review. I later purchased the handgun. I tried not to allow the kindness of any of these vendors to interfere with my objectivity, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.