Review: Pro-Tactical Max-Clean gun-care and cleaning gear

Pro-Tactical sells a complete range of Max-Clean gun-cleaning and maintenance gear, much of which I’ve used for the past year to see how it works in the long run, which is what really counts. 

PCB bore cleaner is the headline act in Pro-Tactical’s gun-care range, as I said when I reviewed it a few months ago — it gets outstanding results that you can read about here. Now it’s time to follow up with a review of the other items that deserve comment.

Pro-Tactical’s Max-Clean Super Vice has weight to it — 3.7kg — which is a good thing as it stays in place on your bench. I’ve used lighter gun vices and don’t like the way you have to hang on to them when you’re pushing a tight patch through a barrel.

Months of dripping solvent and oils onto the polymer surfaces hasn’t scarred it.

It’s a $159 gun vice and it’s the thing that completes a proper workbench setup because it makes all your firearm maintenance tasks that much easier. Just drop the firearm in, swing the adjustable vice closed to hold the gun in place and you’ve got a stable, practical platform to work on.

It will take a secure hold on regular rifles and shotguns, but sometimes if a firearms has a weird butt stock or pistol grip you’ll have to take  a moment to ensure it is correctly positioned for the vice to grip well. 

There are several storage bins to hold everything from oil bottles to scope-ring screws as you’re working, and a special notched edge to sit your cleaning rod in where it’s handy but not in the way. All the surfaces that make contact with your gun are softer rubber that won’t leave marks.

Of course, Pro-Tactical’s Super Vice is not unique but it follows a tried and prove pattern that’s hard to beat. With the weight built into this version, it’s a good one.

The $59 Max-Clean Ultimate Bore Guide is useful. Not only does it help guide your cleaning rod straight down the bore without rubbing on the sides of the breech or bore entrance, it has a useful design that allows you to put solvent or oil on a patch with the rod already in place to start its run. This prevents drips onto the stock or into the action and magazine well.

Hence it keeps everything cleaner and, if you are using a solvent that can cause damage, you’re less likely to do any harm to anything.

Pro-Tactical sent a roll of bore-cleaning cloth as well as a 1000 pack of .22-6mm patches. The latter works out at 3.9 cents per patch and they’re strong, absorbent and not prone to leaving lint behind, so I’ve embraced them.

The roll is marked with red stripes at .30-calibre intervals (about every 5cm) for convenience and you learn to adjust for other bore sizes. I like it because it’s very strong and lint-free, making it stand out from some similar rolls, though it’s hard to tear and prefers to be cut by scissors. It’s about 9m long and costs $19.

The $69 Max-Clean 17-piece cleaning kit is another item that follows a familiar design but it includes one very good thing that many don’t: a chamber-cleaning brush. A dirty chamber causes all sorts of issues, from rust to stuck cases. Shooters without a chamber brush can never give their rifles a proper clean.

This kit also has a good alloy handle for the multi-piece rod that allows the rod to rotate independently, a nice touch.

The Pro-Tactical range also includes various rod attachments in a different calibres, bore ropes with inbuilt brushes in different calibres, and a one-piece steel rod. All of it is good quality at competitive pricing.

Pro-Tactical also distributes Parker Hale’s range of cleaning gear.

I highly recommend the PCB bore cleaner. The Super Vice is worth having on your bench. The rest of the Pro-Tactical gun-care gear comes out of this test very well and after a year is still going strong.   

For more details check at your local gun shop or visit the Pro-Tactical website.