Real Avid Gun Tool and Bore Boss

I often get asked what I carry in case of emergency gun repairs out in the field. I seem to have an eclectic mix of bits and pieces but it’s nice to see the requirements mostly covered by two tools from Real Avid.

Perhaps the most common situation requiring a quick fix on any rifle is cleaning through the bore after immersion in water or being dropped into soft ground, muzzle down and packing the bore full of mud or other debris. The pull through has been around for many years but Real Avid have gone one step further by integrating a 32-inch long steel cable with a full-size phosphor bronze brush and softer cord mop to swab out any remains. Rather than getting wrapped around your fingers and stuffed into a pocket, the Bore Boss wraps around a custom injection moulded Polycarbonate ‘flex-case’ handle, whose enclosing red rubber collar keeps everything in place and helpfully remains visible in poor light.

Simply fold up the rubber, unwrap the steel and fabric mop from the circumference, before drawing the brush from its protective cylinder and drop it through your barrel from breech to muzzle. The integrated weight at the end of the cord helps it drop through but the cable shows enough stiffness to push it gently if only lightly soiled. When it exits the muzzle, that little ball slots into the ergonomically shaped handle to become a stress-free pull though, allowing you to exert plenty of force, unlike a conventional pull though that you may have had to wrap around your hand to gain grip on and possibly cut into your hand! The Bore boss is available in 223, 243/6.5mm, 270/7mm and 30 calibres with the full-size phosphor bronze brush and there’s a lighter weighted model for 22 rimfire with the phosphor bronze splines woven into the mop cord.

The gun tool

This is a special edition for Ruger owners, featuring a customised set of Torx, Allen and screwdriver heads to suit the Ruger range, with additional specialist choke key for all shotgun calibres. There is a Ruger scope ring blade and specific tool for the M77 Hawkeye bedding insert, with a tapered pin punch for weapon disassembly. It is very well-made but perhaps a little bit too specialised with direction towards pistol use as well, but one element that would suit everyone is the strong Stainlesssteel frame with a folding compartment to hold four Hex drive tools of your choice with an appropriate drive socket set within easy grip or your hand. Sadly, this socket at 3/16-inch is rather obscure with the far more conventional ¼-inch hex drive dimension being the one that nearly all your current tools are likely to be. A knife is always appreciated in any situation, with a short beefy claw point blade here that is not locking, so won’t upset anyone in officialdom.