As I was strolling through some of the displays in POMA’s product showcase last week, I stumbled on this. Real Avid, a company with which I was totally unfamiliar, is out with a line of new cleaning mats. Boring, right? Not so much. They’ve put a lot of thought into these things. The material is soft, but completely non-absorbent, so if you spill some Hoppe’s or Rem Oil, it’ll bead right up.
Even better, they make them in five flavors; generic handgun, generic long gun, 1911, AK and the AR version you see above. The USP: printed-on instructions for takedown.
The magnetized parts tray attached to the right side is handy, too. And the whole thing rolls up for easy storage.
Best of all, they’re very affordable. The smaller handgun sized mats go for $14.99. Long gun versions are only $19.99.
Real Avid’s also selling some new handy-dandy cleaning and tool kits.
I just bought their AK mat recently. I haven’t used it yet, but first impressions are that it’s a quality product. The disassembly instructions are redundant for me, as I learned how to field strip an AK before ever laying eyes on one in person, but still nice to have as a training aid to friends/family who don’t have experience with the AK platform.
Does it work as well as my Jump to Conclusions Mat?
They also have a nice compact AR scraper multi tool.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/181653/real-avid-gun-tool-pro-multi-tool
I believe this is the AR-15 tool you meant to link to…
https://www.amazon.com/Real-Avid-The-AR15-Scraper/dp/B00DPKZ1MO
I just use smooth top cushioned shelf liner. It comes in three tactical colors from WalMart. White (snow hunter), Black (S.W.A.T.), and Tan (Desert). They come in 20 foot rolls so I can make several mats. Also good for playing Farkle. There is no instructions for field stripping a GLOCK so I just used a silver Sharpie and wrote in large print:
DON’T FUCKING SHOOT YOURSELF!
+1
Both the AK-47 and the AR-15 were designed to be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, without tools, by common infantry soldiers.
If you need pictures and instructions to figure it out, perhaps you have chosen the wrong hobby.
Meh… I’ve used mats like that before. Unless I’m missing something in the pictures, the profile on the flange for the parts keeper is wrong. If you drop something – like a barrel nut wrench, perhaps – on the mat, but too close to the tray, all the parts go flying. The parts tray should have a stable flat back instead of a teeter-totter. It looks nice, but I’ll pass. I’ll keep using my custom made terry towel from Sam’s Club and separate custom made parts trays (custom made for margarine, that is)
Real Avid does have some pretty cool tools (if your in to gadgets). I’ve noticed other more mainstream makers getting in on the act too (e.g. The Gerber Short Stack and Leatherman Rail Multi-tool).
So there, anti’s. You may hate us and you may fear us but business is booming!
Ooh. I think I see my new desk blotter for work. The AR one will do nicely me thinks.
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