Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber (synthetic safe formula).  I remember when I was a kid and used to clean my uncle’s gun because “I got to”, yea I really thought that way.  Mostly that cleaning was a brush and a mop thought the bore and a clean out of the chamber and wipe down with a oil rag.  But sometimes he would help, we would break the gun down and really give it a full cleaning.

The first time we did this I discovered Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber I thought at that time and still do think today, the stuff is like magic.  Every bit of residue, oil, etc, gone in a second, the metal is ice cold and dry at the same time.  This stuff belongs in every gun cleaning and maintenance kit.

Let’s talk about the synthetic safe thing though.  Flash 8 years later and young Jack Spirko is a private in basic training.  He is cleaning his 20 year old Vietnam Era M16A1 and it feels like spit shinning a turd.  No matter what he does, the Sergeant Major’s tiny thin ass pinky can always seem to find some dirt in his weapon’s chamber, he thinks “if only I had some Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber.”

Young Spirko gets though basic and goes to AIT (advanced individual training) more of the same, Drill Sergeants yelling, lots of training, daily PT and more inspections.  One thing changes though he gets a bit more freedom, like the ability to go to the PX.  Young Spirko goes to the sporting goods section of the PX, hoping against hope and there he finds his long sought Birchwood Casey.  He buys 4 cans and shares with all the guys in his squad bay.  These 8 guys are going to rock the next inspection!

The spray does its magic but this is in the days before the average person had synthetic stocks, young Spirko has never even touched a weapon with synthetic stocks until enlisting.  Something horrible happens!  Every where the stuff touches the stocks, they turn bleached out whitish gray!  Oh shit!

Fortuitously Spirko’s squad leader (a prior service Marine) had seen this before, a bit of black shoe polish mixed with tiny amount of CLP (civilians call it gun oil) and a wipe down of the stocks and they are back to looking like shitty 1970s era hardware they are.  The day was saved and while the squad didn’t get though the next inspection totally gig free, weapons wise they did very well.

Well, I continued to spread the word about Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber when I went to my permanent duty station.  With a warning about getting it on the stocks and the remedy if you did.  It made a lot of soldiers really happy.

In 1993 I finished my time in service and came to Texas.  I continued to use Birchwood Casey and about 2012 if I remember right I was at a place called Academy Sports and Outdoors.  Picking up some stuff for a range trip and found the synthetic safe version.  I tried it and it worked just as good as the original, and a spot or two on your stock was no longer a disaster.

Now let me tell you the one important thing about this stuff, it is basically stripper.  It takes EVERYTHING off gun metal except say bluing or parkerizing.  All dirt but also every drop of oil, etc.  This means it is a cleaner not a maintainer, and you need to properly lube or lightly coat with oil any metal that it touches after cleaning it, as otherwise it will be unprotected.

So if you want to keep your guns at the ultimate level of clean pick up some Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber today.  I recommend at least 2 cans at all times in your kit.  Because of course two is one and one is none.

Final Warning – When I say this stuff takes all grease, grime, soot, powder residue, etc. off I mean it.  Do not spay this stuff over an unprotected area or it will be covered in gun gick!  Your wife will kill you if you do this over the dining room table!  Put down a layer of like two old towels and for best results do it outside.

Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com