Black Rain Ordnance Gun Care Products ReviewIf you are familiar with Black Rain Ordnance, then you know the company is all about assuring top end quality of every component that goes into each rifle from the polygonal rifled stainless barrels to the billet uppers and lowers. What most people do not know it that Black Rain also has created a premium line of weapon care products which it specifically recommends to care for its rifles.
ABOUT BLACK RAIN ORDNANCE
Black Rain was founded in January 2008 by two gun enthusiast with retail management backgrounds. Their original goal was to offer the finest custom billet upper receivers for AR-15. They then expanded that goal to custom billet lower receiver models called “Fallout15” and now complete Fallout15 rifles. Today Black Rain is striving to manufacture each of their rifles parts on site, but in the interim has partnered with the top AR part manufacturers to assure any part not made on site is of the highest quality possible on each of their rifles all while assuring each part is made here in the US. As of late 2012, Black Rain has now expanded its line to .308 SR-25/DPMS-308 variant big bore rifles and just introduced an AK-47 at Shot Show 2013 like only Black Rain could build. Ever since my original review article of the Fallout-15, Black Rain still remains the best deal for a fully loaded premium quality AR15.
To keep these top tier AR15s running at optimium Black Rain Ordnance has developed a line of premium weapon care products including a solvent, standard and synthetic gun oils, a rather unique water displacing protectant, and a lens care solution for optics when find homes on these fine rifles.
FEATURES & FUNCTIONSThere is without a doubt an entire industry devoted to cleaning and lubing a firearm, however I think Black Rain’s approach is a bit different. Instead of guessing which lube, oil, solvent and protectant is best for the particular finishes of your firearm, Black Rain has done the testing to understand which tweaked formulas work the best on the finishes and parts of Black Rain’s Fallout-15 rifles. Of course Black Rain does not have a refinery in the back of the facility and is having several industry leaders manufacturer their tweaked and tested formulas of each product. One this was certain through testing; these are all top performing products in their own right and in some cases the best I have ever tested.
Premium Gun Oil and Lubricant - $7.99 - This is a standard style lubricant similar to Rem Oil, but thicker. I used this oil for all the typical spot lubrication, wipe downs, and was used for the bore cleaning treatment on a number of firearms including my Fallout-15. In cold weather and hot weather I had no issues with gumming as you might have with a mid or low grade oil. All around a great oil with a very convenient spray bottle, although the oil is just a bit heavy and delivers a strategic spit of oil versus a spray.
Premium Cleaner and Solvent - $7.99 - This is probably the best and most aggressive cleaners I have ever used to clean a firearm. Generally my test of a new bore claner is to re-clean my Mosin Nagant after being cleaned with the last latest and greatest bore cleaner. In this case I was stunned to pull dirty patch after dirty patch out of what I thought was a clean bore. A word of caution that this solvent is very aggressive and may affect some Duracoat finishes however anodized, Ceracoat, and Black Rain’s own finishes are fine, so test a spot before you go soaking down your rifle. A little thing, but I like the flip-top lids versus a nipple top or screw off top, however on this solvent I would prefer just a screw off top if you were going to throw this in the range bag.
Premium Synthetic Gun Oil & Lubricant - $7.99 - For those who prefer the sythetic oils, such as myself, this is one of the best I have tested. First off it does not stink to high heaven, but still provides ongoing lubing qualities even after high heat is applied. Subjectively, I believe this is one of the better bolt lubes out there and for $8 in a simple to use squirt bottle, it makes it a breeze to use although the oil is just a bit heavy and delivers a strategic spit of oil versus a spray like the standard oil above.
Premium Anti-Fog & Lens Cleaner Solution - $7.99 - OFten forgot and neglected, optics do require a little TLC once in a while. Unlike weapon lubes, there are not a lot of lens cleaner solutions out in the firearms space, so I applaud Black Rain for adding this excellent solution to the mix. I have never had a high quality optic fog on me, so that would not be much of a test, however I did have a set of Rayban sunglasses which always fog on me in cold weather... that is, I did have. The cleaner works as well as other optical glasses cleaners to clean smutz off your lens, however the Anti-Fog additive works awesome. Definitely a product you should have in your range bag.
Water Displacement for Firearms Spray - $11.99 - As a kid I spent a lot of time around WD-40. We lit fires with it, put the straw on and made flame throwers to burn off all the cobwebs in the garage, and also used it for general firearms cleaning & lubrication. It was not the best, but it was what we had. One thing I was generally annoyed with was that it really did not displace water was well as I think a namesake product should. The Black Rain Water Displacement Spray is unlike any WD type product I have tested. As this animated image shows, after being sprayed on top of the water, the Black Rain WD formula actually pushes down to the bottom of the container of water. Yes, I said it, the water ends up floating on the oil. I am not sure what witch and wizard they had whip this up, but it truly displaces water on a firearm like nothing I have ever seen. If you and your favorite Fallout15 or hunting rifle are caught out in the rain, this product could truly save your finish and protect your firearm. FINAL THOUGHTS
For a sum total under $50 you can have a complete set of all of these weapon care products and based on my rate of use, it will probably last you 2-3 years. More importantly, if you own a Black Rain Ordnance rifle, they only recommend these care products for the rifle, so it make sense to protect your investment with what the manufacturer recommends. So ask you Black Rain retailer for the Black Rain care products line.
Comparing these products to others on the shelf, they are priced at or below many other competing premium weapon care products and are packaged in easy to use containers. If you run across these at your sporting goods store, I would recommend you give them a try as each of these formulas is as good or better than any premium firearms care product I have tested previously.
… AND NOT THERE IS MORE
Since I originally wrote this article, I wanted to provide an update. Black Rain Ordnance is continuing to expand its line of products and is introducing component level kits as well beyond just charging handles and hand guards. In a time when everyone if busy building AR15s from the ground up as fast as they can or in need of replacement parts, you always need those tricky little parts which can be tough to find. Black Rain now has Roll Pin and Spring kits available which are the same premium quality as used in their own rifles. I picked up a set, just because... you know, it is always good to be prepared.
SPECS
Premium Gun Oil and Lubricant - $7.99
Premium Cleaner and Solvent - $7.99
Premium Synthetic Gun Oil & Lubricant - $7.99
Premium Anti-Fog & Lens Cleaner Solution - $7.99
Water Displacement for Firearms - $11.99
Roll Pin Kit - $9.99
Spring Pin Kit - $14.99
SOURCES
Black Rain Ordnance
http://blackrainordnance.com