Hardware Talk: Real Avid Bore-Max Master Cleaning Kit

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Whether you need cleaning supplies or a rifle rest, the Real Avid Bore-Max Master Cleaning Kit workstation has everything you need for the range.

In the warm weather months, I haul myself and a pile of gear to the range once or twice a week. In the winter, I go once a week unless there’s a snowstorm. I’m not looking for sympathy, or bragging: I’m just explaining my workday.

And as part of the cargo load on each trip, I have to take gun cleaning stuff … well, because. Hauling a rifle cradle along is a hassle. If I don’t, the old clubhouse at my gun club is either a 100-yard hike or a 60-foot set of stairs to use the workbench there, depending on which range I’m on. Another hassle.

So, the Real Avid Bore-Max workstation is brilliant.

It’s a single case that contains all the gear needed to clean normal and common rifle, handgun and shotgun sizes. That alone would be good. But the Bore-Max, when you take it apart, also has a built-in base and rest to hold a rifle or shotgun.

Oh geez, I’m in love.

Finally, there’s the Real Avid flexible light (called the Smart-Assist), so you can get light just where you need it. On my rifle range, the covered line and its shade is great to beat the heat. But it makes seeing fine details a real chore. And on the handgun range, there’s no shade, so direct sunlight makes some small parts not visible when they are hidden from the sun … you know, underneath the receiver or shaded by your own body as you strain to reach and work.

You can mount the Smart-Assist in one of the multiple locations the base of the Bore-max provides, and it is a flexible stalk, so you just bend it around until it is directed right where you want it to be.

The included rod and bore guide means you aren’t compromising on bore service life, and the brushes, swabs and scrapers mean you can get the sludge and grime gone.

You’re thinking, “You’re at the range, how much do you need?” Well, on a recent trip I was swapping the piston on my FN SLP in 12-gauge to see if it cycled with a different load, and the piston tipped over, rolled off the bench and dropped onto the sandy range floor. Once I was done cursing and had knocked and blown as much of the sand out as I could, the scrapers in the Bore-Max made it easy to get the last of the sand out of the various nooks and crannies.

The Bore-Max has everything but your lunch, and the solvents and lubes you’ll need. But we all already have boxes and bins of those, right?

Now, good stuff does not come cheap. I’ll admit that spending a tad over two Benjamins for a cleaning kit might seem like a bit much.

But try and piece it out separately. Go ahead. See what a complete cleaning kit costs. Then, add a rifle cradle. And finally, track down a light with a flexible stand. All that gear will not only cost you more than the price of the Bore-Max but will take up a lot more space in the trunk of your car, or the bed of your pickup.

Nope, good stuff isn’t expensive, it’s a bargain.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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