Well, a cleaning kit is for cleaning the gun, right? Of course! However, AK cleaning kit has several built-in “hidden” features. Some of them are intentionally put into the original design, others are invented by the users of AK rifles.
You can watch all these alternative uses of the cleaning kit, as well as a couple of other tricks in the video below:
Here is the list of all these uses of the cleaning kit with some explanations:
- Removing the cleaning rod. Sometimes it is hard to get the cleaning rod past the muzzle device. So using some sort of an improvised tool is handy.
- Compressing the muzzle device detent plunger. In order to remove or install the muzzle brake, you need to compress the detent plunger, which is sometimes a tricky task.
- Front sight height adjustment. In the process of zeroing the sights, you need to screw in or unscrew the front sight post.
- Front sight windage adjustment. On most AK rifles the windage is adjusted by moving right or left the front sight post drum.
- Screwdriver.
- Safety selector lever tension adjustment. On some AK rifles, safety selector is really tight and hard to manipulate. In order to release that tension, you need to field strip the gun, pull the safety lever up (almost vertical) and gently bend it outwards.
- Gas tube locking lever tool. You can pretty frequently see a very tight gas tube locking levers, so having a handy tool to move it is always good. Another method of moving these stuck levers is to use the rail slot on the bolt carrier.
- Handguard retainer disassembly. These little pivoting parts fold inside the handguard and usually are relatively hard to reach.
- Magazine floor plate disassembly.
- Mainspring disassembly. During disassembly, you must raise the mainspring ends and catch them behind the hammer “ears” to release the tension from the trigger for further disassembly.
- Retention for mainspring during disassembly. Once mainspring ends are hooked to the hammer, they must be somehow retained. Usually, people use a rubber band or something similar. In this case, you can use the cleaning kit cap to secure the spring, which is a much better solution.
- Trigger mechanism and bolt disassembly.
