Cleaning gear & tools Album by willyp. Photos by willyp. 1 - 8 of 8 Total. 6298 Visits.
601 cleaning rod set in orig packing Very early cleaning rod set which is packaged w/an Energa grenade sight leaf, very rare set, has knurled handle rod, 2 sections same length as the handle, another slightly shorter, tip & bore brush, the rod sections are finished in a gloss black & are of a lightweight metal. The launcher sight leaf "tabs" can just be made out popping thru the wrapping in the middle area.
601 cleaning set rear of package The fact that the Energa sight leaf is packaged w/this cleaning rod set is a good indication this may have been the original cleaning rod sets issued w/the first 601's supplied to the military as the 601 was the only M16 variant to "officially" use this sight. The rod sections in this set are also of a different configuration (in length) than the later 4pc "commercial" sets & an illustration in the original USAF 601 manual 50-12 shows this (4pc, handle, 2 sections same length as handle & 1 shorter rod) as the cleaning rod set for the 601, it's also the only military M16 manual that illustrates the Energa sight leaf.
601, M11E2 & early M11E3 rod sets 3 of the different M16 cleaning rods sets in packaging, top to bottom: 1) 4pc lightweight set w/Energa sight leaf 2) 3pc M11E2 set 3) 4pc M11E3 set early model had the hole in the t-handle placed vertically, later sets were horizontal.
AR15/M16 cleaning rod sets Top to bottom: 1)4pc lightweight metal, knurled handle w/tip & bore brush (Colt), 1959-1964? 2)3pc M11E2 military rod set, T-handle w/tip & bore brush, military set 1966? 3)4pc M11E3 military set, early variant w/horizontal hole in T-handle as M11E2, came w/tip, bore brush & chamber brush, E1(not shown), E2 & E3 sets had different threading than the Colt provided sets & took the chamber brush which came into service approximately 1964-1965, E3 sets came into service approximately 1968-69. 4) 4pc M11E3 military set, same as #3 but had the hole in the T-handle drilled in a horizontal position. 5) 4pc knurled handle, similiar to #1 but handle/rod lengths are different, these sets are usually id'd as Colt "commercial" items & were supplied w/SP1 models also, the set shown came out of military stores from the 60's. Most probably provided by Colt w/th rifles around 63-64 between the 601 set (#1) & phase in of the first military set M11 (not shown). 6) 4pc knurled ha...
