The best gun cleaning vises are superior to a bench vise. Because of the rough edges that might damage sensitive sections of your rifle, a bench vise is not the best way to secure your handgun while cleaning it.
Most gun vises have cushioning and soft sides to protect your guns from scratches. The gun vise is intended for general gunsmithing and cleaning of long firearms.
This evaluation examined all of the most common gun vises on the market and several that aren’t so popular. You would like a gun vise that isn’t constructed of weak plastic and can easily lock your weapon into position for cleaning.
This article will help you choose the best gun cleaning vise available.
5 Best Gun Cleaning Vise
1. Tipton Best Gun Vise for Cleaning: Best Gun Cleaning Vise
Tipton understood what they were doing when they named their gun cleaning vise.
This version is literally titled “Best Gun Vise,” a clever marketing maneuver. The major question, though, is if it is true.
While it is one of the most costly gun vises on this chart, it is also one of the most well-thought-out. This gun cleaning vise’s flexibility is a fantastic feature that will not disappoint.
While the entire item is plastic, it does not have a cheap feel.
Is there anything the Best Gun Vise cannot handle while cleaning your pistol? The Best Gun Vise is easy to construct and takes around 10 minutes.
The finest gun vise’s flexibility suits almost any rifle or AR, and the gripping mechanism keeps them nice and stable.
One thing to remember is that, although Tipton’s Best Gun Vise is obviously sturdy, it is also quite light. You may use clamps or perhaps a sandbag to restrict it from sliding around like that.
2. Tipton Ultra Gun Vise with Heavy-Duty Construction: Best Gun Cleaning Vise & Maintenance Center
There was a definite victor during our test: the Tipton Ultra Gun Vise. This gun vise is intended to operate with any firearm, including pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
It may also be used to work on bows and crossbows, making it incredibly versatile.
The vise has two solvent-resistant hooks and two accessories trays on a rail system. You may adjust the location of these clamps and plates on the fly to provide a firm grip on your handgun.
Furthermore, there’s an AR-15 mag blocker option, and the whole unit sits on four independently-leveled legs, allowing you to level it on almost any surface.
3. Tipton Standing Ultra Gun Vise with Heavy-Duty Construction: Best Gun Cleaning Table
This choice may be a bit of a cheat, but we couldn’t resist including it.
This vise has the same arrangement as your top selection, but it is a standalone type and doesn’t need a bench or table storage.
This offers the Tipton Standing Ultra Gun Vise a fantastic choice if you’re constructing dedicated gun maintenance and cleaning room. Or if just want anything that doesn’t need to reside on a workbench and take up too much space.
This is the choice to choose if you have the room, the money, and the ambition for the greatest high-end gun vise you could possibly require.
4. CTK PRECISION P3 Ultimate Gun Vise: Best Gun Cleaning Vise
If you need a gun vise that also serves as shooting support, the CTK Precision P3 is an excellent alternative.
This heavy-duty steel leveling vise comes with a shot rest attachment for homing your scope, barrel sighting, precision testing, load design, etc.
It’s a touch hefty, but that’s what you want in a leading sled or shot rest arrangement. It doubles as a vise for cleaning and maintenance, making it a very flexible alternative.
Sometimes, a product is far superior to what you’ve previously used, and you get ecstatic, and CTK might be one of them. Last year, we purchased the CTK gun vise to repair my old Tipton, and I’ve never been pleased.
Most individuals like to do things in a specific way and make it a habit. But every now and again, something new will come along, and it’s time to break those old routines. CTK is as STEADY as a rock and will not budge an inch.
Also included is the P3 Ultimate Gun Vise add-on, which was formerly offered separately but is now included. The top image shows the CTK without a vise attachment, which lets you use it as a short rest.
When you connect the vise, it will latch to the vise’s 1″ square tube. It includes a large crank lever for tightening the vise. The cushioning is excellent and incredibly soft, ensuring that your pistol is not damaged.
This weapon vise is Amazon’s top pick and has far and by the most favorable ratings of any other gun vise. I could not think of anything to worry about, so I checked what other people were saying.
The most common criticism was directed towards the assembling instructions. You could go to YouTube and watch CTK’s high-quality clips to help you put this bad boy together in no time. Aside from that, the pricing is reasonable, the vise itself is of great quality, and I adore mine.
5. Tipton Compact Range Vise: Best Gun Cleaning Table
The Tipton Ultra Gun Vise is the next iteration of the Tipton Best Gun Vise.
You won’t be shocked with this gun cleaning station, which has a sturdy steel frame with a chemical-resistant finish.
It is compatible with rifles, break open guns, pistols, and muzzleloaders.
It also works with compound bows and crossbows if you’re into archery. This extra adaptability was a welcome addition. The Ultra Gun Vise is ideal for cleaning, gunsmithing, sight mounting, and basic weapon upkeep.
This gun vise has adjustable clamps to accommodate a wide range of rifle barrel sizes. As a bowhunter, I like them, including the ability to handle my compound bow. With all of the tools I already have on my workstation, having a firearm vise that acts as a gun cleaning stand is fantastic.
They used their already excellent Best Gun Vise and learned from it to enhance it. There aren’t other weapon cleaning stands like it, and you’ll realize that the moment you see it. There is indeed a lot to be said for firms ready to take a chance and innovate, and Tipton is unquestionably one of them.
Also check: Recommended gun cleaning kit
What is Gun Cleaning Vise?
A gun cleaning vise is a specialized instrument used to keep your handgun in place while maintaining or cleaning activities. It’s not technically essential, but the time and stress saved against trying to clean some firearms without a vise, or doing any type of gun maintenance without one, may more than compensate for itself.
A rifle is an expenditure of hundreds or thousands of dollars, and utilizing a vise while cleaning may help protect the finish and, particularly, laminate wood from scratches and damages.
Finally, certain gun vises may be used for short rest, ideal for zeroing a rifle or checking accuracy. A break is also quite useful if you’re focusing on load development.
Types of Gun Cleaning Vise
You should be informed of the many types of gun cleaning vises available. The fundamental contrast is between freestanding vises and tabletop vises.
A freestanding vise eliminates the need for a workstation or countertop since it has its own foundation that maintains the clamped gun at the right height for cleaning or conducting maintenance. The advantage here is that you don’t have to clear up the workstation (or even possess one) to use the vise.
The disadvantage is that this sort of vise takes up more room and cannot typically be stored in a more compact format without disassembling the vise. Although some have retractable legs, they nevertheless have a considerable footprint.
If you’re converting one shed section into gun maintenance and cleaning center, this isn’t a major concern. If you don’t have the room but have a workbench, desk, or countertop (as well as the best pistol cleaning pad), a bench vise is for you.
Important Factors to Consider While Buying Best Gun Cleaning Vise
It’s also useful to have anything with solvent-resistant polymeric contact surfaces that won’t degrade if the cleaning solution gets on them. Finally, I’d want something that can be used as a shooting rest or has a firing rest attachment.
Zeroing a weapon with a seeing vise or “lead sled” is an excellent approach to eliminate the human factor.
Solid Clamping Mechanism
This is obviously self-evident, but it doesn’t make it less significant. The ideal gun vise will feature a rock-solid fastening mechanism, so your pistol will never slip off your desk while cleaning it or installing a sight.
You worked hard to acquire the money to buy your handgun, and the last thing you want is for it to slip off the table while attempting to care for it.
The best clamps will undoubtedly be metal, although plastic ones will suffice. Plastic clamps are most likely to be found at lower price levels. This is perfectly OK, but make certain you’re purchasing a pistol vise with a high-quality polymer clamp.
Because there are so many distinct materials with various mechanical characteristics, the term “plastic” actually doesn’t do a good job of explaining how strong something is. Like copper and steel, different plastics are both termed metals but are vastly different.
Robust Frame
Strong clamps are excellent, but they won’t do you any good if the framework is weak. The great news is that a firearm vise & repair center is never meant to be a firing platform, but you want to work from a solid foundation.
Many of the gun cleaning vises we tested are mostly constructed of plastic. As previously said, this is OK as long as they use high-quality materials.
The ideal gun vise will be constructed on a metal platform. Even if the elements on top are made of plastic, starting with a solid base is critical. Tipton’s Best Gun Vise, Tipton Ultra Gun Vise, and Lyman Gun Vise are all designed on a metal rail system.
This gives a solid foundation for future work and guarantees that nothing down low fails while your focus is diverted elsewhere.
Adjustability
Every gun enthusiast is aware that firearms come in various forms and sizes. For this reason, the finest gun vise will feature a lot of adjustments to provide you a tight grip on your pistol when you’re cleaning it or adding a scope.
When cleaning your pistol, clamping in the wrong place might be inconvenient or give an insecure clamping site. Putting your gun vise on slides will really assist you in getting into the appropriate locations. When you’re operating on your gun, this helps clean that much simpler.
Solvent Resistant Surfaces
Your touch surfaces will most certainly get heavily covered with CLP and gun cleaning solutions throughout their lifetimes. Closed-cell foam is used in the best gun vises to prevent it from breaking down over the years.
Gun oils, like as CLPs, can react negatively with improper materials, and you don’t want that to happen to your capital. Tipton & Lyman has a long history of using high-quality foam.
Built-in Maintenance
There’s a strong possibility you’re not as well-organized as you’d want to be. The right gun vise will include a built-in maintenance center to assist with this and will have various sections for storing various components from your pistol cleaning equipment. A decent gun vise will contain a maintenance center to manage your cleaning rods, weapon mop, brushes, and solvents.
FAQ
1. How does a gun cleaning vise work?
A gun vise is just a specialized, non-marring vice meant to provide you a stronghold on your firearms so you may clean them, conduct maintenance, or whatever. These are wonderful for cleaning long guns but aren’t usually used for cleaning pistols.
The vise’s fundamental job is to clamp the weapon in place to work on it more effectively, which is ideal when washing the bore with cleaning rods or adjusting everything to do with your seeing system.
A high-quality vise makes it considerably easier to attach scopes, change sights on a handgun slide, bore sight, and create hand loads if you pack your own ammo.
Even if you don’t intend to do any gunsmithing yourself, a vise is an excellent addition to your weapon cleaning equipment, especially if you play a lot of flintlock muskets or bows and arrows that require extensive maintenance.
2. What to look for in a gun cleaning vise?
I’m viewing these presses from the eyes of a gunsmith/armorist, so I want something that will withstand years of rigorous usage and abuse. I would also like something with a high-quality rear brace and center support that won’t damage the finish on my excellent bolt-action shotguns or a client’s pricey break-open handguns.
We also examined the clamping mechanism, specifically how the vise attaches to the buttstock. This may be an issue with certain lower-quality versions, especially plastic gun visors without a core metal channel.
It’s also useful to have anything with solvent-resistant polymeric contact surfaces that won’t degrade if the cleaning solution gets on them.
Finally, I’d want something that can be used as a shooting rest or has a firing rest attachment. Zeroing a weapon with a seeing vise or “lead sled” is an excellent approach to eliminate the human factor.
Conclusion
Remember, a gun vise is not really a firing rest and can not be used to support your pistol for firing. The best gun cleaning vise is used to secure your rifle when cleaning or mounting optics. Many gun vises include built-in maintenance centers that allow you to simply keep track of all your equipment, gun components, and cleaning materials.
A quality gun-cleaning vise is an excellent addition to your cleaning tools and equipment. It helps clean your firearms a lot simpler and less irritating, plus it’s quite useful to have on hand if you ever need to conduct any maintenance, such as attaching a scope.
