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Is there a Superior Gun Cleaning Mat?

Glad you asked. I've wondered the same dang thing! Just kidding - This may not be the most exciting TFL blog, but I was curious to test out some popular gun mat offerings to see if some of the more expensive ones are worth it. I searched the Amazon for 5 of the top-reviewed gun cleaning mats ranging from $15-$70. Let's take a look at what I got. Keep in mind, the way they are listed here is not how I've ranked the mats. This is simply the order I reviewed them in. 

To test these mats, I considered the overall durability, size, how functional it is, how the mat material handled excess cleaning solutions, extra features, and how much it costs. 

1. Drymate 16x59 (SHOP HERE)

This Drymate pad is about as simple as you can get. It's a basic grey felt with a light stick rubber bottom. This is the cheapest pad on the list coming in at around $15. Nothing extra with this pad. I really like how big it is. I can set my whole Winchester SX4 upland on it with no issue. At first, it felt kind of lightweight and cheap but as I began to use it and soaking it with cleaning chemicals, I noticed that it never leaked through to the bottom side as I thought it would. At this price you can't go wrong with this pad if you want the simplest solution possible.  

2. Glory Fire 12X36 (SHOP HERE)

This mat looked and felt super nice. The material was cushion-like with a bit of a memory foam-type effect. As we all know, looks and feels can be deceiving. This mat is only 1 foot by 3 feet. I think this is way too small to work on any long guns. I understand that with the gun apart all the individual pieces would fit fine, but I prefer to have a larger work space where I don't feel cramped or worried about losing smaller pieces. This pad is only $25.99 but I'd definietly pay more for a larger pad. As I gave this one the chemical test and let my gun sprays sit on the mat, it soaked up a n average amount, but a lot of liquid pooling was going on on the surface. I believe this mat would get very dirty and fully soaked after repeated use. Not a fan. 

3. Raiseek 10x36 (SHOP HERE)

A little step up in price is the Raiseek rubber pad. This one is $29.99 and comes with some extra features. The first thing I didnt like was that this is a bit higher priced than most mats out there and it was packed in a tube meaning that when I rolled it out, it held to its rolled up shape. Not convinient at all for immidiate use. Some of the cooler sides of this mat are that the left and right sides have inlays and little spots to hold smaller components. This precents pieces form rolling off your bench. This function would maybe work better if the mat layed flat though. On the right side of the mat there are these same compartments but the coolest feature is that these ones have magnetic bottoms to hold dow parts that may roll. Super cool idea. This is a cool pad. I do with it was bigger though. A plus here is that the rubber isnt going to hold in the chemicals like these ofther pads will. 

4. Real Avid 19X47 (SHOP HERE)

I may be biased towards the Avid. I have been using this mat since I started doing gun reviews. I love the size of it. plenty of space to lay out the whole gun and work around all the different parts while staying on top of the mat. With this size comes a little bit bigger price point coming in at $45.99. This pad uses a textured felt/rubber type hybrid material that has held up very well. What I really like is that it's not super thick, so the chemical isnt going to soak in as bad. My favorite feature is the attached toolbox on the left end of the pad. This bax has multiple compartments within it and it;s all attached to the mat. This works great for storing brushes, chemicals, oils, or chokes even. The fabric is loose enough that it rolls up perfectly around the tool box to storave/transmort. 10/10 mat.

5. Rush Creek 16x69 (SHOP HERE)

This Rush Creek Creations gun mat is the Ferrari of cleaning pads. It looks very modern and rugged as it rolls up like a sleeping bag and is clasped shut with nicely sized buckles. The outside material is waxed canvas with leather accents making it look like a back pack with a very outdoorsy vibe. It unrolls to reveal a nice cotton based cleaning surface cut and stitched is a dimond pattern. This package comes in at $69.99. Truth be told I really like this mat. I would only really find it valuable though if I were traveling. There is a bunch of extra storage capibilities for whatever accessories you'd need for clenaing that all fits into a nice breifcase-type package when folded up. This could definitely be practical for home use too if you'd like to roll it up and stow it away. 

OVERALL, If I had to pick one, it'd have to be the Real Avid mat with all things considered. The size is awesome, the storage is handy, and the price isnt totally unreasonable for a guy who cleans a lot of shotguns. If I did more hunting on the road while traveling across the country I may go with the Rush Creek mat for its travel ready features and storage. BUT I wont be doing a lot of traveling this year so I'll have to pass. If price was a larger consideration, I'd 100% recomend the Drymate Amazon pad for $15. It was a good size and didnt soak through. I'm not big on the Raiseek and the Glory Fire. That's all for this time folks! 

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on, so live the #targetfocusedlife 

Stay Target Focused,

Steve