I got my first Otis cleaning kit only because it was relatively cheap as one of the items available on a Springfield "Loaded" coupon. I liked the flex rod but thought the round slotted patches were a little too complicated and a little too expensive.
I used the Otis kit once in a while the first couple of years I had it but generally relied on my accumulated Dewey rods, individual components and remnants of Outers kits. (My two original kits date back to when they still came in metal boxes.) Then one day, when I was cleaning only handguns (I didn't have an Otis rod long enough for long guns) I decided to try the Otis kit again and, all of a sudden, I "Got It!"
For starters, I realized that, in cleaning different calibers, I needed to leave the Otis instructions open in front of me so I could see how to pinch and tuck the patches to match the caliber. The advantage here is that the patches are always fairly snug when they go through the bore as opposed to square patches which fit however they fit. It's almost like pulling a perfectly sized knot through the bore. It does a much better cleaning job than using a square patch. Since there are three sets of slots on each patch, and the crud is confined to the leading area around the slotted jag, each patch can be used three times helping to keep the cost ($.06/ea?) reasonable. Note: I always run a clean patch though last when I'm cleaning the barrel. But if I'm cleaning multiple guns that same patch makes the first two dirty passes through the next gun.
I don't like to run anything through a gun from the muzzle end if for no other reason than to keep from pushing dirt back into the action. The flex rod feeds from the breech end pushing any dirt ahead of it out the muzzle. If you need a handle to grip, there's a rod that slips crossways through the end cap and gives you a "Tee" to grab. If you're using a brush you don't have to take it off to thread the rod though a second (or third) time. Plus the rods have end attachments that keep the threads clean when they're in use.
So, as you might guess, I took the plunge and got one of their larger kits. I really love the flex rods for cleaning any long gun that doesn't have a straight shot at the chamber end, like pump and semi-auto guns. Just thread the rod in through the ejection port and you're good to go. I especially like this with .223's. Before you can pull a cleaning component through the barrel, you have to push a rigid rod in from the muzzle. In a small caliber like .223 it's almost impossible to do that without pushing crud into the action on the first pass. Plus you don't have to thread on a brush while you're trying to line it up in the action.
I've never liked boresnakes. At best I've never considered them useful for anything more than a quick cleanup at night in a campsite. But the Otis flex rods are a completely different kind of pull-through device. They only bend to about a minimum 4" diameter circle so if you hold then within about 4-5" of where they enter the barrel they act just like a rigid rod. They could clear a clogged barrel as well as any rigid rod and probably be safer for the barrel in the process.
So, Yeah! I think the Otis kits are worth the money.
