The standard rifle used by the British Army during the Cold War was the ‘Self Loading Rifle’ or SLR, a variation of the FN FAL rifle used by many NATO countries of the period. Like all weapons systems it needed to be kept clean to work correctly. The move to automatic and semi-automatic weapons made this even more crucial as deposits of carbon and unburnt propellant soon clogged up gas parts that re-cocked the weapon. To help keep their weapons clean sodliers were issued with a small cleaning kit in a litle plastic box:The plastic box has a hinged lid, in this case it has been painted yellow and someone has written ‘SLR’ on the top:The inside of the lid has the NATO stores number and the date of manufacture, 1975:Inside the box are the individual elements that make up the cleaning kit:1. Nylon Brush- for cleaning loose particles off the action of the rifle

2. Chamber Brush- for cleaning stubborn dirt in the chamber of the rifle. This can be screwed onto the combi-tool for ease of use.

3. Combi-Tool- This too is designed to allow the rifle to be serviced, taken apart and cleaned and is used to set the sights on an SLR.

4. Oil Bottle- this little bottle would have held gun oil to help lubricate the weapon.

5. 4”x2” cleaning cloth

6. Mk 7 Pullthrough with scraper type metal weight.

This set makes a nice addition to my 58 pattern webbing- I just need an SLR to go with it now…