This is probably the second or third brand of 6 inch q-tip I've purchased on Amazon. I don't have a gun to clean, but find them extremely helpful to clean everything from appliance vents, behind faucets, between laptop keys, and really anywhere thats too small to clean anyother way. I've noticed that other reviewers said they break easily. Personally I found them to be more durable than any of the other brands I tried. Also, not all of them are two sided. These are, and the applicators seem to be covered in slightly better quality of cotton.

Cleaned my handguns and AR with these several times and I like them. They don't break easy, and the cotton is wrapped tight. Length is good for getting into deep spots on a really dirty rifle. The tapered tip is handy for cleaning recessed areas, or for adding a light coat of oil. Holds up fine with solvents, oil, and grease. These are good for all kinds of things too - Guns, hobby/crafts, electronics, cleaning/greasing small parts on repairs.

I'm very frugal but figured I'd give them a shot anyway. Glad I did. Worth the money.
AMERICAN MADE!! I'll be ordering more soon.

A nicely made American product. This version has one tapered & one rounded end. The cotton is securely attached and doesn't shed. My first impression were the sticks might be a little flimsy but I haven't had any problems with them breaking so far. In fact the thin size is somewhat of an advantage making it easier to access some tight spots. Best of all the price is right and they're made in USA!

One additional comment in case the seller reads this ... I would like the option to purchase these with both ends tapered.

I'm really happy with these. Big help in cleaning the hard to reach crevices in my pistols. I saw quite a few people complaining how the tips can shred & leave lint behind. These are cotton tipped swabs people, not screwdrivers or gasket scrapers! If you use them for what they are designed for, they work great. If you need them to chisel 15 year old gunk off of your neglected gun, probably not so good.

These look exactly as pictured. They come in a sealed paper bag. I do think they need to sell them in larger quantities though, I seem to go through a lot of them. They're great for getting into spaces you just physically can't reach without a tool of some sort and they do a great job of cleaning. I didn't have any real issues with them leaving cotton behind - they were quite clean in that respect. I wish they didn't get dirty so quickly, but then again, that's them doing their job, right?

Some have complained about the strength of the wooden handles. I find they bear up under reasonable expected force for the product. Sure, you're going to have a few tight spots where you break a few, just grab the end and keep moving. Unless you're willing to pay more for something stronger, that's just life. For the majority of the cleaning I need to do though, this isn't an issue. They do hold up well, they just don't hold up to everything.

For those spots with lots of edges, it will deform the heads to a degree, but they still seem to hold up better than average under those conditions. By the time it needs replaced it's typically dirty enough it should be replaced anyway so this really hasn't been an issue for me. Do make sure you get the ones with one end tapered (I've not tried the ones with the fine point). You'll put that tapered end to quite a bit of use if you're cleaning guns with them, though there will be plenty of larger spots for the regular tip too so neither is wasted. Having both seems to tend to prompt me to clean better too as tight corners and broader spots seem to come in equal quantities so as you're flipping back and forth you tend to be more often "using the right tool for the job".

I'd recommend these in a heartbeat to anyone needing to clean a gun - now if we can talk the seller into listing them in bulk (1000 at least) with a discount for quantity... I went through about 50 cleaning my handgun and rifle after putting 250-300 rounds total down field.