A fine makeup brush. What?, Why? would you need that in Africa on Safari? Simple - Most of Africa is dry where we hunt. The dust is everywhere. You ride around for hours every day in the Land Cruiser and get dust all over your rifle. The old Mauser type CRF action is fairly immune to dust but most other newer designs with tighter tolerances and push-feed plunger ejectors will eventually bind up from the gritty dust bath. After my 1st trip, I learned that a can of compressed air and a makeup brush were perfect for getting much of the dust out of the tight spots in the rifles and off the scope lenses without damaging the fragile surfaces.
Also learned to remove most all lube from the bolts and gun surfaces so the dust does not stick as much. This will not affect operation and the small amount of wear is negligible. You can wipe them down and lube them when you get home. Therefore, I bring a small very soft makeup brush in my gun cleaning kit to help maintain my rifles and I use it every day after the hunt. Plus, it is handy if you need to apply a little more blush to your cheeks before posing for trophy photos with the PH and that big Kudu.
