Bore Snakes

snuffy
Senior Member


Join Date: 05-20-2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 476

A bore snake, or other type of pull-through is possibly the worst thing you could do to a rifled bore. It's impossible to guarantee the rope stays centered in the bore. Because of the nature of a woven rope/string to pick-up abrasives, it can and will scrape along the bore of a rifle/handgun. I will not, under any circumstance use one on a rifled bore. For shotguns, they could be used, but the crown of a shotgun could be altered as well.

Get a good one piece rod, a bore guide, use it to clean after you get home. Or take it with you for a range session.

This is the same advice that was givin to me several years ago. Even a waist of time in a shotgun. W/o solvents there not going to pull the plastic build up at the muzzle end, which I consider more important then getting out a little unused powder.
 
you never see a thread titled,my cleaning rod is stuck in my barrel,how do you get it out? I have seen many threads where bore snakes or Otis systems are stuck in a barrel.I have tried bore snakes,but went back to a good rod
 
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I haven't used one yet - I LIKE to clean my pistols the old fashioned way - I'm an old fashioned girl LOL.

But my son swears by the bore snakes, and has several. He had me send as many to Iraq as I could get my hands on. I'm getting one for the new shotgun on his advice. I did notice that the local Cabela's was out of the more popular calibers when I went to pick one up, so a lot of people must be buying them. Good advice re to follow up with a periodic complete cleaning - that should be a given with ANY 'quick' system.
 
I've been using BSs in several different cals for years. Good products. No damage, downsides or loss of accuracy in my experience.

Best

S-
 
For most people that read this... I would probably not use a boresnake in your sit.

Boresnakes (and otis) are excellent field cleaning tools. OTIS were issued for M40s in our Bt last time I was there. Amazing how everyone swears that "you can't use anything other than a brass or nylon coated one piece rod for a precision rifle..." but M40s (or any other military issued weapon) are cleaned to death with OTIS kits and 240 punch rods, yet they still hold their serviceable equipment required 1 moa.

For normal use, because I'm not deployed for 9 months or in the field for 3 weeks at a time anymore, I use the a 1 piece cleaning rod because It's of no burden to me. I do have a boresnake thats packed in my bugout kit though. Should Mexico invade (that's supposed to be a joke) and we are called to defend the homeland (finally) then I will have an effective field expedient tool to clean the bore of my rifle.

Boresnakes are not the worst thing you can do to your rifle barrel. Lack of cleaning and allowing the carbon/moisture/copper fouling to corrode your barrel is. Further, I fail to see how a thick nylon rope with a brush built into it will damage the crown of a rifle anymore than a cleaning rod with a brush, or a bullet for that matter. Especially if you punch the bore correctly (from the breech, not the muzzle).

Cheers
 
When I shoot the gun I'm carrying at the range, I find the bore snake extremely useful in cleaning the carbon out of the chamber and shinning up the feed ramp before the trip home--- where I'll clean it in the usual manner. It's a field tool.
 
Greatest thing since sliced bread. As for abrasives, keep it clean. Since the correct size is larger than the bore, it will maintain contact with the barrel throught the pass through.
 
Some of you guys make me laugh. It is a physical impossibility for nylon to wear away at a STEEL barrel UNLESS it's under a severe amount of force/pressure. I'm talking severe pressure as in well past anything achievable by a human being. It's just not gonna happen. Consider water. It can be used to cut tough material like steel, though it generally requires 30,000psi or more to do so. Bore Snakes work well for their intended purpose (a quick and easy way to clean). I use them about 80-90% of the time and a regular rod/brush/patch combo the other ~10% of the time. I usually shoot once a week or every other week and will use the BS after each time, and maybe once a month I'll use a rod/brush/patch combo to get that last ~5% of fouling out of the barrel. I'm not wasting my time breaking out the cleaning kit and assembling components every single week just because I put a few rounds down range when a few seconds will get me a few passes with a Bore Snake that will effectively clear out 80-90% of the debris/fouling.
 
Further I wanted to clarify my choice to use a cleaning rod vs. a boresnake. I was refering primarily to cleaning the bore of my .270 savage. I chopped the rifle up, rebarreled it, lapped the bolt lugs, polished the bolt, and all of that crazy stuff myself on the rifle. I also did a bondo stock reshape job. It isn't the prettiest or the most accurate in the world, but it consistantly shoots .75 moa with cheap factory federal powershoks. I am proud of it therefore I do all of the voodoo rituals to preserve that accuracy. Does it make a difference? Probably not a darn bit, but I do it anyway just in case:D

For my AR15, all I use is a boresnake. I may punchrod clean it 2 or 3 times a year. So when I was saying the majority of the GP shouldn't use boresnakes... I take that back. If we're referring to non-precision rifles used for home defense, plinking, hunting, etc... well I may would break out the outers and punch rods 3 times a year or so. The rest of the time would get snaked. Sorry for the misinformation the first post gents...

Cheers,
J
 
Shadow1198 Some of you guys make me laugh. It is a physical impossibility for nylon to wear away at a STEEL barrel UNLESS it's under a severe amount of force/pressure.
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Then explain why fishing rod guides are now mostly made of ceramic? The old STEEL guides would be grooved by the nylon line,(monofilament).

Here's my method; A one piece mylar coated rod, used WITH a bore guide, cleaned from the breech, using phosphor bronze brushes and caliber specific jags/patches. A good solvent of your choice,(I use wipeout), followed by lightly oiling.

More rifles have been damaged by improper cleaning than by leaving them dirty. Modern fire arms just don't need to be cleaned as often as most people do.
 
I use bore snakes for .22 rimfires which seldom leave copper fouling in significant quantities and occasionally for my centerfire firearms. The centerfires get a good brushing on a regular basis with a quality brush/solvent and a good rod.

As long as you keep the bore snake clean it will not cause undue wear on the rifle bore. Modern powders and barrels are much better than they were 50 years ago. Powders burn cleaner then before and barrels are made of better steel.


For what it is worth, concerning fishing rods: I troll Lake Ontario with braided steel wire on my dipsy rods. Everyone and his brother told me that my ceramic rod guides would be worn out in a short order. I even bought twilli tips for the rods but never installed them, I figured I would install them once the factory tips wore out...


Three seasons later the guides are still fine.....LOL....after hundreds of hours of seven strand stainless wire rubbing on the guides.

The twilli tips are still sitting on my workbench where I left them in 2005.
 
Then explain why fishing rod guides are now mostly made of ceramic? The old STEEL guides would be grooved by the nylon line,(monofilament).
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That is completely out of context with this conversation. You're refering to reels with I would say at least 100' of line, being constantly thrown and reeled back in, fighting fish which puts a small portion of stress, and... here's the kicker... it takes tens of thousands of casts with the line rubbing a very small concentrated area to make a little groove. I think most people here are talking about snaking a barrel 5 times or so a couple of times a month or less.

Something that was designed to withstand 30,000+ lbs of pressure, to include a precise fitting copper coated projectile traveling with tremendous friction at speeds of 2800 fps, isn't going to wear out because we pulled a piece of loose-mesh nylon rope with a brush built into it down the bore once in awhile.

More rifles have been damaged by improper cleaning than by leaving them dirty. Modern fire arms just don't need to be cleaned as often as most people do.
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I would say you are just plain wrong... but I'm not sure how many individuals are out there that dig and gouge in their chambers and punch from the muzzle with crappy fitting 3 piece rod sets. THAT can damage a rifle over time. More rifles have suffer accuracy problems from pitted rust and copper fouling from 10 years ago, than have been ruined by running a boresnake through the rifle.
 
Actually, Snuffy's right. The stuff that gets embedded in the fibers tears stuff up.

Thing is, we're not really talking about rifles that are all that accurate to start with, so you're probably not going to notice anything. Military rifles are built more with reliability than accuracy in mind.

I think it'd be okay to get general crud out but I'd just run it through once. Ain't gonna be all that much cleaner with a few times.

There's really no substitute for a bore guide and good one piece rod, with the proper solvent.
 
The most important aspect of SAFELY cleaning any barrel with rifling is to keep the cleaning patch and jag or brush centered in the bore. So that nothing BUT the patch or brush touches the rifling. That means the rod , rope, string, or whatever is pushing/pulling those cleaners does not touch the bore.

There's two areas of a barrel that are critical to accuracy. The crown and the throat. The crown is THE most critical. Wear on one side of the crown will quickly show up on the target.

Now you can't tell me that in pulling that rope while holding onto the rifle, you are keeping it centered in the muzzle. Or that the rope isn't dragging on the throat before the brush/patch enters the bore.

Okay, I'll admit that the nylon rope probably won't wear much on barrel steel. What I'm concerned about is the fine dirt that gets embedded in the weave of the rope being dragged over the extreme edge of the crown. Keeping that rope clean is nearly impossible. Even if it were totally clean, there can be abrasives in the barrel after a hunt. Ever see what wind does to a plowed field? Soil is nothing but tiny chunks of rock.

As far as copper fouling causing rust, well prove it to me. Nothing we shoot these days is corrosive. Unless we go out of our way to load black powder in a modern firearm. Yes, a barrel left uncleaned, then exposed to high humidity can rust if not oiled. BUT taking a bore snake or Otis kit with you to a range, so that you can clean BEFORE heading home makes no sense. Unless, of course, you don't intend to clean as soon as you get home. The a quick pass with an oiled patch would make sense.
 
There's two areas of a barrel that are critical to accuracy. The crown and the throat. The crown is THE most critical. Wear on one side of the crown will quickly show up on the target.
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Agreed.

Keeping that rope clean is nearly impossible. Even if it were totally clean, there can be abrasives in the barrel after a hunt. Ever see what wind does to a plowed field? Soil is nothing but tiny chunks of rock.
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Moot point. What stops that cleaning patch you put on the jag, or the projectile when you fire the rifle, or the bore brush will push that tiny chunk of rock just as a bore snake will.

As far as copper fouling causing rust, well prove it to me. Nothing we shoot these days is corrosive.
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I agree copper or carbon fouling doesn't cause rust. Note I said "pitted rust AND copper fouling from 10 years ago". Rust doesn't come from the copper fouling, it comes from having a dry (non clp) bore in high humidity or getting your rifle wet. It is a well known fact that rust and copper fouling do have one thing in common... they don't get easier to clean over time. Never mind I just looked at the last part of your statement their and we're saying the same thing...

Heres the point... 2nd Bt, 8th Marines has had the same M40s for over 5 years now. There have been alot of passes with otis kits and boresnakes, and those rifles still hold their required 1 moa. If I'm at home with my personal rifle I will use the punch rod. If it's not a bother to do it the "right" way, then do so. In the field with field grade rifles, then a boresnake will do just fine.
 
On several occasions I have seen bore snakes breaking...at both ends. Makes for an interesting afternoon trying to remove the remainder of the bore snake from the barrel bore. I refuse to use them.
 
What happens when a rod is pushed through the bore and the brush or patch holder or jag clears the muzzle. The rod via gravity will be pulled towards the center of the earth. During this process the rod will be stopped by the muzzle. Whatever that rod is made of it will grind dirt into the bore. If you use a vice and the rod contacts the muzzle on the same spot every time it clears the muzzle, the repetition of overcleaning in this manner will probably cause more damage than a bore snake would.

I have used a boresnake for so long and so much as a civilian and at war, that no amount of this or that theory will change the mind of those that know.
 
those rifles still hold their required 1 moa
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If I had a rifle that was only capable of 1 MOA, it'd go in the cheap sheet-metal safe with the surplus stuff...

There are PROPER ways to clean rifles. And there are FIELD EXPEDIENT ways to clean rifles. Yeah, the bore snake is all tacticool, and everything, and I suppose that one would be okay with limited use, but all you guys who are saying that it, and the Otis bit, are the end-all-be-all of rifle cleaning are mistaken.

Frankly, the average military rifle doesn't -need- MOA accuracy. The poor slobs who are carrying them just aren't that good.

HOWEVER, if I was an armorer and I had an M40/21/whatever in my care, and it was being handed to someone they call a "sniper," I'd be on the phone to Shilen if it handed me anything less than 0.5 MOA.

You care for your gear, and your gear cares for you.

Joe Grunt doesn't need MOA at 75 yards. Sam Sniper needs a heckuva lot better than that at 500.

And I -will- shoot accuracy with you for money.
 
Moot point. What stops that cleaning patch you put on the jag, or the projectile when you fire the rifle, or the bore brush will push that tiny chunk of rock just as a bore snake will.
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No, it's not, moot point that is. The difference is that the solid cleaning rod is pushing a patch/jag/brush through a barrel, with the tip hardware IN FRONT OF the rest of the rod. A bore snake must be dropped down the barrel AHEAD OF the patch or brush. That's when it can pick up abrasives already in the barrel. Those abrasive bits can never reliably be cleaned from the rope, so they're there to wear the rifling/crown from then on.

What happens when a rod is pushed through the bore and the brush or patch holder or jag clears the muzzle.
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The best instructions I've read say to not let that happen. How? You carefully push the first patch to the end of the barrel, then mark the rod where it enters the bore guide. Patches are changed after coming out of the bore guide. A brush has to come out of the barrel further to let the bristles reverse.
 
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