use of a bore snake

R

rebs

New member
What is the proper way to use a bore snake ?
Do you add solvent like Hoppe's #9 on the front of the snake before the brushes and put some oil on the back behind the brushes ? Or do you put the Hoppe's in the barrel and let it soak before running the snake through ?
What is the proper or prefered way to use a bore snake ?
 
From the instructions:

To use the BoreSnake, apply Hoppe’s No. 9 Solvent
to the first floss area of the BoreSnake and drop the
brass weighted end through the breech of the gun so
that it falls through the length of the barrel. Then pull
the entire BoreSnake through the barrel. The first floss
area removes loose foreign particles. The embedded
bronze brush will scrub away all fouling and residue.
The body of the BoreSnake will swab the entire length
of the barrel, flossing and polishing…all in a single
pull
 
The BoreSnake is not a substitute for proper cleaning ! I use them as a range tool mostly . Once in a while I'll drag one through a filthy bore , that a customer has brought me . Just to get a better look at it . They are a handy tool at the range , when doing load development !
 
oneoldsap said:
The BoreSnake is not a substitute for proper cleaning ! I use them as a range tool mostly . Once in a while I'll drag one through a filthy bore , that a customer has brought me . Just to get a better look at it . They are a handy tool at the range , when doing load development !
Click to expand...

+10

Great for the range or gun shopping to look at bores. It well not take the place of a good quality cleaning rod.
 
We take them hunting with us in case there's an unexpted accident where the barrel gets jammed with snow or mud: cut long skinny stick to push most crap out then oil up the snake and send him through! It does work for this purpose pretty well and fitss in small day-pack.;)
 
The BoreSnake is not a substitute for proper cleaning ! I use them as a range tool mostly . Once in a while I'll drag one through a filthy bore , that a customer has brought me . Just to get a better look at it . They are a handy tool at the range , when doing load development !
Click to expand...

Excellent analysis.
 
For those of you that jus' gotta use one, do not put solvent on it. Solvent will degrade the BoreSnake string and you may wind up with one stuck in your bore. As others have said, it is a convenience tool, not a replacement for a cleaning rod.
 
The bore snake isn't a substitute for deep cleaning, but it is good to scrape carbon off between strings. It is also worth doing before you hit the barrel with foaming bore cleaner.

Jimro
 
Using a boresnake for cleaning is kind of counterproductive, unless you throughly clean it before you run it through each time, you are jsut dragging the same grime you just removed back through your bore. If you want a portable cleaning system for use in the field look at the Otis system. Kind of the same principle but much stonger and you can use a clean patch each time.
 
If you ever have a Bore Snake break off in your barrel, you'll use whatever's left of it to hang yourself. :cool: Get a cleaning rod. Do the job right! :)
 
Whoa, this is getting a little unfair towards bore snakes. We used to use one to tie open the door of the armory for when the solvent smells got too strong... and it worked great in THAT application.:p
 
Geeeeesh! Bore snakes work fine. Used them for years on my 12g's, 30 06 and 22's. My bores are clean; is there something more?

.02 David :)

Nope, the snake will not work on my .50 muzzleloader!
 
If you understand the concept you will realize that you are NOT pulling the grime through the bore any more than with a cleaning rod. The solvent-soaked front chemically loosens the grime, the brush scrapes it out and the first few inches after the brush catch the grime. The rest of the snake softly sweeps the bore dry. The important thing is to keep the snake as clean as possible. Don't let it hit the ground where it will pick up dirt and sand because then it WILL be bad for your bore. Grime is really only collected right behind the brush and is Loosely held in soft material where it's unlikely to scratch the bore. I've used bore snakes for years almost exclusively to clean my rifles because improper use of a cleaning rod will destroy a barrel quicker than anything. Especially fiberglass or steel rods.
It's important to note that I'm not one to clean the bore on a perfectly accurate rifle and mess that up. Mine usually only get cleaned when accuracy starts to diminish. It can take as many as 1000 rounds for that to happen depending on the powder and projectiles I'm using. FWIW...
 
Yes I use them in conjunction with regular cleaning. Final analysis. If its clean when done by either method then that's fine with me!
 
I'll have to admit I'm a little confused by the low opinion of the boresnakes--I put a couple patches with solvent through, leave it wet, run the bore snake thru at least twice, couple more patches to dry it followed by a cut down oily boresnake [ no brush ] and it's plenty clean---I like the boresnakes because the brush goes in one direction only and moves continuously until clear of the rifling at the muzzle---and as far as the brush being tight enough, with the effort it takes to pull it through, it's doing it's job. So I'm not saying it's the end all cleaning solution, but I feel they get the job done.
I use them at the range after every 10 shots or so--not a bad idea while waiting for the barrel to cool----
 
+1 (actually + several) for classic cleaning rod/boreguide -- and the technique of letting the solvent
have the time to do its job before trying to scrub things out.

Yes, I own and occasionally use bore snakes from 22 - 45 caliber on my rifles. But I know that the result
(while much better than nothing) is only a 75% job that still requires a preservative wet patch of
CLP/WeaponShield down the bore w/ a Dewey/Otis cable that I carry in the field along w/ the snake.

Putting that initial dry patch down the bore w/ a rod before firing next weekend at the range is very revealing. ;)
 
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Making a polite comment about boresnakes is difficult...

I actually fell for the "pitch" and bought one for every caliber. After all, it would make cleaning rifles fast and easy. And would be easily packed for field use.

After a few uses, they were so dirty I wanted to clean them. And that wasn't fast or easy.

The reference to using a boresnake to clean the bore after using a stick to push most of the crud out is interesting...it points to the need for a cleaning rod, without actually admitting it. :)

I finally found a civilian version of a sectional cleaning rod (like the ones that were used with Garands) which is a good compromise. The broken-down length is only 7", and it allows use of standard cleaning techniques. No, it isn't a one-piece carbon fiber rod, but I believe it is OK for occasional or emergency use.

Here's one candidate for a boresnake replacement -

http://store.safariland.com/kleen-bore/product274.html

For some reason, my LGS has one-piece and two-piece rods, but does not stock these. You can find several sources online, however.
 
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