How well do bore snakes work?

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Hokkmike

Hokkmike

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How efficacious do you think a bore snake is compared to a rod or cable and brush? I was in Gander Mountain and was going to pick up a bore snake for my new pistol and one of my experienced shooting friends really dumped on the idea. His impression was that they do a really substandard job.
 
Usually on these sites the term "bore snake" is bracketed by two other terms:

"HOW DO I GET OUT" [a bore snake] "THAT BROKE OFF IN THE BARREL?"

Those two terms in caps tell the whole reason I strongly advise against bore snakes, except for emergency use where the gun MUST be cleaned (why?) and a cleaning rod would be too awkward to carry.

Jim
 
I doubt you break a bore snake off in your pistol. Don't wrap patches around it. Put a little bore cleaner or oil on it, and it will work. I haven't ever had a broken bore snake.

I use then for .22 LR all the time, and for the 30-30 when out on the range.
 
I haven't had any problem breaking bore snakes. I use the bore snakes that also have the brass brush inbedded in them all the time with great success. I clean my guns after each session. I would rather see someone use a bore snake than to be reckless with a rod and damage the crown on the barrel. My opinion....ought to be yours! :)
 
I like them for running through a shotgun. For a pistol I just use one of the "pistol cleaning kits". About the size of a screwdriver and has a compartment for the different brushes. Easy peazy!
 
They are fine for non- meticulous cleaning. By theat I mean, I don't use them for rifles which I intend to be very accurate. For pistols, shotguns, or my issued M-16 they are fine.

I have never had one break, if it starts to fray, ditch it, don't force it where it doesn't want to go.
 
Tried it once on my Remington 700 .223. Sucker broke the first time. Barely got it out of the barrel. Threw it in the trash and grabbed my Otis Cleaning Kit.
 
I primarily use bore snakes for guns that are shot frequently. Doesn't replace rods and patches for a real CLEANING, but for a wipe down, boresnakes are great.
 
i use them all the time have one for just about every cal i shoot i have had one brake on me i belive it was a 22lr and the package said it could be used on 223 or 5.56 or something like that and it was extreamly tight in the 22. so i like them but nothing replaces a rod and pathes in my mind
 
I've read too many "broken bore snake" threads.
After reading one, that was enough for me. I won't use one.

Do a search, and read one or two of those threads. They are usually epic (don't end quickly or easily).

It's much worse with a rifle (because once the leader breaks, there is a lot of material in the barrel, and it has a long way to go to get out...either direction), but bad enough with a pistol.
 
i use the shotgun snake with the wire inbedded after shooting the clay games at the range. i like it,it gets alot of crap out of the barrel and the finial cleaning at home is easier. i still use the old rod system for rifles and pistols. eastbank.
 
I had one that started to bunch up in the chamber of my .223 bolt gun. Fortunately I was able to grab it with needle nose pliers and pull it out. That was it for bore snakes for me.
 
How do you clean them? And how often? The ones I've seen always looked filthy unless new.

Laphroaig
 
Boresnakes do fine for a quick cleaning job, and do a great job on shotgun bores.

For small bores like a .223 barrel, the accepted remedy to prevent "the broken string while it is in the middle of the bore and you can't get it out syndrome" is to tie a piece of paracord or shoestring to the back loop so you can always pull it back out if the front string breaks

They do NOT do a good job on leaded barrels, but they weren't really designed for that
 
I have them for all my calibers and use them often. But I also do meticulous cleanings every so often as well, but i think they are a great product for quick cleans of the barrel. People can go overboard with a rod cleaner and do a lot of damage to throats and rifling if not used properly with a muzzle guide and over exertion on their cleanings. It would be really hard to be hard on the throat or rifling with a bore snake. And I have never had one break and get stuck so don't know what to say about those who have.
 
Bought one once in .22LR/.223/5.56 and couldn't even get the thing started in the barrel, in fact I got it stuck in the chamber and for fear of breaking the cord off I promptly pulled it out with the use of a needle nose, discarded it after that and will use my cleaning rod from here ever after.

I haven't tried the shotgun method yet, but remember my Dad years ago using a piece of fishing twine tied to a rag with oil and pulling it thru a shotgun barrel. Seemed to work really well as I've got his old model 11 Remington and the barrel looks like brand new.
 
The only thing that works for my integrally suppressed AR-15.

I find rod based cleaning kits to work great for things like bolt actions and guns where the barrel can be easily exposed at both ends. For a lot of guns, boresnakes are just plain better.

I have no idea how people manage to break them off inside of guns, but I wouldn't imagine removing them is much different from pushing a cleaning rod or a dowel down the barrel to force it out.
 
I'm wondering if they have a Quality Control Issue. By reading these posts, it's either love it or hate it. I can say that when mine broke, my Father In Law was there. By no means is he new with firearms, firearm cleaning, and the use of a Bore Snake. It had him scratching his head.
 
I've never broken one... I'll put a little Hoppes or Breakfree CLP on the brush portion. I think the CLP helps it to move through.

To clean mine, I make sure my wife is out of the house, throw it in a pillowcase and tie a knot in the pillowcase. Into the washer, hang to dry.

You might want to dedicate one particular pillowcase, the brush portion is a little hard on cloth.

Mark H.
 
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