Shooting out a boresnake brush?

[JohnM]

He went from the breech, the direction the over sized snake was pulled till it jammed.
That receiver being attached to the barrel gave him a major disadvantage allowing flexure in the driving rod, plus he ended up having to use rod just barely big enough to do the job.
With what he had to work with I doubt he could ever have reversed the brush and driven it out from the muzzle.

 

[lykoris]

I hammered from the muzzle, there was no way in hell given how much it bowed if more than 2 cm was exposed beyond the flashhider (6cm to crown)...there was 30cm on the receiver side.

Thing is, burning a 2mm hole to the centre of the stainless steel core of the brush enabled me to get the brass rod onto it very quickly....even then the first hour of having the brass on steel contact it seemed like I was getting nowhere (10-12 rods that were within 5mm difference in terms of length) and what I showed was a fraction of the rods that bent.

on a barrel without a flash hider it would have been a much easier process.

I also filled the barrel from the muzzle end every night with ballistol which no doubt helped also.

I will have to take it to the range this weekend and see how it shoots.

Fingers crossed and will report back

 

[JohnM]

You did go in from the muzzle?
I would have thought you'd never get that brush turned with those small rods and the flex the flash hider allowed.
You still gonna use bore snakes?

 

[backbencher]

Soldiers blow up M4s regularly by shooting cleaning rods out of 'em. Still gonna use cleaning rods?

 

[Bovice]

A correctly sized boresnake will NOT be stuck in the bore if the string breaks. If it's appropriately sized for the bore and becomes stuck, it can be pushed out with a cleaning rod. The issue here is not the concept of a boresnake itself, it's oversized brushes in barrels.

 

[X-Rap]

I always wondered about the broken rope stories, seems that there is always one end sticking out of the muzzle or breach.
If the wrong size is used I can believe both ends might break. I made a comment earlier in the thread about markings for size and I did look, it took magnification but they are indeed marked though poorly IMO. Just wonder if this is part of the stuck snake problem?

 

[JohnM]

Probably 99% operator error, never the less people seem to break those things off in a bore pretty often.
I'll use my rods. Besides, I don't think much of the idea of dragging a pull line or string through a bore over and over. They've got to get coated with crud.
I run a patch through one pass only, brushes get washed in solvent, and rods kept wiped down.

 

[Sun Tzu warrior]

Easy to see why Dillon says bore snakes are very popular with gunsmiths.
I too have to wonder how many of these "Stuck bore snake" threads are due to the operator using the wrong size.
Anyway, Congrats, glad everything came out alright! ( pun intended)

 

[Scooter22]

JMHO but if your bore is dirty/fouled enough to use a brush, get a rod and learn to use it. Otherwise get or make a pull through that just uses a patch. Trying to do both with a nylon string you get what you bought. Just a bunch of lazy shooters.

 

[788Ham]

You gonna throw away that good bore snake section? Man, whatta waste.

 

[backbencher]

JMHO but if your bore is dirty/fouled enough to use a brush, get a rod and learn to use it. Otherwise get or make a pull through that just uses a patch. Trying to do both with a nylon string you get what you bought. Just a bunch of lazy shooters.

Scooter, indeed, we should do everything to keep lazy shooters off the HIGH Road, and never entertain any method of improvement in cleaning firearms. Semi-automatics are probably also a dangerous innovation, and what's with these stocks that are not solid walnut?

 

[dmazur]

Of course there is nothing wrong with improvement.

However, if someone asks about a Jennings semi-auto, there will probably be some (honest) opinions about the safety and reliability of such a gun.

I believe the negative comments about boresnakes are in the same line.

Boresnakes offer convenience in a small package and clean a bore to some extent, but "full disclosure" should include the things which can go wrong, including how difficult they are to correct.

Then, hopefully, the informed user will do the right thing...

 

[Kynoch]

Would it surprise anyone to know I have shot out several obstructions like that and still have all my bits and pieces and no damage to the rifles or handguns?

Use a standard factory round, pull the bullet, dump out about half the powder and stick a fluff of cotton in the case to keep the powder from spilling out. DO NOT PUT THE BULLET BACK IN! Fire the cartridge. (With .22 LR, you can use the full powder charge, instead of half.)

That's it, folks, no bulged barrel, no explosion, no scratches in the barrel that weren't there before, no pieces of rifle scattered over four counties. Just a sort of "poof."

Now what not to do. DON'T try it with a bullet in the case; you WILL bulge or burst the barrel. DON'T use a factory blank cartridge; the powder burns too fast. With a revolver with the bullet stuck in the forcing cone, you will have drive the bullet back into the cylinder so the cylinder can be opened, and the bullet will either come out with the case or just fall out.

Jim

Sorta sounds like a mini pipe bomb...

 

[fguffey]

I make a form of bore snake that is not like the bore snake, it is impossible to stick, jam or hang up, but, if it did by design it has a unjam, unstick and unhang-up feature.

F. Guffey

 

[Jim K]

"Sorta sounds like a mini pipe bomb... "

Nope, no pipe bomb, just a clear and undamaged barrel.

But I like the method of burning the obstruction out by heating the barrel red hot with an acetylene torch. Now that is a great way to keep from harming the barrel!

Jim

 

[45_auto]

it is impossible to stick, jam or hang up, but, if it did by design it has a unjam, unstick and unhang-up feature.

If it's impossible to stick, jam or hang up (you obviously haven't loaned it to a few people that I know for testing!), why does it need an unjam feature?

 

[rcmodel]

+1

Give it to four GI's with nothing better to do for 15 minutes.

And you will soon find in less then 15 minutes, 4 of your 3 features are not at all foolproof, or even true!

rc

 

[lemaymiami]

As a former GI (all those years ago...) I resemble that remark...

Seriously, I'd like to hear whether that barrel performed properly after all the work required to clear it. Here's hoping the owner found it worked like it did before the problem.

 

[lykoris]

The answer is yes, it still stacks them in a nice hole at 100m and groups at 200m the same as before this incident

 

[Sav .250]

Keep us posted ...............

 

[J-Bar]

Wow. A double necropost (June, 2013 to Sept., 2014, then Sept. 2014 to Jan., 2015)!

It occurred to me as I read all 5 pages (cold rainy day here)...I wonder if the fabric portion of the stuck boresnake could have been dissolved out with a caustic drain cleaner (Drano, Liquid Plumber, etc.) I don't think the alkaline solution would damage the barrel, as acid would have, I just don't know if the caustic solution would work on the fabric.

Just to keep a good story going, don't you know.

 

[fguffey]

why does it need an unjam feature?

45_auto, To answer your question, I was asked to help remove a bore snake and a wood dowel. I was wondering why bore snake built 'THE BORE SNAKE' by designing it with out fool-proofing it.

SO? I find it difficult to complain about a design unless I can do better. I believe I did a better design. I shared it with a dealer that sells gun cleaning and reloading equipment. He made a comment that went something like 'I'll be damxxd", then made an offer that went something like 'You make them, I will sell them'.

I saw a bore snake being demonstrated at a gun parts store in Irving, TX. I was impressed. It was being used in a shotgun.

The unjam feature is part of the fool proofing design, and it is adjustable.

F. Guffey

 

[lykoris]

My intention was never to revive an old thread but it occurred to me over the holidays I never did update this thread on the rifle's performance after this entire saga after I'd mentioned I would "report back".

I was very fortunate how this all turned out - this year I would like to buy a bore scope and no doubt will have a heart attack when I see the real state of the bore. On paper it still shoots the same as it did before.

Long story short.

If you stick a bore snake in a rifle you need plenty of appropriately sized brass rods, a hammer, a lot of patience and time.

And yes, I still use bore snakes but hid them all when my brother turns up

 

[J-Bar]

In post #121 I speculated about using a drain cleaner like Liquid Plumber to dissolve a boresnake out of a barrel.

It won't work. I cut some fabric off an old boresnake and soaked it in Liquid Plumber. No effect.

...it was something to do on a cold winter's day.