Bore Guides Worth it? Cleaning Rod Vs. Bore Snake

[silverfoxdj]

Good bore guides and good cleaning rods are not worth it, IF you want to ruin your barrel.

Had to reread that one LOL

 

[350 Mag]

Bore snakes are a gimmick.

Get a quality cleaning rod and bore guide.

 

[Markus]

Imagine 1 single piece of sand or a flake of steel bedded into your bore snake as you pull it through your barrel. The damage it can cause is irreparable. I always use a quality cleaning rod that gets wiped off every pass and a bore guide.

 

[77gunner]

If your going to do something, do it with the right tools. Totally worth it.

 

[mrgoat]

I have a one piece Parker Hale, plastic coated steel rod, brass tips. Haven't seen Parker Hale for sale in shops in many years. So get a Tipton, or Dewey. I use bore snakes for a quick barrel wipe out in the field or hunt camp. I carry an Otis field kit in my jacket pocket for just in case situations while in the bush. I think most fellas have issues with a pull threws, or bore snakes because they put to big a wad of cloth on the end and it gets jammed up in the barrel and something breaks. Just put a reasonable piece of cloth on so it slides through easily. It still cleans out the daily crud from a day in the bush and never gets stuck.
My shotgun rods I made myself from lengths of various sized depending on gauge hardwood dowels with cannibalized threaded aluminum ends pinned and epoxied to them. Those dowel rods are 40+ years old now and still doing there job. Come to think of it the Parker Hale Rod is that old as well. So if you invest in good cleaning equipment it will last you a life time.
All the above has worked just fine for me for decades. I never damaged a gun that I am aware of and they always came out clean.

 

[Off in the Bushes]

Thanks for all the advice I am getting a bore guide, and cleaning rod and have sign up for a gun cleaning coarse that our local range puts on.
The cleaning rod do you want it just as long as the barrel? Does length matter as long the rod is as its longer then the barrel?

 

[Dogleg]

I use bore-guides but mostly just to stop the patch from falling off. For the most part they don't do much to protect the throat because they are bigger than the bore is. Its sort of like using a culvert to guide something into a garden hose. There are exceptions like the Lucas and likely some others.

People clean their rifles too much anyway.

Off in the bushes;
The shorter a rod is, the stiffer it is.

 

[Off in the Bushes]

So one of the good points made in the cleaning coarse was when using a bore snake, after the first time your just dragging a dirty snake through your gun the rest of the time.