With patches you throw them away after each pass through the barrel. With a "snake", you keep passing the same dirty, gritty, rope through the bore time after time, till it finally gets washed/cleaned. Which for most, is usually never.
How many of you use bore snakes
- Thread starter Papaclaude
- Start date
With patches you throw them away after each pass through the barrel. With a "snake", you keep passing the same dirty, gritty, rope through the bore time after time, till it finally gets washed/cleaned. Which for most, is usually never.
- Location
- West Quebec
Like anything else keep them clean and when fraid throw them out and get new ones
Cameron SS
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ground Zero
I would never use a bore snake in a precision rifle.
But I do own boresnakes in every calibre I have, and use them routinely. For some guns, a bore snake is the only cleaning they ever see.
Bore snake is a tool like anything else, and like all tools it requires maintenance and cleaning itself. I see some guys who take their bore snakes to work and let 30 guys use it after a weekend of firing blanks. That snake might as well be considered disposable.
After every 20-30 uses I hand wash my bore snakes with with a little bit of TSP and hang dry them. Never had one fail, never had to retire one from service prematurely. I suspect the ones that are breaking are also filthy and carbon build up is what is destroying the fibers.
Where's the "like" button.
Mighty Peace
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Land of the Mighty Peace
x2 Been doing this for years.
I use the Dewy rods to clean my rifles at the range or at home.
Hand Skills
CGN Regular
- Location
- In the 'heartland', southern SK
They sure are handy for lead slingers and leaver guns.
I would rather use a bore snake than a take down rod, so that's what I carry along with small containers of solvent and oil in my pack when out in the field.
Keeps the rifling shiny and dry, which is important to me. I keep the 1 piece rods at home, and thoroughly clean rifles every 100-200rnds.
I'm not really pro or anti snake. It's a tool... Between 'de-copperings', I may pull a snake through on a half a dozen different occasions. I just ensure the string is centred in the bore as I'm pulling and have seen no evidence of crown deformation.
I have noticed that since I started using bore snakes my chambers seem a lot less prone to rust. Whatever the reason (probably they see more oil than they ever did), it's a pleasant discovery.
I can see how benchrest shooters have no use for a bore snake. If your guns are used only on nice days, and stored in controlled conditions, you probably have little use for a bore snake.
For those of who carry in the rain and snow, for whom gun storage might mean a job-box in the truck, or a scabbard on a horse, the bore snake is a useful and popular tool.
I would rather use a bore snake than a take down rod, so that's what I carry along with small containers of solvent and oil in my pack when out in the field.
Keeps the rifling shiny and dry, which is important to me. I keep the 1 piece rods at home, and thoroughly clean rifles every 100-200rnds.
I'm not really pro or anti snake. It's a tool... Between 'de-copperings', I may pull a snake through on a half a dozen different occasions. I just ensure the string is centred in the bore as I'm pulling and have seen no evidence of crown deformation.
I have noticed that since I started using bore snakes my chambers seem a lot less prone to rust. Whatever the reason (probably they see more oil than they ever did), it's a pleasant discovery.
I can see how benchrest shooters have no use for a bore snake. If your guns are used only on nice days, and stored in controlled conditions, you probably have little use for a bore snake.
For those of who carry in the rain and snow, for whom gun storage might mean a job-box in the truck, or a scabbard on a horse, the bore snake is a useful and popular tool.
I have both the rods, jags, brushes and patches which are used at home. But if i'm trying different ammo I will use the bore snake in the field when changing to a different ammo. Especially with rimfires where a lot of ammo can be used on a given session. The bore snakes are not used for oiling or adding solvent - in the bores. I also wash them with soapy warm water, rinse them with warm clear water and let them hang in a warm place to dry.
I only use bore snake on my rimfires but I use 17 cal snake in 22 bores (22 snake is very tight and I don't want to hurt the delicate rifling). I soak the bore with G96 (love the smell) for about 10 min, and then I spray section of the snake with the said G96 and pull through. Bore is still slightly moist after which protects against corrosion. A carbon rod and a patch once a year. Rimfire bores do better when cleaned gently and lightly. Quick pull through for centerfire sporadically after range session and carbon rod/patch later at home. Snake always a bit smaller cal than the bore. The matching snake to bore are very tight and I worry about hurting the rifling. Also, pulling through, one needs to really pull straight parallel to the bore otherwise the rope may fray and hurt the muzzle/crown. Generally, I think hunting rifles need less cleaning than we obsessively give them unless it is a target rifle that has a lot copper bullets passing through in each range session.
I use both Bore Snakes and rods. Bore snake for a quick wipe and rod/brush/patch for a real thorough scrub and clean. My .30 cal snake seems to be fraying a bit, but I figure it's because I bought it from a greasy salesman at the Kamloops Gun Show.
I always use the 12ga bore snake and its awesome. Since shotguns don't really get that fouled up(unless is black powder) it has been lasting. I takes for damage in storeage from the wire part. It makes my barrel real shiny after using it.
I don't think I would bother using a bore snake on the sks though. With how much carbon gets built up in there I think It would just ruin the snake too quickly
I don't think I would bother using a bore snake on the sks though. With how much carbon gets built up in there I think It would just ruin the snake too quickly
I use it when the rifle needs to sit a while or when I don't want to do a deep cleaning. I actually very seldom clean my rifle; only when accuracy trails off. Over cleaning is a good way to damage a rifle! I focus more on making sure the action, mag well and bolt are clean and obstruction free.
It always brings me joy when I see that people think a slightly dirty bore snake is doing major damage to their bores when they are firing lead/copper/brass projectiles at thousands of feet per second through that same barrel.
Are people trying to pull pistol snakes through their rifles? Otherwise at least one end should be accessible from one end. If it breaks you should be able to pull it through. Although I have a hard time believing that half of the people that claim breakage actually have experienced one.
Use them properly and they work.
Are people trying to pull pistol snakes through their rifles? Otherwise at least one end should be accessible from one end. If it breaks you should be able to pull it through. Although I have a hard time believing that half of the people that claim breakage actually have experienced one.
Use them properly and they work.
