Is a bristle bore snake harmful to the barrel?

Someone is going to have to explain this to me.

I shoot 500 rounds of cheap thunderbolts on on hot day. My 10/22 is now caked with powder and mild lead buildup. I give it a healthy spray of hoppe's elite or whatevers on hand and drag a bore snake through. The lead comes out in visible fragments, and a inspection of the bore shows there is no more lead. Caked on powder usually takes another pass or two. My boresnake is now pretty dirty.

Am I supposed to believe that if I drag the (now dirty) bore snake through the barrel once more that the carbon fouling is going to re-cake itself? Is the lead going to re-stick too? I'm sorry I just can't see how even the dirtiest boresnake is going to leave more than trace carbon which could be removed by an oiled patch. What's in your barrel is stuck on which is why we use a solvent, the bore snake is not going to re-stick it.
 
Matt, heat changes the chemical composition of both primer and powered, and the residue after the shot can become hard, kind of like sand. Furthermore your boresnake picks up bits of dirt sand and dust as you move it from its case/holder to the rifle and back. It collects crud, which is electronically attracted to the fibres of the snake (whole nother discussion) so when you drag that snake out it surely brings a lot of crud with it, but as you drag it by the crown and through the bore, the sand, dirt, dust in it.....on a microscopic level..... works like sand paper on all the surfaces it touches. It really is a simple as that. If you have seen the bore surface or crown surface magnified at 50-100 times you would easily see with your own eyes how easy it really is to damage the surface of the steel, ultimately affecting its accuracy.

Hey your rifle, your snake, do as you please..... most 22's are cheap anyhow, and if they get damaged, so what, just buy another.
 
If you're cleaning frequently and would rather not brush the barrel every time, just remove the brushes from the snake. Carefully stretch the braid near each brush until you have an opening and pull the brush out. There should be two.
 
As well as the chemical composition change, boro-silica sand is used as a percussive agent for priming in many rimfire cartridges. The reason RF fouling appears so gritty.
That sand does not undergo any change with ignition. It can become embedded in the snake and with each pass through the barrel the grit is being run over the crown.
 
ok but since most rimfire bullets have wax on them and the coating builds up, wouldn't that also be saving your barrel/crown from being scratched as you pull either a patch or boresnake through?
 
dizzy said:
Matt, heat changes the chemical composition of both primer and powered, and the residue after the shot can become hard, kind of like sand. Furthermore your boresnake picks up bits of dirt sand and dust as you move it from its case/holder to the rifle and back. It collects crud, which is electronically attracted to the fibres of the snake (whole nother discussion) so when you drag that snake out it surely brings a lot of crud with it, but as you drag it by the crown and through the bore, the sand, dirt, dust in it.....on a microscopic level..... works like sand paper on all the surfaces it touches. It really is a simple as that. If you have seen the bore surface or crown surface magnified at 50-100 times you would easily see with your own eyes how easy it really is to damage the surface of the steel, ultimately affecting its accuracy.

Hey your rifle, your snake, do as you please..... most 22's are cheap anyhow, and if they get damaged, so what, just buy another.
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That actually makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the explanation.
 
Mandown! said:
ok but since most rimfire bullets have wax on them and the coating builds up, wouldn't that also be saving your barrel/crown from being scratched as you pull either a patch or boresnake through?
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A cleaning patch or two removes any lube build up. It would seem likely that the huge surface of a boresnake would also. Cleaning patches are typically one use and toss. Boresnake is dirty after the first pass.
Nothing wrong with a boresnake. They are a suitable field expedient cleaning device. The PatchWorm or Otis system are far better. Hoppe's has done a remarkable marketing job!
 
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dryfire said:
As well as the chemical composition change, boro-silica sand is used as a percussive agent for priming in many rimfire cartridges. The reason RF fouling appears so gritty.
That sand does not undergo any change with ignition. It can become embedded in the snake and with each pass through the barrel the grit is being run over the crown.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this primer sand be exiting the barrel when the bullet is fired? So in effect sand blasting the barrel and crown every shot? If the bore snake is like sand paper then actually shooting would be like sand blasting?
 
I prefer to use a rod and guide, or at the very least just a one piece rod. here is something to think about....if that snake breaks off in the bore what are you going to do?
 
only time the snake would break in the bore would be when the wrong size snake is used. just like the different sized rods come with different calibers. . and a wood dowel can be used to remove the boresnake should that ever happen. Cleaning swatches are cloth same as the snake. and once pushed thru the bore one way , it has to be pulled "dirty" back thru the bore to be replaced. Would this action not drag the same abrasive material thru the barrel?
 
Winnipeg Toymaker said:
only time the snake would break in the bore would be when the wrong size snake is used. just like the different sized rods come with different calibers. . and a wood dowel can be used to remove the boresnake should that ever happen. Cleaning swatches are cloth same as the snake. and once pushed thru the bore one way , it has to be pulled "dirty" back thru the bore to be replaced. Would this action not drag the same abrasive material thru the barrel?
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It would of you did it that way. I use a pointed jag and push the patch from breech to muzzle, and let the patch fall off bringing the jag back through empty.
 
Vex said:
Wouldn't this primer sand be exiting the barrel when the bullet is fired? So in effect sand blasting the barrel and crown every shot? If the bore snake is like sand paper then actually shooting would be like sand blasting?
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Bowie said:
It would stand to reason...

It would also seem to me that passing a bullet down a bore covered with sand would act somewhat like abrasive lapping compound.
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Internal ballistics show the occurence of a precursor wave which precedes the bullet as it travels down the barrel
The precursor wave which is moving the same speed as the bullet, to a large degree moves the detritus before the bullet contacts it. However, it does stand to reason there may be particles that are not swept up in that precursor wave. However, particles borne on an airwave,whether ignition gas or said precursor are likely to have less of a deleterious effect than being dragged through like sandpaper.

Those who dryfire on spent cases can attest that not all the priming grit is expelled during firing as it is frequently dislodged and deposited in the barrel on dryfiring.
 
oh my,,what's better Molson or Labatts,,,LOL...the bullies in the sand box are trying to force their fancy words down the regular guys throats,,,i'd rather have a piece of rope down my bore than a feaking metal rod,,,LOL
 
I use them all the time, they are a great item for a quick swab after session, my rifle a not clean to often, they dont need to... JP.
 
hootguy said:
oh my,,what's better Molson or Labatts,,,LOL...the bullies in the sand box are trying to force their fancy words down the regular guys throats,,,i'd rather have a piece of rope down my bore than a feaking metal rod,,,LOL
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So you think that expressing a point of view and conveying explanations with other than monosyllabic words is bullying. Your in the wrong arena or you need to create beliefs from a little more than seat-of-the-pants. The information is there for anyone to research. It just depends whether you have the desire to learn a little more than beer hall banter.
 
I only use the bore-snake as a portable in-the-field cleaning solution. That is, if I am on a 2-week hunting trip, and after a few days feel the need to make sure the rifle bore isn't dirty from rain/snow/mud/dust. I run the bore-snake through as required. Given it's compact/light nature, it's very handy for this. Carting an alchemist's laboratory and cleaning rods to match isn't an option for most of my hunting trips. I'll save those for when I get back home. The bore-snake is a great little pocket tool which keeps me going. That's all I would bother using it for.
 
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