Use of a Bore Snake Questionable? Why!

Sly Old Fox

Sly Old Fox

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Perhaps this is posted in the wrong forum. If so, sorry.

Some where in here, I read a negative comment about using a bore snake in the cleaning process.

Could we have some elaboration on this please.:confused:

As for me and my SKS, I give the barrel and snake a good shot of windex, a couple of pulls, then go to very hot water. When barrel is still hot, I shoot some Red's mix down after using several dry patches on the jag
on rod.

One is never too old to learn:)
 
Nothing wrong with a bore snake, despite what some will say. The usual complaint is "dragging grit down the barrel". And pushing patches down a gritty bore does what, exactly, that's different? I thought so.

That said, though, I personally find that they're not usually enough to get your bore scrubbed as well as can be done with patches/brushes/etc, but they're a great "field cleaning" method (IMHO).

Other side note -- I don't even own a 22LR cleaning rig any more; I just bore snake it whenever the accuracy falls off (somewhere more than 1,000 and less than 2,000 rounds, on average), and use a q-tip with solvent to clean up the bolt/receiver and such..
 
I have used them for almost four years for all my calibers and never had a problem. I can't think of what might not be good about thme. The only thing that they may be talking about is not having a solide cleaning rod for pushing stuck cases/patches out with. I have both in my range box, I just never use the solide unless something is stuck. YMMV

Shawn
 
I tend to consider a bore-snake to be more of a field-cleaning tool.
That said I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you describe using it. If you're not worried, I'm not worried.
 
I also agree with it being a good field-cleaning tool. It will not get the barrel clean like a jag, patch, and quality cleaning rod.
 
CdnCombatMedic said:
Do you put the dirty patch through the 2nd time or put a fresh patch on........lol
Click to expand...

Fresh patch = check, but as long as the bore is not clean (I dunno about you; but it takes me a whole stack of patches to get one really clean), the patch has to grind along through the grit and grime that's there (hopefully picking up some of it with each stroke), so I see no practical difference between that and what a bore snake does.

Or to put this another way, ignoring all that -- after the barrel takes as much as 65,000 PSI, bullets at high velocity screaming along in hard contact, producing extreme heat and friction, not to mention, the powder under intense pressure acting as an abrasive every time you pull the trigger, and if you shoot more than one shot through a barrel in between cleaning -- all that happens with grit and grime already in the barrel. Dragging a bit of nylon rope through it is like a vacation for your barrel after all that. :)

YMMV, but that's MHO.
 
CdnCombatMedic said:
Yes but a clean patch goes in each time, wheras you are putting a dirty boresnake through 2, 3, 4 times...........
Click to expand...

My point is -- this makes a practical difference, how, exactly -- in terms of what's happening in the bore. In both cases, a relatively soft substance (patches or boresnake) is being pulled (or pushed) through the barrel. All "grit" (for lack of a more eloquent word) in the bore at that time, is subsequently pushed (or pulled) along the length of the bore while trapped between the soft substance and the bore itself. From a physics perspective, it's the approximately the same darn thing -- that "clean" patch you started with (especially the 1st patch) is covered in grit and grime by the first inch of barrel, and subsequently goes the rest of the barrel length dragging grit along it.

Furthermore to that logic -- if this (dragging either boresnake or patch down a dirty bore in hopes of cleaning it) was a particularly harmful thing to happen to the bore, then all of our guns would all stop shooting straight after a relatively few number of cleanings. This is not the case -- ergo, no matter if you are (or are not) dragging more or less grit down your barrel with your boresnake or cleaning patches -- either way, you ain't hurtin nothing (and since most of my guns shoot better clean than dirty, it seems obvious to me, that it's actually helpful).

You could, however, argue that you cant' get the bore as clean with a boresnake, since there is grit already on the boresnake, some might get left behind. I wouldn't disagree -- as I said in my 1st post on this topic, I have found that using patches and rod per tradition is the method whereby I can get the bore the cleanest (along with a little help from foaming bore cleaners and sweets 7.62). But a quick pass with a boresnake will radically improve the cleanliness of a dirty bore, make no mistake.


YMMV.

:)
 
he only objection I am aware of is if the string breaks they are almost impossible to get out.

I only use them for drying the bore at the range before firing.
 
paulz said:
he only objection I am aware of is if the string breaks they are almost impossible to get out.

I only use them for drying the bore at the range before firing.
Click to expand...

This question never worried the UK forces in using the cord pull through and 4 X 2's. I never saw a SMLE pull-through break.

Who has? And they had a loop at the end which was only used to snag onto if one did break.
 
When using a bore snake, I give the barrel a heavy shot of aerosol bore scrubber from the chamber end to loosen up and blast out any grit and crud before hand.

The snake goes through once only. I wash them every time afterward.

Great for a quick cleaning at the range, but no substitute for a proper rod and brush/patches.

They are the only thing you need for cleaning shotgun barrels though... just perfect.
 
Bore Snakes are for amateurs. Sly Old Fox, one of the REME tricks for removing a stuck or broken pull through was to fire a blank cartridge in the rifle. This is according to Laidler/Skennerton in "An Armorers Perspective". Unless you have a muzzle guide, to stop the snake from rubbing on the edge of the muzzle, you will do damage, may not be noticable at first but it will show up, sooner than later.
 
IMHO Cord wear is overrated, also consider the fact that 99.9% of a bore snakes used in Canada are not soaked in WW1 french trench mud. :rolleyes:

Use a boresnake properly and it will do a good job.
 
bearhunter said:
. Unless you have a muzzle guide, to stop the snake from rubbing on the edge of the muzzle, you will do damage, may not be noticable at first but it will show up, sooner than later.
Click to expand...

I clean from the chamber to muzzle with a chamber guide( Dewey coated Rod), are you suggesting I also use a muzzle guide?
 
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