Ok to ONLY use a boresnake?

[gofastman]

I like cleaning out the barrels of my guns about as much as a root canal.
Is it ok to only use a boresnake to clean the barrel out and get rid of the solvent/brush/patch song and dance?
(12g, .22lr, and a glock 20 if it makes any difference)

 

[Gryffydd]

In my experience...sometimes. It just depends on how fouled the barrel is and what it's fouled with.

 

[gofastman]

Ok, and a follow up question; does solvent like BC BoreScrubber or Outers need to be completely removed from the barrel or is it ok to leave a little bit in there?
I have been following up the borescrubber application with some aircraft grade degreaser and water to remove it, Is this unnecessary?

btw Gryffydd, I love your signature!

 

[briang2ad]

If you don't care to have it totally clean (like I do) or if its a .22 and you cannot clean from the breech.

 

[WardenWolf]

I always put a bit of solvent on the head of the boresnake, right ahead of the brush section. It works well. I don't really see a need to do anything else for normal use. My bores come out bright and shiny. I use this technique in a wide variety of firearms and I've never had a problem. I think it gets them just as clean as a normal. There may be a little bit lingering in the chamber (mostly removed when excess solvent is squeezed out during snaking and the expanded tail passes through this section), but overall it's a superior method of cleaning.

 

[Buddylee253]

Thats freakin funny.....Trouble shoot!

 

[rcmodel]

IMO: It is practically impossible to do a good job of cleaning hard powder fouling, leading, and plastic wad residue out of a chamber & barrel with a bore-snake.
This is even more true with revolver cylinders and bottle-neck rifle calibers.

Bore-Snakes are only a stop-gap measure, and you need a conventional cleaning rod & bore brushes to do it right.

I have 50+ guns, and I only own 1 .22 Bore snake for use on a .218 Bee lever-action rifle I can't clean from the breech end.

rc

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I found one thing the boresnake is really good at.

I use them to get the oil out of the barrel when I pull a gun out of the safe before I take it shooting. I keep a whole set just for this one task so I don't have to pull out a rod and a patch do achieve the same result.

 

[Maverick223]

Not IMO, great for a quick cleaning before or during shooting, or as a temporary cleaning till you have a chance to break out the gear, but not a substitute. Even a .22LR needs the chamber, bolt group, and even bbl cleaned properly from time to time.

 

[rcmodel]

Slip and fall while hunting some time, then try knocking out a plug of mud in the muzzle with a bore snake!

rc

 

[Gryffydd]

try knocking out a plug of mud in the muzzle with a bore snake!

I usually just shoot it out

 

[Maverick223]

I usually just shoot it out

Just wrong...but funny anyways.

 

[gofastman]

Im really most concerned about the shotgun, a typical outting for me is about 50 to 100 rounds, would it be sufficent if I used a boresnake every time I go out, or are solvents and brushes just the way you have to do things to get it right?

 

[Maverick223]

I don't know if it is technically correct, but I don't thoroughly clean the shotgun like I do the rifles. Brush it...oil it...toss it in the safe, but it isn't an uber-expensive trap gun either.

P.S.: I like your Palin sig. line.

 

[gofastman]

^ I'm surprised to hear that, I would think a shotgun would fill up with crud a lot sooner that a rifle due to plastic wad residue.

 

[Maverick223]

^ It is a Saiga 12 (mostly just a fun-gun)...I think it might run better with crud...takes some of the play out of the parts. That might be the case on some scatterguns, but mine is a cylinder bore and exhibits about the same accuracy (and patterning) cruddy as clean...so cruddy it stays.

 

[WardenWolf]

I poly choked my Saiga 12. I didn't clean it after the last outing. Not enough rounds through it to worry about it. I live in a dry climate, so rust is not a worry.

Honestly, gofastman, I don't like most American shotguns because it's very difficult, if not impossible, to disassemble them for cleaning. Crap builds up in the action and gets behind the bolt face and you can't take them apart to get it out. Shotguns are dirty, dirty guns, and the inability to properly disassemble most shotguns was one of the major deciding factors for me in getting a Saiga 12. There's no part of that gun I can't get to within 1 minute.

My advice to you is to first use the boresnake on the bore to get most of the crud out, then hit it with a good brush and patch set to get anything else it missed. Use the boresnake "wet", by dipping the head (the area between the pull string and the brushes) in the solvent. It'll save you a ton of time and effort on cleaning.