Boresnake versus Patches

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besides coating them with oil after use, I treat them like a rimfire so they rarely get cleaned. i think the universal cleaning kits have shotgun brushes.


my friend never cleaned his pump shotgun and he didn't notice a difference till there was all sorts of crud in the action and it started jamming.
 
frankenstein406 said:
besides coating them with oil after use, I treat them like a rimfire so they rarely get cleaned. i think the universal cleaning kits have shotgun brushes.


my friend never cleaned his pump shotgun and he didn't notice a difference till there was all sorts of crud in the action and it started jamming.
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Shotguns don't require a lot of cleaning. When I shot a lot of skeet I would shoot 800 rounds every weekend. When I first got into skeet I had a graded 870 wingmaster. It would have globs of unburned powder inside it and it never failed to function. Especially when I used green dot to reload my shells. Green dot loads great low recoil shells.
 
Back when I was a kid, and I didn't have a fancy gun cleaning kit, I would make a little bundle out of a piece of old T-shirt, tie a string to the bundle, spray some WD-40 on the bundle, drop the string through the barrel, then pull the bundle through the barrel. It worked just fine. Make sure you don't make the bundle so big you can't pull it through the choke. Sort of a homemade boresnake I suppose.

Shotgun barrels aren't really hard to clean.

Unless you got old copper fouling like a Parker I bought recently has...:banghead: :D
 
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As some have said, I like to use both. I generally run a brush through the bore of my hunting rifles every 500 rounds, and a bore snake every 20-30, as well as in place of patches after using the brush. I never use patches except to mop the bore with solvent prior to the brush. The bore snake does a better job finishing up IMO.
 
Boresnake?

Been seeing lots of threads about them lately. They are OK for shotguns, but as mentioned now you have this nasty dirty snake to clean. Just go traditional patches.
 
I don't get cleaning a bore until one gets a perfectly white patch out. I'm shooting a bullet through it. Cleaning out the majority of the gunk is good enough for me. As long as my guns stay rust free, hit what I aim at and go bang every time, I call it good. Add to that I can drag a bore snake through it in 15 seconds, and I'm sold. It's not the most thorough cleaning, but, with an occasional thorough brushing, it is good enough.
 
What I don't like about boresnakes for any weapon is they are tied onto a nylon rope that will cut materials a lot harder than a barrel
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What?!?! A nylon rope is going to "cut materials a lot harder than a barrel"? Care to explain that statement?!?!!?!?!?
 
Look up nylon fishing line and the development of rod guides. They starting using ceramic guide inserts because the line was cutting grooves in the metal guides.
 
Different types of materials in the way they are made - the braided rope is not as cutting as fishing line.

Cleaning out the majority of the gunk is good enough for me.
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Until the plastic buildup changes your choke constriction - might be detrimental when using steel, or your choke tube threads get stuck because of blowby getting under the skirt of the tube, or your gas gun stops working because the ports are gunked up..........
 
Personal preference. Weapons were cleaned with patches long before bore-snakes arrived and they seemed to have survived.
 
I run a Boresnake with Ballistol through the barrel while it is still hot at the range.

Never had a problem, no buildup and a squeaky clean barrel.
 
Look up nylon fishing line and the development of rod guides. They starting using ceramic guide inserts because the line was cutting grooves in the metal guides
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.

Well, yes, that's true, but those guides were a LOT softer than a gun barrel. I can't imagine pulling a nylon rope through a steel gun barrel, by hand is going to hurt a thing.

At least not in a couple of lifetimes.
 
Until the plastic buildup changes your choke constriction - might be detrimental when using steel, or your choke tube threads get stuck because of blowby getting under the skirt of the tube, or your gas gun stops working because the ports are gunked up..........
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I posted in general, not specifically shotguns. I agree with getting the plastic residue out when it becomes a problem. For me that starts with cleaning my dove gun (an early 1100) when it starts giving me FTF's. I can generally make it through dove season without a thorough cleaning.
 
Years ago I settled on this method: For a 12 ga., I wrap a 12 ga. patch around a 12 ga. brass brush, apply cleaner and go to work. The brush does some of the work and applies even pressure to the patch. I change the patch a couple of times and quit when it's clean.

I only use mops for applying oil or grease to the bore for storage. I keep them in a baggie
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Exactly the same for my 1955 Belgium Browning 16 ga. except I use various patches-mostly pistol and no grease-ever.

Might need it after 500-1000 shots.
 
Years ago I settled on this method: For a 12 ga., I wrap a 12 ga. patch around a 12 ga. brass brush, apply cleaner and go to work. The brush does some of the work and applies even pressure to the patch. I change the patch a couple of times and quit when it's clean.

I only use mops for applying oil or grease to the bore for storage. I keep them in a baggie.

John
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John and I are think alike. I use the same method.
I bought a boresnake for my .40 S&Ws'. It's still in the package. I guess I'm just old school.
 
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