Boresnakes, I'm confused

[ZeSpectre]

Okay, picked up a boresnake for my .22 rifle because I really don't like cleaning it from the muzzle. The directions simply tell you to run the snake through the gun.

Am I missing something? Do you just run the snake through dry? I suppose you still have to run a patch through later with lubricant?

 

[bear71]

Here's what I do.

I spray some Hoppes #9 just in frfont of the brass bristles, don't soak it but give it a good coating. Then drop the brass weight through the breech/chamber end of the barrel and gently let it fall through to the muzzle and grab the brass weight with your hand.

Take up the slack of the black string with your hand by wrapping the string around your hand once or twice. You will now pull the "wetted" snake through the barrel and out the muzzle end. One pass will produce results.

I give it another squirt of Hoppes and pull it slowly through again for a second time. And then lastly a third. Three times should clean it up real nice.

Heavily fouled barrels will require a "soaking" or a few minutes for the Hoppes or other solvent to work itself.

After you have run the snake through a few times and have a mirror bore, make sure you get a very light coat of oil on the bore. Then soak the snake in a tupperware container with some laundry detegent in it for awhile, couple hours should be plenty. Hand wash the snake for a couple minutes after it has soaked, wring it out, rinse it off under running water and hang it to dry.

Wallah, bore cleaning made extremely easy. Do clean often and you will prevent the heavy buildup that requires rods and patches. I do clean with rods, jags and patches as well but only after a few hundred rounds.

 

[chris in va]

The Boresnake is just a quick and simply cleaning device.

Do you just run the snake through dry?

Short answer, yes. It's optional to do anything else.

 

[SaMx]

I've seen this too, which wouldn't necessarily be easier but it does use conventional patches and you wouldn't need to clean out the boresnake afterwards. Has anyone used one? How is it?

 

[RNB65]

A couple of years ago I bought Boresnakes in several calibers. Then realized they were nothing but an excuse to be lazy. I tossed them in the garbage and went back to patches, brushes and a quality cleaning rod. My guns were greatful.

 

[edman79]

My routine is that when I'm in the range I spray on CLP on the front portion of the snake, in front of the brushes, and pass it through once or twice. Then when I get home I give it a proper cleaning. I think the bore snake is good for a quick clean but not thorough enough. Especially when you can only afford one handgun like me. You gotta take care of it.

EDDIE ED

 

[MechAg94]

Get an Otis cleaning kit. You can do the same thing with patches. That way you can use the patches for adding the bore solvent and the initial runs to get out most of the crap. Use the boresnake after a few dry patches at the end to get a final wipe and polish of the barrel. The boresnakes wipe the barrel with a lot of surface area of cloth.

I don't like using boresnakes on a dirty barrel, but they work great for getting that "almost clean" barrel clean without using 47 more patches.

http://www.otisgun.com/

 

[RustyShackelford]

firearm cleaning...

Is this a real post?

I have a 10mm/.40 boresnake that I have used on most of my handguns. I spray a good CLP or bore cleaner than run the snake through the barrel until it's dry/smooth.

The main point is to remove all lead, dirt dust etc from the weapon(s). While cleaning you should also make sure you check all the parts/areas so all of it is clean and ready to go.

Rusty

 

[Dave Markowitz]

IMO,

BoreSnakes are fine for quicky cleaning jobs. I used to be anal about getting the bore in my guns spotless, but realized that there is no need to do so. AAMOF, obsessive cleaning can actually put more wear on the gun.

With respect to .22s:

Millions of .22 Rimfires have been used over the years without thorough cleaning. Many target shooters don't clean their .22 rifle bores because if they do, they'll need to rezero the sights. The rifling in .22s is fine and the barrels are often relatively soft. So, for them a BoreSnake is ideal. One or two passes with a BoreSnake that has some solvent or CLP on it is plenty. If you shoot mostly wax covered .22 LRs, the bore is left with a coating that protects against rust.

What's most important on .22 rimfires is to ensure that the action and chamber are clean. You can clean the chamber with a Q-Tip and some solvent.

 

[possum]

i really don't use them, on my handguns that often, but i do use them alot on my rifles, ie. ar , ak sks etc. they work good for me i have no complaints!

 

[BHPshooter]

I don't use them for cleaning the bores per se, I use mine to get the dust and lint out of the bore of my carry gun every night. For that alone, they're priceless.

For any kind of fouling, I'll use a rod with a brush and a jag.

Wes

 

[CU74]

One more "vote" for the Boresnake as a quick-clean alternative. I use it as an interim cleaning method, an alternative to "proper" brush/jag cleaning. They are handy to have in the range bag, along with a bottle of Hoppes or CLP. Being anal-retentive about cleaning my forearms, I always do the "proper" cleaning in the shop before putting the guns away.

 

[51Cards]

Great for a quick-clean, and --- if you only run them dry --- to pull through if the bore is oiled, or to clear after lube/reassembly. Good bore final check. (As long as the snake doesn't get stuck!!! )

 

[Dave R]

Bore snakes are GREAT for removing powder fouling. Not much good on leading or copper fouling, of course.

IMHO all a .22 rifle ever needs is a pass with a bore snake every now and then, and whatever it takes to get the action clean.

 

[230RN]

CLEANING LORE RAMBLE FROM THE DECADES

"More guns, cameras, small boys, and coffeepots have been ruined by excessive cleaning than any other single cause." 230RN ca 1965

The remarks about .22 target rifles being over-cleaned is apparently true. Also, in High Power matches, in my "antique*" experience.

It may be a mere hangover from the days of Lesmok powder** for .22 rifles and prior to the advent of tin alloy jacketed bullets, but it was customary (I don't know if it's still true) to fire several freebie "fouling rounds" before taking sighting shots at matches.

With my .22 Target Rifle, I always found the first shot out of a clean barrel was a flyer. In high-power matches, I could see four or five shots "walking" toward the final impact point.

I "converted" over to Prairie Rat shooting decades ago and I almost never clean my varmint rifle barrrel thoroughly. Just run a patch through it to clear out the cobwebs before shooting (joke, joke.) It seems that with jacketed bullets, successive shots from a really clean barrel kind of approach the final point of impact asymptotically. The usual result was that the first Prairie Rat made it to his hole and was a little bit more "educated" about people walking around with long sticks 3-400 yards away.

I bought a boresnake for my 1911 recently just to keep the barrel free of the aforementioned cobwebs (joke, joke) and the inevitable lint and grit and stuff (not joke, not joke) that gets in there just from daily carrying. Works very well in this application.

I keep an eye on the humidity with a cheap cigar store hygrometer and by watching the NOAA*** site and if it goes over 50% I will squirt some Birchwood-Casey "Sheath****" down my barrels and then run a dry patch through before shooting.

Except for the .22s, I never shoot lead bullets unless I can't avoid it. I used to fire 50 rd per day of my own cast gas-checked bullets for Handgun Metallic Silhouette practice, and I hated "reaming out" the lead (despite the gas checks) every day. 'Course, they were loaded pretty hot, but nevertheless, it was a royal pain in the tuchas.

This kind of practice was not necessarily for "accuracy," but for firing discipline, so the gradual decrease in accuracy through a session did not matter that much. But by the fortieth round, I could sure tell a "reaming" was necessary. The last session before an actual match was with full-house jacketed bullets, and this one was always for accuracy, not mere fire discipline.

In general, and I always get flamed a little for this, I've found that guns tend to shoot more accurately when dirty anyhow. Some gunk (but not too much so as to interrere with functioning) seems to take up some slack in the mechanism, resulting in better shot-to-shot uniformity.

For what it's worth, that's my long-term general experience with cleaning guns in general. I do like that boresnake, though, and that's fer sure.

-----------
(* I haven't fired in matches in over thirty years.)
(** Lesmok Powder was half-and half black and smokeless.)
(*** http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapClick.php?CityName=Nederland&state=CO&site=BOU
Insert your own zip.
(**** Watch it. Use rubber gloves. The overspray from this stuff makes me itch like mad.)

 

[Jim K]

Boresnakes have one big problem. You can only pull, not push. So if the boresnake gets stuck, or breaks, you have a he** of a time getting it out of the barrel. Then you try to drive it out with a dowel rod, which splinters and wedges the snake even tighter. Then you try with a cleaning rod, that jams the mess even worse and may damage the barrel to boot. And then you holler for help on the web sites and get a whole bunch of advice, ten percent of which is OK and the rest of which will make the situation worse. And then....

Treat the boresnake as you would any other dangerous reptile. Stomp on it and throw it in the trash. Then buy a good cleaning rod.

Jim

 

[Roccobro]

I think Boresnakes are like the coyotes in the "calling hunt" thread. They have their specific niche of usefulness but are not the right thing to take care of most cleaning jobs. They are great for what they can do, but do not replace a good rod, brush and patches. Sometimes I don't want to "clean a cleaner" like you wouldn't want to vacuum out a vacuum after every use so I use a bunch of patches when I have time. The range is NOT where I want to clean a gun but it is sometimes necessary.

Got a bunch of 'em. And I know how, where and when they should be used on my firearms for greatest effect.

230RN- great post, thanks.

Justin

 

[ArchAngelCD]

There's nothing like a good Brass rod and jag. Add some quality cleaning solvent and gun oil and your guns will last as long as they were intended to.

 

[mrsig]

I used a Boresnake on my 10-22 as well as my .223 for their last cleaning. It must have worked well because I have put ~1000 rounds through each of them since. I have been waiting to clean again until a see a drop in accuracy. The above is true, and please do not taunt me for not cleaning often enough...

- Sig