Hoppe's Bore Snakes

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1911ShooterTJ

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Good evening everyone. :)

I just wanted to let anyone know who is interested in Hoppe’s Bore Snakes. I purchased one tonight from Cabela’s and ran it through my Weatherby (7mm Remington Magnum) for kicks. I was skeptical but as it turns out, it does a very good job! :cool:

Anyone have any similar experiences? Do they seem to differ in performance between different calibers? They seem to do as good a job as my rod and brushes (at least for crud that isn’t too baked on – no tests of a filthy rifle yet). If this is the case, I may just buy one for my shotgun as well.

Also any tips for these? I didn’t use any oil on the snake, and ended up using a patch and then a dry patch to put a light coat of Rem Oil in the barrel. The instructions never mentioned anything about oiling, so would it be fine to use a bit of oil before / after the brushes on the Bore Snake?

Thanks again!

Tristan
 
I use them on everything from my .22 to my 12 ga. They work very well and make me more inclined to clean the barrel more often, especially while still shooting at the range. I keep a separate string with brass weight to pull through a small patch with CLP when finished.
 
Boresnakes are God's gift to us. I never knew what a clean shotgun barrel was until I tried a snake a few months ago. Never again will I waste all of that time, and still end up with a dirty bore.
 
I have 3 (.40, .308, and .223) and use them all the time, BUT I always use a rod w/ cleaning patch after I run the bore snake 3-5x. There is always stuff the bore snake didn't get and IMO their claim to act as 100 or so patches at once is nothing more than marketing B.S.
 
its great for when you can't afford the time and want to get a quick clean in, but i wouldn't say that it comes close to the old fashioned 1 hour of Hoppe's, patch until dry, hoppe's, patch, repeat method.
 
I have a boresnake for all of my guns. I would say I probably use the snake for 90% of my cleaning. I either use MPro-7 or CLP in front of the brushes.
 
It amazes me how people use a Bore Snake and a Bore Snake only to clean their bores. I guess a Bore Snake will work just to wipe off the loose powder fouling during a range session, but to use a Bore Snake for actual cleaning after a range session is beyond me.

Everytime someone tells me they run a Bore Snake through their rifle a few times and it comes out clean, I always counter, "How do you know it's clean?" I don't know if they are actually running a patch down the bore with a rod to check, or if all they are doing to verify is staring down the bore.

I no longer rant and rave about cleaning. I let people do whatever they want to do because they'll stick with what they believe in (as do I).
 
ocabj,

I did both actually. I used a bore light to visually check the bore, and ran a oil patch and then a dry patch to remove excess oil. It came out clean. But like I said, I had only shot my rifle perhaps 20-30 shots between cleanings, so it wasn't especially dirty.

Anyone else have any experience with these? I know they may not replace the rod and brush, but they are very convenient for quick cleanings.
 
I run boresnakes for everything.
Just awesome.
If it's really filthy, you might have to get out the old rod, but for 90% of the time, ti's great.

For shotguns, I notice that wad residue will build up (esp in the forcing cone area) that the boresnakes just won't get and every couple times have to get out the brushes and such.
but again, the time saved is great.
 
My friend just went through OCS and TBS over in Quantico VA and said his boresnake was worth it's weight in gold. Boresnakes save you a lot of time and do a very decent job of removing the majority of dirt in the barrel. If you shoot match rifles, run hundreds of rounds through them, or leave them for weeks before cleaning, then you might need to use the ol' rod, patch, and brush.

However, for regular cleaning or to get enough crud out of the barrel to make it serviceable the boresnake is more than enought.
 
No, you aren't the only one. I pulled a boresnake through a barrel once and it was so dirty I couldn't bring myself to pull it through the second time. I'd no more use a boresnake regularly than I'd reuse a dirty patch.

John
 
I use bore snakes (which generally do a VERY good job) usually for either quick post-range run-throughs before the REAL cleaning starts... or, for my .22s, as the only bore cleaning.

For whatever reason, my 22s respond VERY well to four or five passes with the bore snake, with some RemOil sprayed on the snake on the last pass. It really does the trick. Both rifles shoot worse when dead clean.

Plus, you can just toss bore snakes into the washing machine (or even hand wash them) when they are especially fouled! Very handy tools.
 
I prefer to use a bore snake to finish wipe the barrel after using wet and dry patches a little bit. It has more surface area than a bunch of dry patches.

Sometimes I use them as well if I don't think I will have time to clean after a range session. I try not to do that though.

They are washable.

You do have to be careful as I had the cord get cut when the bolt slammed forward on my Armalite. I try to pull out the bolt carrier now. :)
 
Bore Snakes are handy to use at the range to clear out powder fouling between strings. I'll normally revert to using a rod-n-solvent when I start seeing copper streaks near the muzzle.
 
"It has more surface area"

Try wrapping one patch around a brass brush. In addition to cleaning, it will even do a fair job of spreading oil or grease in a clean bore if you don't have a bore mop handy.

John
 
I like to use a boresnake on my Garand, Marlin 60, revolvers and any other gun that I can't clean from the chamber end. Maybe it doesn't get as clean as a rod/brush/patch will get it, but wearing out the crown on the muzzle worries me more.

Every once in a while I do use a regular Dewy rod with a bore guide on the Garand though, but cleaning from the muzzle always bothers me.
 
Bore snakes are GREAT for shotguns. They work better than patches. A huge bore that changes diameter along its length just isn't compatible with a jag.

For pistols and revolvers, they work pretty well, too.

I use them for rifles, too, but I can see their limitations, so I will also use patches when doing a serious cleaning. However, I figure there's a balance to be struck between wearing out the bore with a rod and getting it really clean every time. With a boltie, it's not as big a deal, but some rifles don't let you clean from the chamber with a rod.
 
n00b question. do you guys insert it in the muzzle end or through the chamber?

i heard its best to get gunk out of a rifle as soon as you are done with it, would the barrel heat melt the bore snake?

maybe i'm thinking of the guys who spray ammonia down the barrel after shooting to clean the corrosive residue.

please enlighten me.
 
do you guys insert it in the muzzle end or through the chamber?
Click to expand...
Always clean from the chamber end whenever possible.

i heard its best to get gunk out of a rifle as soon as you are done with it, would the barrel heat melt the bore snake?
Click to expand...
If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to clean. Clean a warm barrel, not a hot one. If the barrel is too hot, the cleaning fluids will evaporate too quickly anyway.
 
There are bore snakes and then there are bore snakes. There are, or at least used to be, snakes that broke in the barrel or allowed the tip to come off. When that happens, the snake is nearly possible to remove. To make matters worse, the gun owner usually tries to prevent barrel damage by using a wood dowel rod to drive out the snake. The dowel rod splinters and breaks off. Lots of fun.

I am one of those backward souls who uses a cleaning rod.

Jim
 
Plus, you can just toss bore snakes into the washing machine (or even hand wash them) when they are especially fouled! Very handy tools.
Click to expand...

270WIN,

You must not be married. :D

Bore snakes are great most of the time. For a thorough cleaning I get out the old one piece rod.
 
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