Problems with bore snake .45 pistol ???

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

I don't know about you guys, but I picked up one of those Hoppe's bore snakes for my 1911 a while ago.

I absolutely love the 12 gauge Hoppe's bore snake that I have, as it has a big fluff of material at the head of the cleaning section, and it fits the bore very tightly.

However, I got about three good cleanings out of the bore snake I bought marked 45 caliber pistol, and now it seems like the snake is barely even .44 inches in diameter. The fluff present on my 12 ga snake was also ironed (burned?) off.
There is no difficulty whatsoever in pulling the snake through the bore, and it feels like the brass bristles are just tickling the bore.

Do you guys know of any boresnake brands that fit the bore of a .45 pistol nicely after repeated uses??


I do use cleaning rods and all of the associated gadgets, but nothing beat scrubbing out fouling with the bore snake. (I would step on the brass weight after threading it through the barrel, hold onto the fabric loop, and then scrub like a madman with the other hand)

 

[CWL]

How about using one in .50 cal?

I haven't had your problem with my .45 bore snake but I only use brass .50 cal bore brushes to clean my M1911s because the .45 diameter ones don't last very long.

(note, I never tried this so if you get the .50 bore snake stuck, don't go blaming me!)

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

lol, I've tried sillier things, CWL.


(once got a sports sock stuck in the bore of my 12 ga when I had nothing else to clean it with)

 

[OrangePwrx9]

Just a guess, and you're probably not doing this anyway; but if you're reversing direction on the boresnake with the bristle portion in the barrel, you many be breaking the ends of the bristles off.

Another alternative is that the bristles are only meant to go through the barrel one way (brass weight first) and going backwards can break them even if direction is changed with the bristles outside the barrel.

A third alternative is that your solvent is attacking the copper in the brush bristles and causing them to weaken.

I've had good luck with boresnakes so far, but am new to them and haven't tried your technique. It certainly sounds effective.
Bob

 

[jocko]

yup

not sure one should reverse the bore snake. I love mine and they do a great job on interim cleaning...

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

Well, it's not so much the brass bristle portion that is the problem, guys.

It's the entire body of the bore snake seeming to be too skinny for the diameter of the bore.



Any reason as to why one shouldn't reverse the direction of the bore snake?

 

[keebo52]

Have you tried washing it? I occasionally wash mine with dish washing detergent and hot water to remove the built up solvent and crud. That kinda fluffs them up some.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

Nope, actually; I haven't washed it.

 

[OrangePwrx9]

"Any reason as to why one shouldn't reverse the direction of the bore snake?"

Like a normal bore brush, if you reverse direction with the brush portion in the bore, the bristles will bind up. If your exert enough force to force the issue (and it sounds like you can), the bristles, being the weakest link, will either break or deform.

As to pulling the brush portion through backwards, I'm not sure that will cause any damage. Depends on how the snake was designed.
Bob