I'm a retired Infantry and also an M2/M3 Master Gunner. As a young NCO, I was also a company armorer. Here's what I learned, for what it's worth.

Hoppe's was one used by the military, and it's a great solvent, but that's a single use event and must be followed up by oil or some kind of protectant to keep off the moisture which leads to rust. I love Hoppe's #9, always have, even my mother loves the smell of it. However, you must follow it up. After years of specialized cleaners, lubricants and protectants, the military adopted the CLP or what we call "Break Free", which is great for all round use. Using all the specialties is better, but time-consuming and costly, which is why the military went with CLP. In the Army, when you clean any small arms, it's done over a three day period, as the carbon will continue to "bleed". On the third day, a light coat of CLP was applied, for moisture and rust prevention. This is how you should clean your firearms. The "snake" is a good temporary cleaning tool, but should be followed up with a real cleaning. I've used mine and then applied a traditional cleaning that brought out much more than I expected. As far as M-16s go, the gas system is actually very efficient, what causes them to become prone to malfunctions is poor cleaning techniques on the bolt, carrier, key, over lubing of the action during functioning, improper disassembly and reassembling and use of abrasives on the non-steel parts. The gas system on an M-16 is actually almost trouble free.
Use your snake, but clean your weapon as you always have, and you will improve your weapons longevity, but always remember to put a light coat of oil or protectant on the inside, and outside.