Boresnake

just my 2 cents, but i took a tactical paramedic class from ex FBI swat guys and master armorers, and they were dead set against the bore snakes because once they get really dirty, they take all the copper in your barrel and scrape the edges and grooves off of your barrel. kinda scared me away from em, but then again.. what do i know... just a heads up because 22 ammo is sooooooooo very dirty..:)
 
that's an interesting theory...not very likely though. you can clean the boresnake as well and if you maintain them they will last a long time with no detriment to the bore. i use mine as a finishing tool anyway. the very first thing i always hit my bore with is the #9 and phosphor brush. then it's a couple of clean patches, then the 40-X, then the snake with a light coat of oil.

been doing it that way for years and all the bores on all my guns look new or better.
 
I thought I had bought the incorrect boresnake when I first got my rifle, but it turns out that it will be a tight pull for the first 1000 rounds you fire through it. Over time, the boresnake will be easier to pull through as your barrel breaks in. I also put some Hoppes on the brush part of the snake to ease its passing through the barrel. It is easier to detach the upper from the rifle and pull it through. If it is hurting your hands to wrap it at the beginning, you can just step on the metal weight part of the cord and pull the rifle up to get it to go through. The only thing I stress to you is to make sure it doesn't catch on the extractor. Slow and steady wins the race.
 
mn_doggie said:
Mine pulls really tight, too.

I drilled a small 1/4" hole in a piece of 1"x4" by 8" long wooden board.

I drop the weight thru the barrel, let the weight go thru hole in the board and then step on the board with my foot. That secures the one end of the boresnake.

Then I have both hands to handle the barrel (lift up) and make sure that the boresnake doesn't mess up the ejector.
Click to expand...

Good idea with the board. I have been just stepping on it with my foot.

AND, after several years using boresnakes, I finally learned the caliber is stamped on the metal weight. I had been using a homemade "cheat sheet" with the different colors on it..... the stamping on the weight is much better.

AND I still LOVE the smell of Hoppe's No. 9 Nitro Solvent :D
 
I throw my boresnakes into a rolled up sock and run them through the clothes washer. Seems to work, and keeps them from getting tangled in anything
 
AZFIREFIGHTER71 said:
just my 2 cents, but i took a tactical paramedic class from ex FBI swat guys and master armorers, and they were dead set against the bore snakes because once they get really dirty, they take all the copper in your barrel and scrape the edges and grooves off of your barrel.
Click to expand...

If you think about that for a few minutes, I'm pretty sure you'll realize it's nonsense.
They said that tiny bits of soft copper embedded in a squishy piece of fabric being pulled slowly through a hardened steel barrel can scrape off your rifling when used a few times a month? Then your barrel should be smooth as glass after firing a few hundred rounds of copper-jacketed ammunition wrapped around a lead bullet at 1300-3200 fps.
It's not.
 
AZFIREFIGHTER71 said:
just my 2 cents, but i took a tactical paramedic class from ex FBI swat guys and master armorers, and they were dead set against the bore snakes because once they get really dirty, they take all the copper in your barrel and scrape the edges and grooves off of your barrel. kinda scared me away from em, but then again.. what do i know... just a heads up because 22 ammo is sooooooooo very dirty..:)
Click to expand...

They are pullin' your leg. Soft copper doesn't harm hardened steel like they claim. Just like glass doesn't cut diamonds.

If that instructor was serious, then i would not trust the other information they were providing in the class.....
 
I don't apply CLP to my snake. I liberally soak the barrel with CLP. I then clean everything else first. After everything else is clean I hit the barrel with a little more CLP and drop in the snake. Keep in mind that the 22 cal bore snake is meant for .223 which is a little bigger than 22lr bore diameter. Eat your Wheaties and pulling it through shouldn't be a problem.
 
I have a bore snake but don't use it because I found something much better! It is called Knockout and consist of a weighted pul through cord with a threaded recpitical on the other end. A threaded brass brush as well as a threaded cloth "snake" portion come with it. Screw the brush to the cord and pull it through or thread the cloth portion to the cord and use it-you have the option. Most of the time I only need to use the cloth part. The big thing is it is a LOT EASIER to pull through than the Bore Snake and does a good job. The companies phone number as when I bought it years ago was listed as 888-304-6125. Address: po box 211061 Bedford Texas 76095.
 
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I put CLP on both ends of the bore snake. First it cleans it and at the end leaves a slightly lubricated clean barrel. Works so quick I should have bought one years ago.
 
Ok, so two questions on the bore snake: (1) it's ok to clean it regularly, and what do you clean it with, and (2) has anyone tried using two of them...first one to clean and second one to lube, or do you just use oiled patches to lube after cleaning with the snake? I think I'm hitting Wally world after work to pick one up...
 
Bore Snakes

I few thing have been mentioned here, so I thought I would make it easy to go through:

1.I put a cleaning solvent onto the brush brushed, ussually CLIP.
2. I then coat the fat part of the snake with Weopon Shied.
3. becarefull not to to snag anything I run the bore snake chamber first.I do this twice.
4.Toothbrush the bolt face in the bolt and rifle with CLP.
5. wipe down the bolt,springs with CLIP, ur done.

pretty simple for any gun,but great for th 15-22.
 
Though I have never used a boresnake, the above post are all very valid. Sounds to me like you are trying to pull a "dry" boresnake through the barrel. Try a little Hoppes no.9 or equivelant, then pull like a man, watching to make sure it doesnt catch on anything. Unless you get one for a 17cal. you cannot use the wrong one, obviously you cant drop a larger caliber snake into the bore, the copper part will NOT fit.
Maybe off topic but I make my own snakes, take a peice of heavy weedwacker line, cut 12" longer than barrel. Simply melt the end with a lighter untill you have a glob, let cool, cut the other end at an angle so it is pointy. Take 22cal patches, standard round toothpick and poke a hole in the patch. Slide patch onto pointed end all the way to the melted glob which will hold it in place. Dunk said patch into Hoppes or equivelent, feed pointed end of line into chamber untill it comes out, grab on wrap around hand and pull it through. Replace the patch with a new clean one, reapeat untill patch comes out clean, one last patch with a drop of good quality bore lube and your done.
Nylon string trimmer line cannot hurt your bore, no possible way, clean patch everytime, no dragging dirty anything back through your bore. Most match 22lr shooters will tell you cleaning harms far more barrels than shooting. 22lr is slow and soft, my opinion is a brush is almost never needed. Frequent cleaning with this freebee string trimmer "snake" will probably surprise the heck out of most of you.
I make them up and put them with patches and a toothpick in tiny ziplock snack bags, always ready when you need emm, darn near free if you have a weedwacker.
Hope someone benifits from this idea, I like to pass on free tips.
Enjoy your shooting , Rigby
 
I may have to try your weedwhacker line trick. After my first day at the range, I come home, set about cleaning the 15-22, and what happens? The string on the Boresnake decided to snap and pull out of the plastic junction between the string and the shoelace-like part. Ruined. Useless. Went back to cleaning the old-fashioned way: rod, brush, and patches. Love the smell of that #9!
 
Taranwanderer, you really should try the trimmer line. I use green color, cant remember the diameter of it, I used to landscape for a living and had a 100yd spool leftover. Therefore my "snakes are free except for the patches. As I said most will find if you do this everytime after shooting you will not get a buildup of anything, one tip, let the Hoppes do its thing for a min or two. Then procede with a fresh clean patch untill the patch comes out clean. I have done this with my 10-22 racegun for over a year now, thousands of rounds and it just gets MORE accurate, I have never put a brush through it. Which is actually how I came up with my "snake" I will never clean from the muzzle end. I had to either get a boresnake or make one, to clean from the breach end.
If anyone tries this and like it I do have a trick to make the same one work for ANY caliber, also for free, just ask and I will let the secret out. LOL
Anywho shoot on, Rigby
 
The string trimmer trick has been around for many years. That's how my father cleaned his guns 50 years ago. (although not with weed wacker string since thar hadn't been invented yet) Amazing how things keep coming full circle. 8-)
 
AZFIREFIGHTER71 said:
just my 2 cents, but i took a tactical paramedic class from ex FBI swat guys and master armorers, and they were dead set against the bore snakes because once they get really dirty, they take all the copper in your barrel and scrape the edges and grooves off of your barrel. kinda scared me away from em, but then again.. what do i know... just a heads up because 22 ammo is sooooooooo very dirty..:)
Click to expand...

My Dad told me the same thing...I will stick with my synthetic rods and patches--if it aint broke dont fix it
 
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