I have never used a bore snake....I bought a 22 caliber bore snake and I got the weight thru the bore ok, but I could not get the green part with the brush to go only half way thru the bore.......I am still a little strong at 200 lbs and I near busted my gut with the thing.....Do I have to hook it up to my 4x4 to pull it thru or do you guys know the secret

They're tough, especially the first time through. When I had a problem, I bought a 3-piece rod to use instead, and broke it the first time I used it. So I went back to the Bore Snake. I use Eezox lube now, which I think gets into the metal and helps it go through easier. Main problem I've had is the last 1/2" or so going through, usually because it's knotted up just a bit. I always make sure it's pulled out even and smooth and has no knot or kink, but it still is a bit tough to get through. I've considered cutting off the last 1" of the Bore Snake to help, but haven't needed to yet.

A buddy cleans his by stepping on the metal end of the Bore Snake, and pulling the barrel assembly up with both hands. I seem to have problems holding it down with my foot, but it does make it easier to pull through.

YES its really hard to pull through. Just make sure its not hanging up on any part of the gun. I thought the same thing first time I did it too. Lube the **** out of the snake with your cleaner and that should help alot.

Yep. A bit tough to get started at first. It DOES get much easier. I add a little CLP just before the burrs and pull through twice.

When I do the next rifle I will put a lot of Hoppes #9 on the fabric......


Thanks for the comments guys

..........

I put a piece of surgical tubing over the ejector hook to keep from snagging it.

Hobie

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Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Or you can use a straw or in my case a piece of airline tubing for fish tanks. Whatever you have handy which was the tubing in my case (that happens when you buy 500 feet of it at a time LOL).

As others have stated take steps to make sure you do not snag the extractor. If it is too hard, pull through till it gets tough, double check that it is not hanging on extractor, with barrel pointed straight down step on the pull cord and then pull up with both arms. Depending on barrel length and your height you may be able to do it with one stroke. If not repeat till the snake has been pulled through. (hint do not do this on your wife's favorite carpet)

RAL

just did it last night for about the 10th time and it was still tough. i usually sit the top half of the rifle on my lap with the rvg against my leg, wrap the weight around one hand and pull through as i guide the back end away from my extractor. its sort of a dance but ive gotten used to it lol.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

I use a Hoppes 'Viper' bore snake which has 3 brushes. It was extremely tight the first couple of times but now pulls through much smoother.

I put CLP on each brush and the end section (lube zone), a couple of passes and the bore is really clean.

Tought the first time..easy now

suggestion, wet the bore w/ bore cleaner w/ rod and patch. soak snake in solvent cleaner, from the chamber end, insert brass tip pull out muzzle end. half way thru i double wrap tip end around my hand. it is a pull, but you should be holding the barrel in one hand. your barrel will come clean, in several pulls, even the 223 barrel will clean good. i use a pickle jar w/ hot water and dish soap to clean the bore snake. if you don`t fill up the jar, it can be shook to clean snake. let sit awhile. then change water and add some dish soap. shake-- rinse, it will come out like new. hang to dry. another suggestion while hunting, patches, bore snake put in bag w/ bandaids, compass, always know where it is at. it just seems when goose hunting, mud will get in the barrel.

You are supposed to put some CLP or other bore cleaner on the front three or four inches, not run it through dry.

It's supposed to be a tight fit, otherwise it does nothing to clean the bore. It will compress somewhat and get a little easier to get through after a dozen or so uses.

I have an adapter on the bottom front of the quad rail to hold my Harris bipod. I just feed the leader through and then clamp the adaptor in the vice and pull the BS through.

Holding the rifle in one hand and pulling on the leader with the other is next to impossible.

FWIW, the amber plastic pill bottles from the pharmacy are excellent storage containers for BoreSnakes.

You can easily label the bottles with which BS is in it, if you have more than one, as I do. I find I no longer bother with rods and patches, even on my pistols.

I'm 165 soaking wet, ya it doesn't exactly just slip right through, but at 200 lbs I would think maybe u need to hit the gym. As for stepping on the end up the snake and pulling the rifle up....man up ladies !! Haha, I just playin but halfway serious $ I put on a glove, give it a couple wraps around my hand and pull like u got a pair, I've heard of the skinny part of the snake breaking on peeps so keep an eye out for that.

I ain't a fat flabby 200lbs even at 68

That seems to be more of a problem with the new Viper line of snakes, rather that the regular one. Also, jerking on the leader, rather than a steady pull, can cause the separation.

One other thing to remember... the bore diameter of a .22 LR barrel is smaller, by a couple of thousands, than a .223/5.56 barrel, which is what the .22 model is designed for. The section with the brushes doesn't compress and so is tougher to pull through. The first few inches and the section after the brushes are not a problem.

Ejector young Jedi. Extractor on bolt.

Hobie

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Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Why not throw the darn thing away, Ive never liked them at all. I do admit purchasing one when they where first becoming popular. After several uses it was all full of ****, fouling and lead, and I didnt want to drag it back through the bore of any of my firearms. Maybe theres a way to clean the bore snake, but I dont like them one little bit. The bore is one of the most important parts of any firearm. Just my 2 pennys worth.

Put it in a jar with some detergent and shake for a few minutes, then rinse it and let it dry.

To each his own, but after 40+ years of shooting, the cleaning rods, jags and patches have been packed away and all I use are BoreSnakes. There is far less danger to the chambers, bores and barrel crowns, than from metal rods and jags.

a couple pulls with a boresnake is still a lot quicker than brushes and patches and patches and patches.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

Sounds like more of an ammo problem. I've been using the same .22 BoreSnake for years on my pistols, and also since getting my 15-22. The snake, and my gun bores, all look good and clean.

But then I don't use lead-only bullets.

Mine wouldn't pass at all where the pull cord and the BS were sewn together, had to cut it back a little. Try wrapping the pull cord around a screw driver and using it as a handle, you can put out on it and your hands don't hurt.

I've been thinking of doing this for the passed 5 years. I'm glad to read this, I think I'll make the jump lol.

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Always more room in the toybox

I'm a recent convert because I have always hated trying to run patches through a .22 barrel. Larger bores never have been a problem, but .22 barrels were always a PITB. That's why, for the most part, all I did was run a bronze brush through one a few times and then an oil-soaked mop.

I do mostly hand gun shooting and agree, all that stuff is fairly easy. However when shooting my Mini or my new .22 Smith it's a pain!

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Always more room in the toybox

I've even shifted to the BS for all my pistols. Cleaning the charge holes in a revolver's cylinder is SO much easier now.

i did the same and switched to a boresnake on my xd 9's and havent looked back. also ran my other boresnake through my new sig 1911 .22 earlier tonight for the first time and wow was it 100x easier than the 15-22.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

I haven't "pulled the trigger" on purchasing a bore snake yet. Kind of old fashioned - but I don't mind patches and brush.

I watched a guy at the range use the snake on his pistol and Ballistol sprayed everywhere. Seemed kind of messy.

Doesn't know how to use it. No need to soak the BS with solvent.

It's never happened to me, but it sounds from what I've read that a bore snake broken off in ones barrel is not easy to deal with. I won't use em.

I can't imagine that even if a Bore Snake broke, it would be hard to pull out from the unbroken end. OTOH, I HAVE had a horrible time getting a broken 3-piece rod out of a rifle bore.

If it's not hanging out of the muzzle or breach how are you going to pull on it?

Those little bristles don't like to change direction either.

if a boresnake breaks, im guessing at least 1 end will still be hanging out of the barrel to pull. that is unless a freak occurrence happens and both ends snap. then ill just use my rod from my old cleaning kit to put it through. doesnt seem that difficult.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

True about the bristles. But the only thing that's ever stuck at all on mine has been toward the very end of the thick/loop end. There's /always/ an end sticking out, and I think would be if it broke. Worst I've ever had to do is use a small screwdriver to straighten out the end (usually it's kinked a bit or something) then pull it through.

Anyhow, while I still use a patch sometimes to put solvent in place and let it soak, before cleaning, my barrel cleaning routine has used boresnakes on all my guns for many years. Probably since about the time they were available. Never a problem on anything, except I agree they can be tight on a .22 or .223 rifle.

I never use a BS on a rimfire tho I do have a long thick strand of weed wacker line that I use to pull through patches from the bore out the muzzle of the firearm. Couple drops of CLP on the patch. Only took a sharp pointed cut on 1 end and a Bic lighter blob on the end to secure the patch. That way I don't drag anything back over the bore. I just don't see any need to run a bronze brush through a .22 rimfire barrel. ....WVleo

I have head of a few cases where the first production Viper BoreSnakes had a problem with the attachment of the leader to the body of the snake. That was something over a year ago.

I find that, like most things on the Internet, complaints about the BoreSnakes are from folks who have never actually tried them.

Thanks for the info.

I asked because I've read about people using a rod and a hammer to get their BS out of the barrel. That isn't something I could do to one of my firearms.

I haven't used a BS on a rimfire, but I like them for my big bore rifles and pistols. I grew up using a rod and patches, and now I use an Otis kit. I'm a big fan of the Otis kits.

Then they are doing something wrong in the first place, IMHO.

The BS is all I use now, even on all the .22s.

What broke - the leader/snake joint?
Were they Vipers or the regular BS?
What caliber?

Just curious ...

I got the bore snake thing right.....Cleaned every bore in the house......Even works on larger calibers.......Hooray!

It does a great job getting WildCat poop out of the bore!!!

FYI....Used up about 1000 rounds of 40g WildCats thru my Colt C 4 and S&W mod 2206 pistol with a couple of FTFs and no remarkable mess....Just normal carbon dirt.......Go figure...............Seen the New Remington stuff????...I'm waiting for reviews.

Interesting ... I have the same level of "difficulty" pulling the snake through my 10/22 and 77/22 as I do the 15-22.

Could just be a .22 caliber thing, because I have one in .30/.303 and never had a problem pulling it through.

What I do is stick my rifle's barrel on my shoe, drop the weight down the barrel, then set the rifle down on a table/shooting bench and pull it through, wrapping it around my hand and wrist as I go.

Only problem I've ever had with the Bore Snake is that if you let the brush and the rest of it touch, the brush might stick on to the fabric of the rest of the Bore Snake.

I even put it in a small draw-string bag and drop it in the laundry. I might need to replace mine after nearly 2 years of use. It's getting a little frayed. But it's still better than a brush and rod.

Was told by Hoppe's customer service that a very small amount of bore cleaner should be placed on it just before the brushes. Contrary to what most people would think liberal amounts of cleaner or oil makes it harder to pull thru the bore. The liquid soaks into the fabric and swells it. Now before anyone disputes this remember I am only relaying what Hoppe's said.

Sounds logical.

I absolutely love this tool. I have a dozen of various calibers.