First Experience with a Boresnake - Questions

[UncaGrunny]

It appears I have a project ahead.

"...hard Arkansas stone..." As in my whetstone... or do I need a go-to for proper smithing tools at this point?

& a second income?

 

[telero]

No extra work on mine to get the bolt off the rails...just popped the guide rod out of the carrier and the bold slid right off. I'd say pull the rails through and polish up the ends a little like T22 suggested.

 

[RedNeck Jim]

Google 15-22 bolt disassembly and you will find videos showing how to take it apart.

 

[tacticool22]

It appears I have a project ahead.

"...hard Arkansas stone..." As in my whetstone... or do I need a go-to for proper smithing tools at this point?

& a second income?

No, nothing that extreme.
Some whetstones are too soft and coarse. You could use some 300 then 600 paper on a piece of glass.
Can you take a pic of the rails with the swaging?

 

[UncaGrunny]

No, nothing that extreme.
Some whetstones are too soft and coarse. You could use some 300 then 600 paper on a piece of glass.
Can you take a pic of the rails with the swaging?

Will do this evening, when I get home. Will test my cheesy camera's macro capability.

I have wet/dry paper at home down to 2000 grit, plus various grades of polishing compounds & tools. Fallout from the auto hobby.

 

[UncaGrunny]

In close inspection under the macro lens, these look more like stamping burrs than swaging to me:

But they are more than enough to keep the bolt from sliding off - - even under moderate pull.

So, should I clean those up smooth?

 

[telero]

So, should I clean those up smooth?

Yep, do it.

 

[UncaGrunny]

Did it; bolt slides right off now, and a very light touch on the rails with 2000-grit smoothed out the motion noticeably. Wow, was there a lot of gunk trapped in the bolt's rail slots!

Thanks again for all the guidance, folks.

 

[cddanjr]

Now I have nothing but boresnakes. I had the same problem with my .223. first time I stood on the brass and gave a good yank, just about broke my jaw with the butt of the stock.

My 9mm snake somehow got bunched up in the trailing loop of material and would not go thru, so I just cut the loop so it has a y end instead of an eyeloop. All with clp and the like.

All work fine after fine tuning.

OH YEAH! IF YOU WANT SUPER FINE GRIT SANDPAPERS! ! ! ! Go to Stewart MacDonald or www.stewmac.com they have fabric backed sandpapers up to like 8000+! I polish my feed ramps like mirrors!

Enjoy

 

[Majorlk]

Folks, jerking on the BoreSnake is what breaks the leader 99 percent of the time.

You want a firm, steady pull.

 

[Stillsearchin']

"Or tried to. The brass went in easily enough, but the cord that follows it was just large enough that it didn't want to just merrily slide down the bore.

Through a combination of jiggling and trying to 'push the string' (yeah, that goes well), I did eventually get the leader down the bore and out the muzzle, and then tried to pull the functional part of the snake through."

Not sure if this is the issue you are having, but.... I have 2 Boresnakes for a .22. One is marked .22 Caliber, the other is marked .22 Cal, 223. 5.56mm. The latter has a much longer "lead" to make it through the length of a rifle barrel, as opposed to the former, which is shorter.

 

[Majorlk]

"Or tried to. The brass went in easily enough, but the cord that follows it was just large enough that it didn't want to just merrily slide down the bore.

Through a combination of jiggling and trying to 'push the string' (yeah, that goes well), I did eventually get the leader down the bore and out the muzzle, and then tried to pull the functional part of the snake through."

Not sure if this is the issue you are having, but.... I have 2 Boresnakes for a .22. One is marked .22 Caliber, the other is marked .22 Cal, 223. 5.56mm. The latter has a much longer "lead" to make it through the length of a rifle barrel, as opposed to the former, which is shorter.

Just be aware that there is a pistol length snake and a rifle length snake. That said, the pistol version's lead is plenty long enough for the 15-22's 16" barrel and the body of the snake is fractionally smaller in diameter than the .22/.223/5.56 version, meaning it goes through easier.

 

[UncaGrunny]

Mine is rifle-length, and stamped brass marking simply says (22). The package said it was for .22lr, .223, and a few other calibers.

Once it de-kinked it did feed much easier.

 

[Mcwsky09]

I generally don't apply anything to the bore snake but will swipe out the chamber with a very wet cotton swab using solvent or line and then pass the snake through. Gonna have to switch my rifles over to frog lube to reduce mixing with petroleum based products.

 

[RedNeck Jim]

I wonder if some here are just trying to make this too difficult. The whole point of the bore snake is to be quick and easy, where all cleaning steps are done in one pass.

From the Hoppe's website:

One pass loosens large particles, scrubs out the remaining residue with a bronze brush, then swabs it all spotless with a cleaning area 160x larger than a standard patch.

I run the bore snake thru twice, when I clean, and my barrel is spotless. As I said before, I put solvent on the leading end, which to me, breaks down any bigger pieces & prepares the barrel for the bronze brush that follows. Then after the bronze piece, I add a fair amount of lube. Then I allow the long tail to wipe it mostly dry.

I can't imagine why I would want to do anything extra, unless of course, I went thousands of rounds between cleaning.

 

[Majorlk]

Jim, I'm with you. People are making things more difficult than they have to.

I put CLP on the head and pull it through three times. End of bore cleaning.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I don't pull the Boresnake through the barrel, I push it through. Takes a bit longer but I figure it's worth it.

 

[RedNeck Jim]

I don't pull the Boresnake through the barrel, I push it through. Takes a bit longer but I figure it's worth it.

Now I know you are a Vols fan.

Hotty Toddy

 

[oneounceload]

One thing folks who use boresnakes with small bores learn quickly - is to tie a length of para cord on the loop end so that when the pull string breaks off and the snake is stuck inside the barrel, you have a way to pull it out in reverse.....

 

[Eames]

One thing folks who use boresnakes with small bores learn quickly - is to tie a length of para cord on the loop end so that when the pull string breaks off and the snake is stuck inside the barrel, you have a way to pull it out in reverse.....

Wouldn't reversing the brushes inside the bore be a bad thing?