How to clean with Boresnake?

[gm272gs]

Always used a rod, brush, and jag. It's what dad used. I don't think easier equates with "as clean".

I do have a 12ga. boresnake, though. I don't clean the bore of my shotguns with it, however. I clean the shotguns with the old rod, brush, and jag. What I use the bore snake for is getting the dust/lint out of the end of the bore, when I get it out of the safe/soft case.

I was born in the fifties, though. I'm not one to go in for "new-fangled" things.

 

[DAKak]

You might consider placing a plastic straw or rubber tube over the Extractor before pulling the BoreSnake through the barrel. This will prevent the BoreSnake from getting caught on the Extractor. This is particularly useful when the BoreSnake is new and you haven't used one before.

Good advise. I let my gf clean her rifle with the boresnake (her first time). And I forgot to tell her to watch the extractor. She got is caught pretty good....I spent 20 minutes or so cutting it free.

 

[Majorlk]

Always used a rod, brush, and jag. It's what dad used. I don't think easier equates with "as clean".

I do have a 12ga. boresnake, though. I don't clean the bore of my shotguns with it, however. I clean the shotguns with the old rod, brush, and jag. What I use the bore snake for is getting the dust/lint out of the end of the bore, when I get it out of the safe/soft case.

I was born in the fifties, though. I'm not one to go in for "new-fangled" things.

I was born in the early 40s and I'll Jump on anything new that makes my life easier. And I get the same results with the BoreSnake as I did with the rod and patches.

I do still use a rod and patches if faced with copper fouling in one of my center fire firearms.

 

[Majorlk]

Good advise. I let my gf clean her rifle with the boresnake (her first time). And I forgot to tell her to watch the extractor. She got is caught pretty good....I spent 20 minutes or so cutting it free.

Bummer. But I have found that simply paying attention to what one is doing often eliminates the need for solutions looking for a problem.

 

[iwanna]

How about snubbies? Heck, a q-tip and patch seems to be all I need. How about polygonal rifling? Cleaning that type of rifling seems almost too easy.

 

[medic15al]

I use them mainly as a last pull thru to remove excess oil and solvent after cleaning, and during .22 range sessions when lead becomes built up.

 

[Majorlk]

How about snubbies? Heck, a q-tip and patch seems to be all I need. How about polygonal rifling? Cleaning that type of rifling seems almost too easy.

Makes no difference. I use BoreSnakes on all my pistols, too - revolvers, semi-autos and single shots.

 

[iwanna]

Makes no difference. I use BoreSnakes on all my pistols, too - revolvers, semi-autos and single shots.

They certainly are the best. A great invention.

 

[shield]

Thanks for the feedback on getting the boresnake to go through . Will give it another try.

 

[Gauger]

I now use. Bore snake on all my guns. Makes cleaning the rifle much better. I run it through 3-4 times, then put Liquid Frog Lube on the tail and pull it through. That works like a charm.

 

[gwpercle]

I use Ballistol. With my 22 rifles I just run the snake through twice. Sometimes I spray a little Ballistol on it.

With my SD9 that gets a lot dirtier? I spray the bore with Ballistol and let it soak for awhile. Then I run the snake through a couple of times.

Note: boresnakes are washable. Put it in a pillowcase and throw it in the washer when it gets dirty.

Do not use one of your wife's GOOD pillow cases...ask her for an old one or buy your own to use just for boresnake cleaning. Can also clean shop rags in there .
I use 2 snakes one for cleaning and one for lube. The lube snake doesn't require washing as often as the cleaning snake.
Gary

 

[iwanna]

Do not use one of your wife's GOOD pillow cases...ask her for an old one or buy your own to use just for boresnake cleaning. Can also clean shop rags in there .
I use 2 snakes one for cleaning and one for lube. The lube snake doesn't require washing as often as the cleaning snake.
Gary

Good idea!

 

[SGT_Lindy]

For all of my guns, hand guns, shotguns, lever guns, .22, AR15's I use nothing but a bore snake on the barrel.

For the 15-22 I take the upper off, point the barrel down in a orange home depot bucket, shoot some break free powder blast into it and let it drain out into the bucket (lean it against the wall).

Now I take apart the bolt carrier and hit is with powder blast (metal parts). This almost cleans it totally.

Go back to the barrel and hit it with CLP, a good amount, and let it drain down the barrel into the bucket.

I then use CLP and brushes to clean/lube the bolt carrier. It is done at this point. I wont wipe off the CLP unless its dripping. I like a nice coat.

Now I clean around the chamber and the rest of the upper with paper towels, q-tips and CLP. Last step run the bore snake through 1 time and visually inspect with light. I dont put anything on the bore snake. The two cleaners have done most of the work and the snake is going to pull out any chunks and leave a light coat of CLP.

The whole thing takes 15min at the most. Rods and patches for the most part are gone for me. I may...may use a patch with #9 once a year, after the power blast drain before the CLP drain down the barrel.

This is the same method for all of my guns. Once or twice a year I will wash the bore snake in the kitchen sink with dish soap and hang it dry. I replace them once every 2-3 years.

 

[iwanna]

Same here. Wash them in the sink once in awhile. I like the idea of machine wash, but I never seem to get around to it.

 

[Potshot2788]

Darn good advice

Do not use one of your wife's GOOD pillow cases...ask her for an old one or buy your own to use just for boresnake cleaning. Can also clean shop rags in there .
I use 2 snakes one for cleaning and one for lube. The lube snake doesn't require washing as often as the cleaning snake.
Gary

Been thinking about buying bore snake, and now I am going to get two for every caliber.

 

[2tango2]

When I got my 15-22 I used a bore snake for the initial cleaning. All I did was put some FP-10 on the brush part of the snake and pull it thru Made it squeaky clean. I didn't add any lube as it won't be sitting to long but I'll use Frog Lube on the bristles and tail end going forward

 

[SurfnWolf]

Ok, first use of the bore snake. There is no way i can get the head to go thru..and im pulling extremely tight. Its just so bunched up at the head, and will not even get started in the bore no matter how hard i pull, wonder if i got a bad bore snake?

 

[DIXIEDOG1]

How often are you guys cleaning your .22 bore? I can't remember the last time I have....I pull the bolt assembly and wipe it down with Weaponshield (Fancy CLP) wipe the receiver and put the bolt back in.... my 22's never seem to need bore cleaning.

 

[Faded_Jeans]

I clean all my guns after each use. It's relaxing, and I actually look forward to the whole process.

As far as the boresnake goes, I usually find that 3 passes is good enough. I pour a little frog lube down the breech end, and then pass the boresnake from breech to muzzle until it looks like a mirror inside. I run a patch through it after that to make sure it's nice and dry.

You can put the boresnake in a sock and run it through the wash.

Once the barrel was all leaded up and I had to use a little hoppes and proper rod to break it loose. Then I did the usual boresnake thing to make it nice and shiny on the inside.

 

[Majorlk]

Ok, first use of the bore snake. There is no way i can get the head to go thru..and im pulling extremely tight. Its just so bunched up at the head, and will not even get started in the bore no matter how hard i pull, wonder if i got a bad bore snake?

Are you trying to do it dry? Use CLP or other cleaner on the head of the snake and compress the sides a few times. It takes a few times to soften the head. Also, remember that the snake is designed for a .223/.224 bore and the .22 LR bore is .220/.221.