Thoughts on using Hoppes Bore Snakes.
- Thread starter Pa.Mike
- Start date
The bore snake idea just does not warm me over. Proper cleaning of any CF rifle involves a bore solvent, removal of all traces of this solvent. Then attacking the carbon in the throat with Iosso or JB and removal of all traces of this compound. And last a liberal coat of high pressure oil like Butches gun oil. Then when ready to fire, patching out the excess oil with a loose fitting patch. Besides the bore snake retaining grit (as opposed to using clean patches for each pass) it is not a good idea to let all the cleaning chemicals mix. With a good cleaning rod matched to the proper sized jag and proper patch size, one can "read" the bore (i.e. determine tight spots where excessive fouling may be concentrated). It may have merits in an emergency for a hunting gun.
LHSmith brings up good points, and I would like to add one more: boresnakes can damage the crown if the rope rubs the lands sideways at the edge of said crown.
good2go4it
Silver $$ Contributor
I find this topic amazing... I am not really interested if bore snakes are good or not.. What I am interested in the if a piece of nylon or cotton rope can damage the crown well I guess barrels are made of much... Can you please shed some light on just how this can damage the crown when a bullet is leaving the barrel at 2500 to 3000 FPS under extreme pressure and heat does not destroy the crown upon exiting...
I think they are great. They get the barrel pretty durn clean for such a quick, easy process. When you are hunting, and away from home, it's great to have a way to clean the bore. And, yeah, I like to get back home and do the full cleaning when time and energy permit. if the crown gets damaged, which most likely is going to be from something else, and not my BoreSnake, I'll recrown it.
If I owned a BoreSnake, I'd only use Butch's or some other general or carbon cleaning solvent on it and use it when hunting or between relays at a match to quickly and conveniently do a rough cleaning on the bore.
I don't own one, and I don't consider them serious cleaning equipment. But I can see a place for them.
I don't own one, and I don't consider them serious cleaning equipment. But I can see a place for them.
CharlieNC
Gold $$ Contributor
Like many other questions, the answer depends a lot on what style you shoot. For BR shooters pursuing small groups, there is only the thorough cleaning regiment as others have noted. For tactical and PRS type of shooting many rarely clean the barrel, and only if there is an obvious loss of accuracy. Why? Because the matches are run and gun, the targets are larger, but mainly because the first and last shot in a 50-100+ shot match must have the same poi; no sighters nor time to zero once the match starts. In the later case a bore snake makes sense to clean out the large crud without changing the poi.
Pa.Mike
Silver $$ Contributor
Thanks guys you more or less confirmed my suspicions. I use Dewey coated rods and a rod guide for 95% of my cleaning but on an upcoming Prairie Dog trip I thought I could save a little space by only bringing the Bore Snakes along. Are the same potential damaging effects present with the other pull through cable systems ?
R.Morehouse
Gold $$ Contributor
I will yank one through my AR 1/2 way through a day of 223 mayhem then do a good cleaning when the day is done...
Plan on bringing on to my next Pdog trip. Rod is useful for unsticking something in the bore; but if Murphy strikes like that; I'll send 'm the way of the Pdog with rifle #2...
Someoldguy
Someoldguy
Same way some folks can bend a crowbar in a pile of sand, I'd reckon.
It's not the rope material as much as the accumulated grit - especially hard carbon from burned powder and residual dirt that the rope may pick up from use. Pull the rope on an angle away from the muzzle -and it's not hard to visualize how crown damage is possible. Notice I did not say likely, but I would never send one through a proven Benchrest barrel.
I use them all the time in hunting rifles, and love them, but there's no way a bore snake, a sectional rod, or a coated rod is getting near my competition rifles.
That's why you take multiple guns. Besides keeping the heat down, you can run patches through and let soak to clean. Matt
How do you clean a comp rifle then? I honestly don't know. That's not a smart a$$ question. All my rifles are long range hunting / tactical.
Also you run a bore snake through the washing machine to clean it. I do it all the time. They clean the bores of my rifle pretty well. I only put oil on the jig not on the cloth material. I know oil is obviously going to get on the cloth but I try to limit it.
I do real cleanings though. The bore snake is just when I'm being anal out in the field. I baby the crap out of my rifles.
Our cleaning kits in the prairie dog fields consists of a can of wipe out and a bore snake. Foam it up, let it sit, pull a snake through it. Works great when you are rotating rifles and have the time to let the wipeout do its thing.
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