Bore Snake vs cleaning rod

[turtlehead]

Neither. Patches and a Patch Worm. And about twice a year run a brass brush through it with an Otis cable to scrape out what the Worm didn't get.

Tried the bore snake a few times. Not worth it for me.

[Mobuck]

It seems many have problems with breaking the pull cord. This has never happened to me. One day Son asked if he could run a bore rope through his rifle before resuming zeroing. It seemed like it was pulling harder than usual and when asked which rifle it was, he said "243". The bore rope was for a 30 caliber.
The only "chemical" I use on the ropes is CLP which doesn't seem to cause deterioration of the synthetic material.

[Metal god]

The one thing I've noticed with my bore snakes is after many uses . All the bristles are flattened to the point I don't think they do anything to remove fouling any more then the rope does .

I like a bore snake for two purposes . 1) for a quick wiping of the bore . 2) I always run a bore snake through a brand new firearm . It just seems like the easiest way to make sure nothing is in the bore from manufacturing or shipping before I fire them .

[pat701]

I just don't think bore snakes clean as well a cleaning rod. JMHO

[Ricklin]

Of course a good rod, brushes, and patches are the best way.

The boresnake is handier than a pocket on a shirt for a quick cleaning.

The best method I have found to clean them is an empty one gallon plastic jug with a screw top.
Hot water and simple green or Oil Eater. Put em in the jug screw on the top and shake shake shake.

No upset wife, and easy to rinse too. Hot hot water. Hang em out to dry and good as new.
I really like the 12 gauge bore snake for my trap shotgun.

[Skadoosh]

agtman wrote:

I have yet to see ONE snake break apart and jam up a barrel.

C'mon, dudenals ... don't make stuff up.

You must be extra special.

[Targa]

Like Agtman, I regularly use bore snakes and have yet to have one or seen anyone else's come apart in a barrel. With that said, I do recognize what a headache it would be if one did break and have been transitioning the ones I use for my rifles to the Otis Rip Cords. If you break one of those....well, it just isn't meant to be and you should probably find a new hobby..

[Slamfire]

I tend to over clean by others standards. So, but having obsessive compulsive behaviors is not uncommon among shooters. I do prefer cleaning rods, so I can knock things out that get stuck in the bore. A bore snake is better than nothing.

I am of the opinion, based on discussions with many shooters, that at some point you have to mechanically remove fouling in the chamber throat. Chemical cleaners will do only so much, there is material impacted in the throat that will not dissolve. That according to Frank Lake of Compass Lake Engineering. He has a bore scope and has seen this situation numerous times. If the accuracy of your barrel goes south, buy some JB Bore paste and scrub out the barrel. I use JB sparingly, as it is an abrasive, but I can feel the difference in tightness after using the stuff.

If that does not fix it, look to see how much rifling you have left. This sounds obvious but I have been at the range where a shooter with a 223 pointed out keyholing bullets on his paper target. It was not the bullet or the load, his barrel had almost no rifling left! Look Mom, no rifling!!

[zipspyder]

You fire the same material (copper/lead, etc.) down the bore with intense pressure and heat hundreds if not thousands of times enough to cut groves into copper bullets yet think some magical left over material (same stuff) on a bore snake is going to damage the bore? Tell me how that vast Internet knowledge works please?

[Metal god]

Hey Zip , there will be "NO" logic allowed . Only what we think matters

[berettaprofessor]

You must be extra special

Not that special....I've never had one break either. And it's pretty much what I use for cleaning barrels; I've got rods and patches, but I don't pull them out unless a rifle's accuracy goes south.

[Rangerrich99]

First of all, I don't have any illusions as to how well cords clean bores; quite clearly a solid regimen using brass bore brushes will clean a bore more completely than any cord. For my guns, cords are a quick 'stopgap' type measure for when I don't have the time to get into a full cleaning procedure. For that prupose I think cords work quite well.

Cord breakage/failure: I've never had one break either. I did have one get a bit stuck in an AR, but a good dose of CLP down the barrel and a 30 minute soak loosened it up well enough to get it out.

Recently I found that Otis Ripcords seem to fit better for my small caliber bores and appear to do an adequate job of removing the most obvious soot/dirt/grime.

My cords get cleaned twice a year and last about 5-6 years before I replace them.

@Ricklin; thanks for the water jug idea, that's a great idea.

Side note: the idea of a boresnake somehow being able to damage a bore/crown is,to be politic, extremely unlikely. No part of the snake is harder than the steel of a bore, and if the material inside a bore that's left by firing rounds through it could do real damage, then you'd think the bore/crown would show that damage after firing 100-200 rounds during a typical range session. Personally I can't think of a way that running a snake through a bore 3-5 times after a range session could possibly do more damage than the one to two hundred rounds you just fired through it.

[Deaf Smith]

I feel the Bore Snakes are a stop gap method. When all you have time for is, well I guess just clean the barrel. But folks, we all know with AR-15s the real dirt is in the action and not the barrel.

Deaf

[doofus47]

I really like bore snakes, but a solid rod is my gold standard.
When hunting I always take a screw-together rod. If you accidentally get crap in the barrel, a bore snack ain't gonna help.

[Lohman446]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've been using these after about every 100 or so shots in my rifles but I shoot bolt action rifles so its a lot different than doing so in an AR or something.

[zukiphile]

I've been using these after about every 100 or so shots in my rifles but I shoot bolt action rifles so its a lot different than doing so in an AR or something.

Neat. I think that would be quite handy in an AR.

I had never seen these before, but was thinking about an Otis kit.

[hdwhit]

Mobuck wrote:
HOLY COW I've been cleaning the 5.45 bore for a week and a few passes with a Hoppes #9 soaked brush still produces black sludgy looking stuff on the next patch.

I have a friend that runs a bore snake down his gun's barrel after every trip to the range. He claims he does a proper job cleaning it when he gets home. Maybe so. All the shooting I've ever seen him do has been within about 12 feet of the target so I don't know if any effect on accuracy attributable to cleaning would be noticed.

I always just made it my practice to clean my guns after every session at the range with a rod and patches in the traditional manner and I've never had a problem.

[zipspyder]

I don't know how this got side tracked but I don't think anybody in here has claimed they strictly use a bore snake to clean their guns. If you don't like to use them for a quick range or hunting clean then fine use a rod cleaner. More power to you but we should stop thinking they somehow damage the bore or leave it worse off. I've never had one break on me either but I'm still also willing to take that remote chance by using them. Just another tool, use it or don't there is no wrong answer.

[Skadoosh]

Once you have to pound a bore snake out of your barrel, you'll be convinced never to use one again.

[zipspyder]

Once you have to pound a bore snake out of your barrel, you'll be convinced never to use one again.

Challenge accepted...

[Mobuck]

Update. After spending a lot of time and effort on cleaning, the 5.45 has returned to it's normal accuracy level--lesson learned.

[dean1818]

I think folks clean their gun much more than I here......

I use the boresnake most often, and a Otis pull thru brush 2-3 times per year

[zipspyder]

All of these bore snake jam horror stories I'd like to know if you were using the correct size and or an extra short one? Seems to me even if it broke you would have a 50% chance part of it would be sticking out the end?

[agtman]

zAll of these bore snake jam horror stories I'd like to know if you were using the correct size and or an extra short one?

They wouldn't know.

Most claims of bore snakes breaking and jamming-up the barrel are the result of sugar-buzz fantasies that Range Commandoes incur over early morning coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.

[Pinky Carruthers]

I have not used a bore rod for about ten yrs. Snakes work for me.