Boresnake wont hurt 'em a bit.


I'll go make the popcorn, gonna be a long afternoon.

 

Just don't let the pull string break, makes for a lot of short words to be said, angrily. Wives and children are said to disappear. Guys laugh, old guys laugh harder.

 

I use them for a quick clean in about any caliber rifle or handgun I have. They are just fine for a rimfire.

 

Boresnake

Only thing to remember is that any debris which would include dirt/sand and even the glass in the primers is gonna be imbedded in the snake.

If you don't wash em regularly then you will be pulling that stuff through the bore every time you use it and building it up also.

One of the reasons that one only uses a patch once.....pull through.....throw patch away.....put on new patch.

Damage? Probably minimal but I use a weed eater pull through which one can make any length they want themselves. Looks like:

noremf(George)

 

Only thing to remember is that any debris which would include dirt/sand and even the glass in the primers is gonna be imbedded in the snake.

If you don't wash em regularly then you will be pulling that stuff through the bore every time you use it and building it up also.

One of the reasons that one only uses a patch once.....pull through.....throw patch away.....put on new patch.

Damage? Probably minimal but I use a weed eater pull through which one can make any length they want themselves. Looks like:

noremf(George)

Would you recommend washing after every cleaning? Thanks

 

I carry a container of Handi-Wipes in my range bag and use them for wiping my bore snake between uses.

 

For 22lr's, use the 204 snake, not the 224 snake.
The 224 snake is generic for 22lr/22 wmr/223/556, it will bind in tight bored 22lrs.

The 204 snake is model number 24025.
The 224 snake is model number 24011.

I have had the 24011 jam in a CZ 455 American barrel.
It's a bear to reverse those bronze bristles to pull it back out the breach.

 

Thanks for that info,i'll continue to use them as needed.

 

I carry a container of Handi-Wipes in my range bag and use them for wiping my bore snake between uses.

 

Sorry for the twin responses. My bad.

 

When they first came out, I bought Bore Snakes as "the next Big Thing" in gun cleaning. I have used Bore Snakes for .22, 9mm, and 20 and 12 ga shotguns. In every case, they do a mediocre job of cleaning. Even the shotguns show fouling left behind by the bore snake. Now I keep a Patchworm kit in my range bag, and once home clean with rod, patches on a pierce jag and a brash brush if needed.

If not used properly, a Bore Snake can damage the muzzle crown as it acts like sandpaper if dragged across the edge rather than being pulled exactly through the bore center.

 

I've been using the 24011 snakes in .22lr's for years without any issues.

 

I don't think their QC is as good as before. I couldn't pull it down any 22 barrels....it is stamped 22. It is perfect for my 25-20's though.

 

24011 works in my CZ UL and is a must in my semi-auto VQ barrel which likes to be the more clean all the better. The vast surface area of a clean snake removes most of the seasoning of a bore in my experience. YMMV

 

Don't worry about damage from a bore snake and if the bore is extra dirty just rub the bore snake in the sand before pulling it through. Guaranteed to polish out those deep groves over time.

 

Guaranteed to polish out those deep groves over time.

That's why I avoid all that serious cleaning like the competition bench rest shooters.
Snakes are used only when accuracy has visibly deteriorated.
At the end of a shooting session, I pull 2 dry patches through from breach to muzzle.
Leaves the lube in the bore but removes the loose gsr.
GSR is hygroscopic (attracts moisture) don't want that.

Yes, it is important to pull in line with the bore,
just like it's important to push in line with a cleaning rod.

 

Use them and clean them at regular intervals. They won't hurt a thing.

Whatever you do though, don't try the weed-whip pull-thru cleaner with VFG felt pads (pads available through Champions Choice). If you do, you'll never go back to the Bore-Snake.

 

I use these soaked in Hoppe's No. 9 solvent after every session. I attach them to some old Outer's disposable pull thru lines that work like the weed wacker system but with a small metal piece at the end that the felt pads screw on to. Sadly, Outer's discontinued them but not before I bought dozens in all my calibers. Bore snakes are great but you have to spend a lot of time cleaning them. With these, you just use once and toss away. After about 10 sessions I do a regular bore cleaning.

 

20lb mono with a 2" cotton patch tied on one end pulled through once preceded by a bore brush bent at 90° to scrub the chamber

 

Rarely, I still use them...but only when the bore gets pretty dirty and on guns like slide actions or lever actions where it is a real PITA to disassemble the gun to get a straight shot down the bore from the chamber end. When I do use one, I make darned sure I am pulling it out directly in line with the bore and not off to one side where the string will rub against the edge of the crown.

 

I think folks worry too much about bore wear. After all a worn out bore just means a rifle has grown up to be a shotgun.

[emoji3]

 

I don't use bore snakes. Never seen anyone at a rimfire benchrest match using anything other than good cleaning rods.

 

Quit hanging around the hv benches my good man eh?

 

... Will a boresnake degrade accuracy or rifles integrity in any way ...

Well ... referring back to the primary question posed by the OP ... the answer is ... YES !

However ... let's qualify that response !

A basic engineering principle is that when two substances are in repetitive sliding contact with each other, the harder of the two is the one that shows more wear ! Thus virtually any pull or push through device in common usage will tend to "wear the barrel" assuming that the barrel is not made of the exclusive green cheese excavated from the surface of the Moon.

As an example I'd suggest you take a good look at the muzzle of a well-used WW1 British SMLE manufactured in 1914 or earlier ... or even one of the Remington-built P.14's of similar age. Those rifles were shot extensively ... and the cartridge primers were of the corrosive Berdan variety, requiring extensive - and prompt - cleaning after every usage period. They were cleaned, in the field, with the standard issue pull-though, which utilized a very soft cotton/hemp cord in its' construction.

Most muzzles of such rifles will show highly visible "flared-out grooves" in the bore that indicate the off-center direction of pulling by their owners. Of the ones still in my collection the grooves are very obvious.

BUT ... fear not ... it is highly doubtful that any of you will ever perform the cleaning operation with the frequency or intensity - or in such a wet, muddy environment - as the rifles mentioned above !

Fuzzy

 

Well ... referring back to the primary question posed by the OP ... the answer is ... YES !

However ... let's qualify that response !

A basic engineering principle is that when two substances are in repetitive sliding contact with each other, the harder of the two is the one that shows more wear ! Thus virtually any pull or push through device in common usage will tend to "wear the barrel" assuming that the barrel is not made of the exclusive green cheese excavated from the surface of the Moon.

As an example I'd suggest you take a good look at the muzzle of a well-used WW1 British SMLE manufactured in 1914 or earlier ... or even one of the Remington-built P.14's of similar age. Those rifles were shot extensively ... and the cartridge primers were of the corrosive Berdan variety, requiring extensive - and prompt - cleaning after every usage period. They were cleaned, in the field, with the standard issue pull-though, which utilized a very soft cotton/hemp cord in its' construction.

Most muzzles of such rifles will show highly visible "flared-out grooves" in the bore that indicate the off-center direction of pulling by their owners. Of the ones still in my collection the grooves are very obvious.

BUT ... fear not ... it is highly doubtful that any of you will ever perform the cleaning operation with the frequency or intensity - or in such a wet, muddy environment - as the rifles mentioned above !

Fuzzy

This is true. :bthumb:

In my humble opinion, a little common sense goes a long way in life, and this applies to the cleaning of firearms. With care, you can use a variety of methods to adequately clean a gun......and common sense should tell you when you are doing it in such a way as to abnormally accelerate wear that can cause damage.

As to the bore snake, it is one tool in my cleaning kit. As I stated earlier, some types of guns are very difficult to access from the chamber end with a normal cleaning rod and guide. Another place I find the bore snake to be useful is in gun shows. I can't tell you how many times I have examined a prospective purchase only to find the bore so fouled that it was virtually impossible to tell the condition. A quick and careful pull through with a bore snake with a little Hoppe's presoaked onto the end will usually allow a successful inspection as to condition of the bore. And the bore snake can be carried in a plastic baggie in my pocket.

But my normal cleaning routine is to use a good quality cleaning rod setup - and that's all my bolt guns get. :bthumb:

 

I have a few bore snakes. 22 and 30 cal. I don't use them often enough to have an opinion either way. I have an Otis pull through and I use it for a quick cleaning if I'm at the range. You use patches with them. I don't use either that often but I prefer the Otis over Bore Snake.

 

I don't use a boresnake on rifles, due to the possible headache of removing a broken one. For handguns, I just use them for a quick clean at the range when shooting a high round count. For real cleaning it's rod and patch only.

 

Once the copper thing comes out the barrel,the odds of the braided piece breaking would be virtually nonexistent. Just make sure an inch of the braided piece is outside the barrel if it broke it could be pulled through with pliers.

 

I have several sizes,they seem to work ok.Ive never used one in a 22,no need to clean the barrel, just the chamber.When I was doing a lot of pd shooting,I used one in my 17hmr at the end of a day's shooting and cleaned with a rod and copper solvent when that no longer was good enough.Dragging a new bore snake through a 17 is a challenge!

 

I pre stretch mine when new or after washing by standing on the fat end, seems to help. And yeah, a dirty 17 cal bore will be the hardest to pull IME.

 

Nope, no harm. Just wash it now and then.