Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Opinions on the BoreSnake

I am new to them, but have been using one for my .223 for about a month. So far I have been very pleased with my purchase. Who else use them, any issues so far?

Got them for each caliber from .22 to 9.3. I like them ALOT!

til later

I like to pull through my M1 before I fire at the range. I put the M1 up "wet" so it accomplishes 2 things. It proves the weapons bore is clear and removes oil. Just keep from dabbling it on the ground or other sources of dirt.

Been using them for most of my rifles for some time, and have been very happy with them. Never go to the range without them, and they pack nice on trips as well.

I carry one in my jacket pocket while hunting, I been using one for a couple of years now and the more I use the more I like it. One great Idea I didn't think of.

You and me, both. I have a long list of 'em. The most "of course" one I ever had was the first time i saw a pickup truck bedliner.

Scott

I hear lots of talk of stuck bore snakes. Might need to carry a bore St. Patrick, too.

Which ones seem to be the better brands for cleaning and durability? What do we need to look for in one tearing and being left in the chamber(maybe a ridiculous question)?

Boresnake is a brand name. There is only one. Unlike some leather thong or hat cord pull-throughs of old, I don't think there is much chance of breaking one off in a barrel if it is the right size. The ones for .22LR are great. I will never again willingly use a rod to clean one. Can't say I'm as crazy about the ones for larger calibers and jacketed bullets.

I have been using them since they came out, and I wouldn't be without them..You won't break one off in your bore, you could pull a truck across the USA with one..I don't know where some of this stuff comes from, but it must be from another planet!

One swipe with a boresnake is 180 patches, that about sez it all in my books...

I clean my guns once or twice a year with copper removing foam or my own Bluegoop ( 1 qt, if 25% comm. amonia, one cup of Hydrogen Peroxide, one copper penny) oil them and put them up..the rest of the year a couple of passes with a bore snake with a little juice on it and I'm good to go..

I sort of got one stuck in the bore. I used too large a patch and it got stuck in the bore (my screw up). I couldn't pull it through by hand. I took two wraps around a post, had someone hold it in place and pulled on the rifle (with all my body weight) and it came out. I'm still using it (years later) with the correct size patch. I'd be very surprised if it broke in a bore.

Norm

doubletap,
I am a little confused....What do you mean a "patch"...You don't use a patch with a "Boresnake"..It has a wire brush followed by about 4 ft. of big round nylon material that is ever so slightly agressive. I am thinking you used a cleaning rod with a patch on it, in which case you can get them stuck if you use the wrong size patch, but normally its not that difficult to pull it back out.

I've probably read a dozen posts on various boards about stuck or broken boresnakes.

From the first page of a Google search:

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=39116

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=222751

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3096120

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?p=192576

Bruce

It wasn't a cleaning rod, I know the difference. It would be tough to take two wraps of a cleaning rod around a post.

I looked at the links posted by bcp, and it looks like - as here - some people are using "boresnake" as a generic term for "pullthrough." Any of the postings where you can actually tell, they mention patches, which means they are not talking about Boresnakes, but patch holders attached to strings of some sort. Hard to see how an unfrayed Boresnake brand pullthrough could be broken by pulling on it.

In Hatcher's Notebook, the general mentions shooting out broken pullthroughs using a case with the bullet removed.

Unless they are actually wrapping patches around the small "brush" on the Boresnake, which I could see that then being way too tight for what is intended.

Myself, I prefer to use a different brand (cannot recall the name) that has a separate brush pullthrough, and then a simple floss pullthrough. I rarely brush bores anymore.

bcp,

I have heard of at least one guy who had not-so-great results when he picked up his gasoline-powered lawnmower to trim his hedges, but that doesn't mean I will have the same problems with a lawnmower that he did. I don't recall the BoreSnake instructions mentioning anything about needing to use a patch with a BoreSnake, so I don't use a patch with them.

Ray-
Why do you add a copper penny to your copper removal solution? That seems counter intuitive. What am I missing?

My Savage 99 is extremely finicky. It took a few seasons for me to figure out that it liked to be shot slightly fouled. Here is the regimen it likes:

1) At the end of season it likes a thorough cleaning with Ed's Red and the Boresnake. That means two trips through with the Boresnake, wait two weeks, and then one trip more before storing for the Winter. This is my standard cleaning regimen for all my deer guns.
2) In the late Spring, I am putting away Turkey Guns and pulling out deer rifles. I run a dry Boresnake through it again. Ed's Red seems to be lifting crud out of the barrel over the winter.
3) It takes 5-6 fouling shots. Prior to these shots, the 100 yard group fits on a pie plate. After the fouling shots, the group fits on a quarter.
4) It comes back to tack driving accuracy for the remainder of the season, as long as the barrel does not get cleaned.
5) If I have to clean the barrel before winter, I have to start back with 3.

It took a lot of ammo and a lot of patches to figure this regimen out.