Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Like a Bore Snake - Ye Olde Pull Through

This might anger some, but last fall I was given four pull throughs, made offshore. 17 cal, .224, 6mm, and .308.

This isn't a review, just one person who tried them over a period of about 8 or 9 months. They work fine. Wash up easily. Don't appear to have any significant wear. I'll keep using them because the price was right. The price of these varies, but they are $8.20 to $12.50, depending on the seller.

While they are not a substitute for a proper cleaning, they sure make short work of cleaning out crud when you're at the range.

The grumblers might ask why I don't use US made Bore Snakes. I have some, but I can see why these offshore pull throughs are a big seller. They are 4 to 5 times cheaper than the Hoppes Bore Snake. The CDN price for one Hoppes BS is $25 to $40 (depends on seller and cartridge).

https://www.amazon.ca/Shotgun-Clean...0141GQM4Q/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=boresnake





Like a Bore Snake
- adapted from 'Like a Virgin', with apologies to writers Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg

I made it through the wilderness
Somehow I made it through
Didn't know how lost I was
Until I found you

I was beat
Incomplete
I'd been had, I was sad and blue
But you made me feel
Yeah, you made me feel
Shiny and new

Like a Bore Snake,
Used for the very first time...

After that wonderful introduction, how many of you use one when you're at the range or hunting? If so, why? If not, why not?



This pull through looks suspiciously like mine...hmmm. It is for sale here for 499 Indian Rupees. In Canuckian dinars, that's approximately, $9.80.

https://www.10kya.com/10dare-pull-through-bore-cleaner-22-5-56-223-cal-bore-rifle-snake-cleaner.html

I have heard that if one breaks while in the barrel, its pretty much impossible to ever get out. The brush bristles prevent it from being pulled back and if you try to push it through it just jams in the barrel. So I would inspect carefully and discard when frayed etc.

The other comment is that because of its compact size it would seem best suited for field cleaning, when you don't want to carry a rod. However I prefer a cheap multi part rod incase I have a fall and somehow really pack some dirt or whatever in the barrel. A bore snake doesn't look like it could clear soil jammed in the barrel from a tumble.

I like them when field cleaning shotguns.

If the pull through is used properly, that won't happen. Two or three times through the bore is good. Put some Hoppes on the forward part of the pull through (on and near the bristles), and some oil on the other end, pulled straight through the bore and you're good. If the cord that you're pulling on breaks, grab the loop and pull it in the other direction.

It sounds like there is a bit of price gouging for the Hoppe's Bore Snake in Canada although even without the markup still wouldn't be as cheap as the copies. Just did a look at MidwayUSA and Lyman now has one called the QuikDraw Bore Cleaner.

It's amazon, although most appear to be amazon resellers.

I'm trying to figure out why amazon charges $16.69 for a 224 or 6mm pull through, but $25.95 for the 30 cal version. These prices are Cdn. The mark up seems pretty stiff to me.

https://www.amazon.ca/Lyman-Quick-D...561473159&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

I never used a bore snake until a couple years ago on a wilderness hunt. Prior to that time, I kind of thought them to be a gimick and a poor substitute for a real cleaning. But when I went to Kodiak Island where more traditional gear was very limited due to space and weight, I decided to use one. Acutallly, I read that Darcy Echols had used one successfully so I thought that if such a perfectionist used one, it would be useful. This was for a .30 caliber rifle I used. Because it rained each day and the rifle got from a little wet to soaked each day, I'd come in the tent each night, untape the muzzle and run the bore snake thru to prevent any rust from starting. I'm heading back there next spring and will take one along again for the same reason. I'd not read anything about them getting stuck in the bore: hopefully not easily as this could ruin a wilderness hunt. If anyone has any experience with this, I'd like to know. It might change my mind. Based on my one time experience, I'd say they are obviouisly super light, take up almost no space, and seem to work well for the circumstances.

They're fine. I've used them in dozens of rifles for years.

I'm not sure why they lost favour, and people are re-discovering them now. The only bad wrap I remember as a child was when they get dirty, you can drag crud through your barrel. It seemed to me to be a complaint by former soldiers. Just keep your pull through clean.

Love them, in fact I use them for "breaking in a barrel" with EezOx. I first use a foaming cleaner, then I start wetting the bore real well with EezOx. I let it dry over night. I run the bore snake before shooting. I will fire a round, pull through a wet bore snake, fire another, repeat for about 3-4 rounds, then start using the rifle! I like to run a "dry" bore snake between loads that use a different powder ( 5-12 rds) but at the end of the session, I will put EezOx on it and pull through a few times. Any "micronized" oil like that will work. Its just a different way to "season" a bore is all. I grew up with Mod 94s, so a homemade pull through ( nylon trotline) and a wad of old flannel and 3 In 1 Oil. That's it. this was in the "rain belt" of SE Texas, ha.

Of course they work. Why wouldn't you want to to just run a pass through the barrel after a range session? Even dry it will pull out carbon and help keep the barrel from rusting. Heck of a lot more surface than a patch.

My pull-throughs are made from a piece of old cotton wash cloth or dish rag fastened in the middle of a six foot length of 40-50 pound monofilament with a tightened clove hitch.

If it gets stuck, which it never does, you can simply pull it back the other direction.

They never break, are cheap enough to carry one in every piece of hunting gear, and you won't even know you have it in your pocket.

Best of all, in a pinch it can be used with a large single hook for pike.

Ted

No, they're not.

There are numerous instances of pull through cleaners getting stuck in barrels.

But just like with Leupolds, you seem to only listen to your own advice.

I listen to others. I just don't accept everything that runs counter to my own experience.

They're fine, but I guess you don't like them. Let me guess, you're gonna hold your breath until people listen to you!

What did I say about Leupolds? I think I said that I only own one and I have always thought they were overpriced. You sound like a hater. Ha, ha!

You started two decidedly verbose thread regarding Leupold in June, your first mentioning how those who have quit using the brand are somehow doing it out of a "follow the leader" mentality, not because they had actual bad experiences with the scopes. Your latest Leupold thread features thinly veiled references to same - those who have quit the brand are "haters" (your word, not mine). The reason for quitting the brand was bad experiences with same, not the existence of some weird internet pack mentality which exists only in your mind.

Same thing with this thread. Someone brings up the potential for problems with pull through cleaners, and you poo poo the notion because it hasn't happened to you.
Here are a few negative experiences with pull through cleaners, for your reading enjoyment:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6806326/1
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3517905/Re_bore_snake_stuck
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Cleaning_cable_stuck_in_bore_____solutions_/118-392375/
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?90086-Boresnake-stuck-in-barrel
https://thefiringline.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-353329.html
https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=191003.0
http://forums.thecmp.org/archive/index.php/t-105089.html
https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/177548-boresnake-stuck-in-ar15-barrelany-ideas/
https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?392517-A-F-n-stuck-bore-snake-How-to-remove
https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=440916
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/removing-a-stuck-snake.222751/
http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/33521-Boresnake-Removal

I doubt your opinion will be changed, and that's fine. If this post saves one bore from being ruined by a pull-through cleaner, it was well worth my time.

Did not read through all the posted links praire_goat, but in the first and third links, oversized pull through's were used. I did like some of the solutions I saw to the conundrum posted in some of those links though.

Your verbosity won't save a single soul. You have a problem with pull throughs. The rest of the world doesn't.

As well, I suggest you concentrate more when you read.

Judging by the threads I posted, a great number of people have a problem with pull throughs, including our esteemed resident gunsmith, Redneck.

Yes, and most of them were using Snakes, not military type pull-throughs. There is a difference.

Ted

While pull-throughs may have had some virtue back when most smokeless powders (especially sphericals) were pretty dirty-burning, about all they do is remove some powder fouling, not jacket fouling. Have observed this many times with a borescope. But most of today's powders are so clean-burning there's no real reason to "clean" with a pull-through--unless, of course, you simply prefer dirty-burning powders. Some can result in good accuracy--until the fouling builds up, But there are so many good, cleaner-burning powders available today, including sphericals, I haven't found any reason to reason the old dirty-burners for many years.