quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
This same many post have haunted these blogs for years with the same pros and cons..I believe the borre snake is the answer, but always a knuckle head to condemn the bore snake!

A competitor came into our shop on Commercial row at Camp Perry a few years ago. Seems his bore snake had broken and he had several inches of it stuck in his bore. He had tried pushing it out both ways with a rod, which soon evolved into trying to beat it out with said rod. He got a new barrel. Not sure if we chalk that up to the bore snake, or the bore snaker.

Not a fan of them myself, but if they work for you I'll not try to stop you.

John

The only way I clean my 1908 A. Hollis 450/400 is to spray some Ballistol down each barrel and follow with one pass of a 410 gauge bore snake.

I was sixteen when I discovered my hunting rifle at the time (a Lee Enfield 303) shot better when the bore was clean. Subsequently, I cleaned it after every shooting session. I used Hoppes #9 and a bronze brush on an aluminum rod. When I was thirty, I re-barreled the rifle ( to30/40 Krag) although the original barrel was shooting well. There was no sign of any damage from cleaning.
In the interim, I had started shooting benchrest competitions. I cleaned between groups. This meant I cleaned every ten shots or less. I cleaned with Hoppes#9 and a bronze brush. I had, at least, abandoned the aluminum rod in favor of a Parker Hale coated rod. I wore out a half dozen barrels and none showed any signs of cleaning damage. Later on, I started shooting F-class. The course of fire made frequent cleaning difficult to accomplish, so I started cleaning twice a day (roughly, every fifty shots or so). I used the same cleaning regimen. Again, the barrels burned out at the throat before any cleaning damage was apparent.
Today, I shoot metallic silhouette and typically shoot all day without cleaning.
When I was shooting a lot of black powder (and I shot a LOT) I, of course, loaded with a wooden rod and cleaned with the same rod; all from the muzzle, of course. The rifles still look the same as they did 55 years ago and have avoided any cleaning damage.
I'm not saying barrels can't be damaged by cleaning, I just haven't managed to do it yet. Regards, Bill

Show me a competitive shooter that uses a Bore Snake and I might think about it. They are absolutely an abomination.

A bore snake is a glorified pull through cleaner.

I’ve used them while hunting to get dust and other junk out of the bore and to keep it oiled.

I don’t think they will get hard carbon or copper fouling out, but they are easy to take with and do serve a purpose, at least in my mind…

And in my younger days I have damaged/ruined barrels by cleaning… improperly…

When you buy a Garand from the government (used to be called the Department of Civiliam Markmanship) they tell you the throat wear and muzzle wear of the barrel.

I was surpised at how many barrels had more muzzle wear than throat wear. Some of the guns would gauge a 1 or 2 in the throat but 4 or 5 at the muzzle. All from the wear of the cleaning rod.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
Show me a competitive shooter that uses a Bore Snake and I might think about it. They are absolutely an abomination.

'Nuff said!