I've read a lot of stuff on here and elsewhere, and for the life can't tell whether I'm doing the best job.

First, I really don't like patches, rods, or brushes. I prefer bore snakes from Hoppe's. I hear people hate them or people love them.

Here's what I do:

1. Clean out action and barrel with a good aerosol cleaner; depends on rifle and how many rounds went thru it.

2. Spray a bore cleaner down the barrel and then run a bore snake through with the end soaked in a solvent (either hoppe's gel, Breakfree clp, or a spray bore cleaner). I do this several times.

3. If there has been a lot of shooting, say sighting in, I use the breakfree foam and let it sit for 30-60 minutes horizontally.

4. I then repeat steps 1-2; finishing with the Breakfree and then dry as much out of the snake as possible (or use a clean snake) and run it through the barrel to remove as much residual cleaner as possible.

5. Hand wash bore snake in hot water and laundry detergent and let dry before next use.

I don't see why that wouldn't work. I don't understand your aversion to rods and patches however.
I've always used the snake as a interim thing though.

Hey Austin Hunter, I've got a buddy in Cajun Land that "used to" use a Bore Snake too. Then one night, a few days before the Opener, he called to say his rifle wasn't shooting worth a clinton. Huuuummm..., what could it be?

We talked awhile and hung up. Thought about it called him back and asked "How?" was he cleaning his rifle - Bore Snake!

Took him close to a week and a good many Bore Brushes to get all the Copper out. This was prior to the Foaming Bore Cleaners.

So, I'm not a fan of Bore Snakes. Not arguing with your Method though. If you are happy with it, that is what you should use. Then when the Accuracy goes all to obummer, you can - get'er really clean using something other than a Bore Snake.

By the way, I do scrub my barrels with a Brush(both Brass and Nylon), and pull them back and forth. I know some foks believe that is sacrilege,because they only go toward the muzzle with a Brush. And my back and forth does seem in conflict with my next comment - pulling a dirty Bore Snake through the Barrel is not something I'd want to do either. Once it goes through the Barrel, it is dirty.

Best use I ever saw for a Bore Snake was at the Range one day when a guy had one tied around a Tool Box to hold it together because the Latch was broken.

Bore snakes do not fit snugly enough to be effective except as wabeeman said. In fact, a lot if not most casual shooters don't use a patch or brush that fits snugly enough to do a good cleaning. There is no free lunch-- don't be lazy--elbow grease works best. The borescope reveals the (uncomfortable, for some) truth.