Bore Snakes

[SawDustProducer]

Some are extremely difficult to pull through. Maybe after used many times they would loosen up, but I have a similar worry about wear on the crown due to the amount of force being applied and not proper technique to keep it centered.

 

[ntsqd]

Just because the bore snake is soft don't be mislead into thinking that it can't wear the harder barrel steel. I've seen a rubber hose wear through a steel tube and not have a mark on it.

If you aren't very careful to keep the pull line centered EVERY time you use a snake it will make contact with one side of the bore at the crown. A straight pull out of the muzzle is required and an angled pull is all too easy to do. Do that often enough and it will make a difference.

What is the procedure for cleaning a bore snake? I've never looked at mine to see if there is one. Every time it goes through the bore it is picking up abrasive particles. If the snake isn't cleaned between each pass thru the barrel then those particles can be doing damage to the bore and to the crown if contact is made there.

Like I posted above, once or twice isn't going to matter. If it happens every time it will eventually matter. I'm not saying don't use bore snakes. I'm saying be aware of their problems and act to eliminate them.

 

[General RE LEE]

I'm sorry I just don't see how steel from a quality bore is going to get worn down from a Bore Snake. I pull it from breech out the muzzle.

 

[Kmccord]

Well, I cannot see how stainless steel or even chrome moly could be so soft to be damaged from copper bristle and cloth. If so, the copper bullet with heat from the powder should damage it after a few rounds. I am just not getting how it can be damaged that way.

 

[ntsqd]

In industry and in farm equipment I've seen exactly this sort of thing happen over time. I've said my warning to use care and always pull from the bore centerline so that the pull string and snake itself aren't wearing one side of the bore at the crown more than the other. Up to y'all what do you do with it.

 

[old_heli_logger]

The best way that I have found to clean them is to tie them inside of a tube sock and run them through the washing machine.

 

[General RE LEE]

In industry and in farm equipment I've seen exactly this sort of thing happen over time. I've said my warning to use care and always pull from the bore centerline so that the pull string and snake itself aren't wearing one side of the bore at the crown more than the other. Up to y'all what do you do with it.

Is the bore of a rifle the same as farm equipment? Isn't the steel used to make a rifle barrel able to withstand high pressures and heat and be impervious to damage from a Bore Snake?

 

[sedancowboy]

I will try one more time. It is not the bore snake that is the problem. It is the carbon or burned powder residue that the bore snake picks up as you pull it through the barrel. Carbon is one of the hardest materials there is. If you pull the bore snake across the crown of your barrel it will damage it over time and it doesn't take many trips to do the damage.
Just because you don't understand does not mean it is not true. We are trying to help you prevent damage to your crown. As with all information what you do with it is your choice.
There are many parts of farm machinery that is harder than barrel steel. If barrel steel was super hard your gunsmith could not ream a nice chamber.

 

[General RE LEE]

I will try one more time. It is not the bore snake that is the problem. It is the carbon or burned powder residue that the bore snake picks up as you pull it through the barrel. Carbon is one of the hardest materials there is. If you pull the bore snake across the crown of your barrel it will damage it over time and it doesn't take many trips to do the damage.
Just because you don't understand does not mean it is not true. We are trying to help you prevent damage to your crown. As with all information what you do with it is your choice.
There are many parts of farm machinery that is harder than barrel steel. If barrel steel was super hard your gunsmith could not ream a nice chamber.

yes I get what you are saying but wouldn't a bullet traveling down a fouled bore swipe a bunch of carbon at the crown as it exits the muzzle?

 

[ntsqd]

Is the bore of a rifle the same as farm equipment? Isn't the steel used to make a rifle barrel able to withstand high pressures and heat and be impervious to damage from a Bore Snake?

Yes, and No.

Yes because barrel steel is still steel like used in farm equipment and industrial automation. Just because it is in the form of a barrel doesn't impart it with extra-special properties. I think that you would be surprised at what alloys farm equipment is made out of. If barrels were made from the same alloys that plows and discs are made from this sort of wear would be dramatically less of a concern. I am sure that those alloys are not used because of more important properties.

No because barrels wear out. They fire check, they erode in the throat, and they suffer from crown damage when dropped just exactly wrong. The alloys used for making small arms barrels are not super-exotic alloys. They're actually fairly pedestrian.

 

[PPR]

Friends don't let friends use bore snakes!
Paul

 

[Cornholeo]

I have used bore snakes in several calibers, 308, 5.56, 260rem, 6.5cm over thousands of rounds and never had issue. I do not put a cleaning rod down the barrel until accuracy falls off.

 

[MagnumManiac]

If you have shot any type of comp with rim fires, you will know very well the effects of powder fouling on those bores.
Every rim fire I have had has had a dull surface, in relation to the rest of the bore, at 6 o'clock where the powder fouling settles after each shot. This occurs in relatively fewer shots than you would expect.
Now this, like any carbon, is what's doing the damage, not the bullet, lube or gases.
Look at it this way, a clean rope rubbing on steel, compared to a dirty rope rubbing on steel, the dirty rope is going to do more damage faster.
Just a heads up, I do not, and will not use bore snakes on ANY of my expensive barrels.
I also do not, and will not use bronze brushes of ANY description on my expensive barrels.
I also lead slug lap my barrels, if they shoot well to begin with, to improve the cleaning of said barrel. A barrel that fouls and then shoots rubbish in 20 shots doesn't stay attached to my actions for long.
Luckily, I haven't come across more than 2 barrels that didn't wake up after lapping, those 2 were sent back.
A button rifled barrel really shines after being lapped, as do cut rifled barrels.
Bore snakes are just a gimmick to sell you an extra piece of useless equipment. It may take a little powder residue out of the barrel, but it's not going to touch ANY copper fouling, even if you use a solvent.
To the poster that mentioned carbie cleaner, YES, use it, it will soften and remove most of the carbon even before you run a patch down the bore.
As I have mentioned on these pages before, I worry about carbon, not copper between matches/sessions in my barrels.
I clean with Carbie Kleen & Hoppe's No.9 while at a match, this may be after 40 or 80 rounds a day, but the rifle doesn't get a full clean for 3 matches so I can then see throat erosion movement.
You guys need to follow people like Eric Cortina and F-class John on YouTube, they know what works.

Cheers.

 

[xsn10s]

If rubbing the crown is a concern while using a bore snake you could just try to avoid rubbing the bore with the cable. I do that while using my Otis.