I just got a bore snake for one of my rifles and was wondering if  I needed to invest in some bore cleaner spray to spray down the barrel before dragging the snake through. I have never owned a bore snake before and was wondering how you guys use it, spray barrel with spray then drag it through? I only own bore cleaner and oil that I dip the brush into ,I dont own any spray and was wondeing if the spray would be better?

I am not a big fan of bore snakes.

The times I have used them, it has always been in addition to a rod with patches, to augment them.

If you have never used one before, be careful.  Make CERTAIN the draw line doesn't have any kinks in it before running it through your barrel.

Trust me on this item,DON'T try running a dry boresnake through a .223 bbl. Soak it with Breakfree CLP before pullin it through.

I usually use some CLP, either spray it in the barrel or on the bore snake. I love my bore snake, I use it all the time for a quick cleaning, but you will enventually need to do a good cleaning with something else, the bore snake just doesn't seem to get everything out.

um k i did so whats wrong with it

I have run them through dry with no problems. I also dip just the brush part of it in Hoppies. Thay both seem to work fine.

I never really liked the idea of bore snakes, if you make more than one pass without completely washing out the boresnake you would just be dragging the filth from the first pass back through the bore. I certainly wouldn't make a second pass with a dirty patch. I own one I've never used just for field use to remove any accidental contamination(mud from a fall etc.) As far as use as a primary bore cleaner I guess I'm missing something.

Good Luck

I spray some clp down the barrel and let it drip down until it drips out the end, not too much but enough to cover the internal barrel surface. Pull the snake through a few times. I clean my boresnake out with hot water and just a touch of dish soap after about 10 to 15 pulls.

With all my guns and bore snakes (.223, .30-06 & 12ga) I spray CLP liberally into the breech end until I see it dripping from the muzzle then I pull the bore snake through. Done.

Thanks

This

Boresnakes can be useful to quickly clean the barrel between shooting different ammo at the range. Some ranges won't allow you to disassemble your weapon but allow boresnakes for such purposes.

thanks guy s for the info, very helpful

I run a dry boresnake through .22 and 5.56 barrels all the time, no issues! I guess if guys constantly chafe the boresnake on your bbl extension it'll break off

I love my boresnakes, quick, easy efficient way to clean my barrels. Of course they all get a real good cleaning w/ patches/bore cleaner every few range trips but a boresnake will suffice in the mean time.

I always place a few drops of Breakfree CLP on the leading tip of my boresnake before using it on a 5.56 barrel. I'm always careful to feed the snake in straight with no twists or knots and have never had any issues with it getting stuck or breaking. It's probably not as thorough as a patch and rod, but it's a great way to give your barrel a quick cleaning.

Same here.

Let me preface by saying I'm a benchrest shooter and generally very particular about keeping my bore's perfect.

Boresnakes, properly used, are a gift from the gods of shooting. They don't do a perfect 100% clean job, that's not their purpose. What they do is let you quickly and easily get about 95% of the job done, which is more than enough for the vast majority of cleanings done. If I'm cleaning one of my benchrest guns I start with one and move on from there, but why would I waste ten minutes when I could do the same job in ten seconds? If I'm cleaning a 10/22 or one of my defensive handguns or a hunting rifle... I soak/spray... the area ahead of the brush and the brush area itself with whatever cleaner I use on that gun. For general purpose that used to be Breakfree CLP, then due to the scent bugging my gf I've started using bore eliminator and slip2k clp depending on the gun. Then I run it through once or twice and take a look. On the 10/22 that's often all I do for the bore since I use the CLP products on it. I've run regular patches through it afterward a time or two, and gotten nothing but oil out as long as the boresnake wasn't used too many times between cleanings.

On a more finicky rifle I start the same way and then run a soaked patch with solvent through and let it sit a bit, then a soaked brush for a few trips, generally nylon but my larger bore hunting rifles that are less precise but also tend to get more fouling get copper brushes. Then another patch with cleaner and then some dry ones to clear things out. I won't bore you with the rest, you get the idea. But the key here is that even on my very old, very cherished very very precise 222 remington I can run that boresnake through and probably skip most of the rest and get the same result. It's more for me than the gun. Generally, unless I put a LOT of rounds down range I get nothing else from the bore after the boresnake and the first solvent/patch run. The brush tends to be purely a habit, and I've noticed that unless I use a brand new nylon one I wind up actually putting more dirt in than I free up.

Boresnakes aren't a replacement, but I'd be willing to bet that used right you can substitute them for traditional cleaning far more than most people think. My 10/22 and now my M&P are test cases for me. They're going to get very few and very minor traditional bore cleanings. A swipe or two with the snake and then a patch through to check and that's it unless the patch comes out dirty at which point obviously the boresnake has failed the test in that rifle, I'm curious to see what the threshold is. So far, with the 10/22, lead or copper jacketed doesn't seem to matter. Nor how many rounds fired. I've done everything from 50 rounds to five hundred rounds in a session and it always comes out spotless with two passes. Maybe the higher velocity of the 5.56 will change that, but I'm willing to bet it doesn't make much difference. The round count might, so maybe if someone else is paying for ammo I can try putting as many as a thousand rounds through it before cleaning the bore. I honestly don't know how that would come out and am interested to find out. I'm not about to stop my more careful and anal cleanings on the precision rifles, but I know that my time spent cleaning it got cut drastically when I started using the snake first.

I'm with some of the other posters here.
I like Bore Snakes but only use them to augment a regular cleaning.
They are great for quick cleaning in the field or at the bench.

Like most everything else on planet earth, give any item to some individuals and they will manage to break it or destroy it within ten minutes or less and then complain loudly about how worthless the product is.
Those with good common sense won't break the snake with proper use.

You should place some type of cleaner on the brush portion of the BoreSnake, it doesn't take much, the solvent/oil/cleaner does not need to be dripping off.

BoreSnakes can be hand washed or tossed in the washer in a mesh bag for cleaning, this should be done when you grab the snake and your hand comes away well soiled.

try pulling a dry 50 cal boar snake through a M2 50 cal barrel. some guys at work did that yesterday and got it stuck. I had to pull it out and ended up cutting into my hand with the draw string wraped around it. The pressure alone is what cut my skin on my finger. I'm surprised the string didnt snap off. I put some CLP on it and the next time it was much easier for them.

For a chrome lined barrel, a bore snake is all you need....and a chamber brush

I've used 5.56mm and 12 gauge for a couple of years now.  Effortless cleaning.  I don't think unkinking them and not trying to pull a knot through the barrel is rocket science.

Paying attention to the oil/solvent/grease put on to them is important.  Many oils and cleaners are not mix compatible.  My useage plan was to always use them with Otis 085 UltraBore for both a cleaning and a preserving effect.  You logically don't then start using Hoppe's #9 or Sweet's Copper Remover on the same snake or let them get onto the snake from rod cleaning residue.

My original and all follow up useages are to put Otis 085 on the rear half of the snake each time.  The front half always went through dry bores with no problem.  After a number of useages, the whole thing gets the oil on it.

If nothing else, novices can stick the snake back into the buttstock compartment far easier than a full AR or Otis kit.  Which means it is far likelier of actually getting used.  (I would not substitute anything for a complete Otis M16 Kit in my buttstocks.  They are the perfect reserve item always with the rifle and always capable of a complete job of cleaning including chamber and lug rod.)

I put a couple of snakes into every care package set to the sandbox.  No one has ever complained.

i have one for all my guns/calibers...
i still use the rod though

I HATE putting rods down a .22lr barrel though.

I keep a boresnake in my SHTF/BOB...better than nothing in a "field environment" should I not have access to proper cleaning equipment such as rod, patches and Q-Tips...

That's all I ever use on my ARs. Scrub the chamber and locking lugs, run a Boresnake through the bore three times, brush the bolt face, wipe doen the bolt group, lube, and put it back together.

Bore snakes do have a purpose and it is a great way to get the crud out and make things shiny quickly.
But these should be used only as an intermittent cleaning solution.
Go ahead and test it out. Clean your barrel with a bore snake to your satisfaction.
Then break out that complex cleaning kit with copper remover and see how good the snake actually did.  

The problem here is the snake will get Oils and Solvents and whatever else mixed into it.
The solvent kills the oil and the oil kills the solvent. Well unless you use several snakes at cleaning time. Oh what one had the oil?

Real cleaning gets the copper fouling out. Most do not use copper solvent on a bore snake as it dissolves the brush too quickly and snakes are not cheap. Meaning the copper fouling remains.

Like it or not a chamber guide and rod with jags patches and brushes can’t be substituted for a real copper removing cleaning. If you do not care about copper removal then snake away.

I would guess that about 1000% more rifles are damaged by over cleaning than by not cleaning them enough.

We've been using boresnakes for several years an we always use 2 of them on our pistols. One is used with solvent

soaked on the front part of the snake and the 2nd snake has oil on it. We then store them in separate separate sandwich baggies with them labeled with a black mark a lot so we know which one is which for next time.



When they get real dirty, they are made to be washed.