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Bore Snake, cleaning rods and Universal bore guides.

4K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  stevec 
#1 ·
I have always been a plinker when in comes to shooting but for the last couple years I started trying more precision and longer distance shooting. When it comes to cleaning I used to use a normal cleaning kit with a rod but a couple years ago I switched over to a bore snake because I was told that a rod can do more harm than good in the barrel. It seems that the bore snake works pretty well but after about 300 rounds or so I must be getting a pretty good fouling because my accuracy really starts to suffer. From all the reading and vids I see online the best method to fix this is to clean with the good old fashioned cleaning rod with a brush and some patches. I also see that everyone recommends a bore guide so that the barrel does not get scratched when cleaning. For someone like me with multiple different forearms will a UNIVERSAL bore guide work or should I look for a specialty guide for each gun?
 
#2 ·
Cleaning rods are not made of steel (that I'm aware of). Most are even covered in a poly type of coating. These materials are softer than the steel of a barrel. I don't see how they can damage a barrel. I've used rods and snakes, and I think the rod does a better job.

Just my $.10 minus $.08
 
#3 ·
I've been told the aluminum rods can pick up and retain debris. It's the debris that does damage.

I've been looking at the wire rope cleaning kits (like the Otis) drop one end through barrel attatch patch or brush and pull through.
 
#4 ·
avoid sectioned aluminum rods because they're what cause damage. I personally use a bore snake and I like everything about the pull-through style otis kits
 
#8 ·
I made my own carbon fiber cleaning rod and used a brass threading coupler on the front for screwing in the Winchester brand brass wire brushes. I can't see how a rod could damage most barrels. Clean the rod and brushes after you're done cleaning the barrel and it shouldn't foul up or "scratch" the barrel with any debris or contaminants. That being said, I usually finish things off with a bore snake after the barrel has been cleaned out with foaming bore cleaner and solvents (such as Hoppes or Break-Free Powder Blast). I'll wrap a couple of patches around the brass brushes on the bore snake and dab them lightly with gun oil to prevent corrosion inside the bore.
 
#11 ·
people worried about damaging the crown with a rod: why are you going muzzle to chamber and not the other way around?
 
#14 ·
I dont use muzzle guards, I just attach an extra rod to make the cleaning rod much longer then the barrel and use it like that, the only thing protruding that can hit the muzzle are my fingers and thumb. I've used bore snakes, they do a great job with the first 2-3 passes but then you gotta really get in there with wet patches and then dry patches if you want a really clean barrel.

Usually bore snakes for me are good enough to not need a brush, I only ever need brushes on old surplus rifles that have some surface rust or fouling 50+ years old really stuck in there. On a pistol barrel you can practically just use the bore snake once or twice and be done.
 
#15 ·
I decided to try out the Tipton universal bore guide and I also bought one of the Tipton carbon fiber cleaning rods with a new jag and brush. I figure I will still use my Viper Bore snake for minor cleaning and then use the Tipton when the accuracy starts to go down.
 
#17 ·
OTIS cleaning system.

Buy one and you won't regret it!

It works really well. It works form breach to muzzle and cleans much better than a rod or bore snake could ever do. I've used rods, bore snakes, and more cleaning my rifles and the OTIS system works the best!
This is what I have been hearing. Are their any negatives to it?
 
#23 ·
I wish Amazon would sell ammo. They sell just about every other type of firearm accessory on there - scopes, cleaning kits, solvents, gun cases, safes, all sorts of hunting supplies.
 
#24 ·
I'm not opposed to Amazon I just prefer to spend the extra couple bucks to go to LGS. For the scopes I'm looking at ill buy online due to significant savings. I try to support LGS when it reasonably.
 
#26 ·
Well I received my Tipton carbon rod and the Tipton universal bore guide and decided to see how clean my barrels really were. I soaked a patch with some Hoppes #9 and pushed it through, waited a couple minutes and then ran a couple dry patches through. I came to the conclusion that the guns I thought were clean with the bore snake were not even close to clean. I may try the Otis next and see how I like that while I am at it.
 
#30 ·
I have been doing some research online and came across this post and many others like it. What do you guys think?

As far as routines go this has worked well for me over the last 20+ years:

Rule #1: If it's not broke, don't fix it.

-Meaning: If the gun is shooting well, why mess with it? Marine bootcamp is tough. As tough as it is, I don't think I've ever had my arse chewed and wore out like I did when my Team NCOIC got after me for "cleaning" the NM M-14 that I shot while on the Camp Pendelton Rifle Team in 92-94. I'm still looking for a piece of it in fact. The rifle had surface rust on it and the bore looked horrible. Trying to be a good little Lance Criminal I figured I'd bust that rust and scrub the bore.

I found out real quick just how dumb it was to go thinking like a grown up. . .


AGAIN: If it's not broke, don't fix it.

This simple little rule is consistent with many of the marquee barrel maker's recommendations when you get them to talk to you. As Mark Chanlynn once said to me, "everytime you put something OTHER than a bullet down a barrel you run the risk of damaging that bore." "More people ruin barrels by cleaning than by shooting them out."

Mark is one of the best barrel makers on planet earth. That's a fact.

So, unless you start to experience one of the following, I say don't "fix it".

a. Increase in pressure that results in red flag warnings on your brass
b. corrosion (more applicable to carbon steel barrels than stainless)
c. loss of accuracy (groups getting bigger suddenly for no rational explanation)-assuming you don't have a high round count that's resulted in the bore being shot out of course.
d. failure to function (can mean anything)

I see folks at ranges all the time that shoot 3-10 rounds then get out the suitcase full of the latest cleaning wigits. They scrub for half an hour, then go back to shooting 3-10 more times. Then they wonder or blame things like "barrel harmonics" for a flyer or shot that's not on call.

Then you go to someplace like Camp Perry or to a US Palma Team practice. There you rarely see a cleaning rod come out and the NRA Highpower 800 ag course involves 88 rounds down range over the course of the day. A Palma event is 45 rounds for record shot at 800, 900. and 1000 yards with IRON sights.. If a shooter does have a clean gun he'll fire a half dozen foulers either between the tgts prior to the start of the match or he'll burn them into the berm.

If you need more proof, just look at a lot of test tgts posted up all over this site. You'll see the "orphan" out in left field (labeled as a cold/clean bore shot) and then a nice little wad piled up someplace close to the point of aim. The clean bore causes the flyer. Almost every time it causes a flyer. It's a very cold day in hell that a rifle doesn't do this. Some do, but its extremely rare.

Pull the bolt, wipe it down, squeegee the muck out of the receiver, and go on with your life. Leave the bore alone. Clean it when it really needs it, not when you "think" it needs it.

Good luck and hope this helps.
 
#34 ·
As far as routines go this has worked well for me over the last 20+ years:

Rule #1: If it's not broke, don't fix it.
This where I have ended up at also. About the only time I clean barrels after a low round count is after shooting corrosive ammo. I do occasionally shoot corrosive 7.62x39, so I run a rag with #9 down the bore and then a dry patch or two - no super scrub. For lead loads out of the 9mm, I have to scrub the leading out every 200 rounds or so. When shooting plated/jacketed, I may go many hundreds of rounds b/w barrel cleaning. For centerfire rifle, I only clean barrels when accuracy falls off - depending on caliber, this could be dozens of rounds to hundreds. This is a real pain though, since I have to remove the copper which is real work, and it seems to take a handful of rounds after cleaning before the barrel settles down again. For .22LR rimfires, I just a q-tip with #9 into the chamber if necessary, but I would be perfectly happy never cleaning a bore - if anything they seem to shoot better without cleaning. Semi auto .22LRs get the bolt and FCG cleaned up quite a bit since the priming compound gets that gritty stuff all over, but it never seems to have any effect on the bore, so I leave that alone.
 
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