Bore Snake: Will it break?

[hawkman71]

Used a bore snake on a 22LR barrel yesterday. I did not put much oil on it at all so that may be the problem but holy cow, I thought it was going to break or at least get stuck. (I'm glad I didn't let the other end go through the breach or I think I'd have had a real problem. I put some more Ballistol on it and did it again. It was very difficult to pull and even getting it back out the breech end took a lot of muscle to get it to budge.

I then went to my Otis kit and ran a patch rather than the bore snake. I guess I could have run the brush first.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Fwiw I learned my bore snake lesson a few weeks back. Used one a thousand times on various calibers. Never had an issue. Always did same routine.

Was running one through my most prized tikka hunting rifle and it started to pull then just stopped! I tried pulling harder. Nothing. Tail end was completely in chamber.

Researched online a bit and it is actually more common than I thought.

I wrongfully attempted to push it back out with a rod. And tried a handful of other creative ways to pull it out (and probably ruin my barrel). After a few hours of frustration I took it to my local smith.

$50 and a gun tear down it was fixed.

Verdict is still out if it’s a sub 1/2 MOA gun….tried to shoot this morning but no luck.

BL: I’m done using bore snakes.

 

[justinspicher]

Wow! I have never had any issues using a bore snake, but I’ve only used them on AR barrels. Did your rifle barrels taper?

 

[Huntin Fool]

I had the pull rope break on one, but I was lucky and there was still enough of the snake sticking out I was able to pull it out backwards. With that being said I don’t think they will break unless they’ve been used a lot.

 

[Bubba85]

Good info to know. Thought about buying one for just quick clean ups. I guess I’ll just stick to the old rod and patches.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I love using them.

 

[browning2480]

I use one all the time for muzzleloader and never had an issue. Never tried on something small though

 

[dtrkyman]

I had one in a shotgun barrel, had to play tug of war with the wife to get it out! It was brand new and dry, once broke in they are quite good for shotguns, But I could see an issue with a rifle!

 

[Titan]

Had one nearly get stuck in a rifle. Had to wrap the pull rope around my foot and pull the gun up. Thought for sure the rope would break, but it made it through. I only use them on pistols now.

 

[Dogman-K]

I’ve used them fairly often on shotguns and worried about them breaking. As insurance, I tied a nylon cord on to the trailing loop. That way, if it broke, I had a means of pulling it out from the other end. I never had one break though.

I don’t know if the rifle versions have that trailing loop.

Also, watch out for fakes, there are several Chinese knock offs on the market.

 

[Gutshotem]

Had a new one break in an AR. Was able to get ahold of the tail end and get it back out that way. I've got them in a few other calibers and none of them are anywhere near as tight as that .223.

 

[Tahoe1305]

I’ve used them fairly often on shotguns and worried about them breaking. As insurance, I tied a nylon cord on to the trailing loop. That way, if it broke, I had a means of pulling it out from the other end. I never had one break though.

I don’t know if the rifle versions have that trailing loop.

Also, watch out for fakes, there are several Chinese knock offs on the market.

This sounds like good insurance.

To the earlier question, barrel was not tapered in any way. The snake was a tad worn. Only thing I can think of.

 

[Agross]

I just recently popped my bore snake cherry. I got one for my 22 and one for my 17. Both worked awesome, and had no issues whatsoever. Wish I wouldve got these years ago. I did run mine through dry a few times to start.

 

[JAC8504]

I’ve used them fairly often on shotguns and worried about them breaking. As insurance, I tied a nylon cord on to the trailing loop. That way, if it broke, I had a means of pulling it out from the other end. I never had one break though.

I don’t know if the rifle versions have that trailing loop.

Also, watch out for fakes, there are several Chinese knock offs on the market.

Hi all!

I want to stress what Dogman said. Do not buy these from Ebay or Amazon even. I recommend ordering directly from Hoppes. https://www.hoppes.com/boresnake/ As an employee this is what we see the most. The quality isn't the same albeit almost looking the same to the untrained eye.

Thanks!

 

[Blockcaver]

Unless you are using them a short barreled firearm, as mentioned above, tie a tail rope on them so you have reverse! I had a 28 ga shotgun snake break but luckily the leading end of the snake was already thru the barrel. Think the big fuzzy leading end and bristles were tight in the choke, but I had enough sticking out the end of the barrel to grab it with the vise and pull it through. Turns out 28 ga snakes were notoriously tight when reading about them on the net. Rebuilt it to proper diameter and eliminated the big fuzz ball and still use it....wife has an industrial sewing machine. On shotguns the tail rope is typically a piece of parachute cord that is long enough to leave a good tail when the snake disappears into the chamber. And no more fuzzy leading end on the shotgun snakes either.

 

[Brook.Trout]

I’ve been with the tight bore snakes before and always feel like it’s gonna break, only time I use one is when I’m in the back country I pack one in case I shove my barrel into the dirt or anything stupid. I’ve just bought a size smaller still cleans out the crap just fine. At home it’s just a rod and patch