Thread: Cleaning rods vs bore snakes

Apologies if this topic has already been done. What do people use and why? Or, if that topic is a bit too broad, consider a re-phrased question: if you regularly clean with a bore snake, do you need to ever bother with a rod again?

IMO you need both. Bore snake is for when your out hunting and need to clear dirt and shit out of you barrel. Using tape over your barrel stops alot of that. At home you use a rod and patches to clean, apply oil for storage and remove oil before use.

Originally Posted by bang

Apologies if this topic has already been done. What do people use and why? Or, if that topic is a bit too broad, consider a re-phrased question: if you regularly clean with a bore snake, do you need to ever bother with a rod again?

Good question ! iv always used rods I have 2 , one long 1 peace that's good for everything aside from .22 & the other a small steel 4 peace that's good for .22 & up its also great for taking on hunting trips I always take it on multi day trips which is where the bore snake would be no good if you did manage to plug up the barrel .

Have a look at Real Avid Bore Boss ... (Bore Snake)

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i'm guilty of being lazy... snake with a good dose of (fill the space) spray on cleaner, couple of pulls take a good look down both ends and the snake... call it good till next time

both

bore snake for quick clean, low-usage rifles and semis.

rod for serious cleaning. try to get a single piece rod, the steel multi-piece setups are crap. for my target barrels i used one-piece stainless rods, and always use a rod guide to keep the rod centered.

cleaning is a bit of a black art, especially when it comes to high end target barrels. i ended up buying a bore scope/camera - without that you really don't know if you are cleaning properly. i have inspected many, many barrels where the owner said "that is squeaky clean !", and then you show them the borescope - carbon everywhere, copper streaks at the crown etc...

Bore snake mostly. Dirt cheap off AliExpress. Carry a small rod in bush in case barrel gets plugged, as mentioned above.

This guy - GunBlue490 - seems to know what he's talking about - well, more than I do, for sure but that's not hard.

I use the rods at home, and the snakes when away from home.

I thought guns clean themselves when you shoot them?

yea pretty sure mine does that

Ignorance is ultimately not bliss if you value true accuracy.

Most hunters (as opposed to serious target shooters) at best prevent corrosion by their std "cleaning". As ebf says, a borescope reveals the true horrors. Don't think layers of carbon will only degrade accuracy somewhat. They harbour moisture which will inevitably lead to pitting, ie, permanent bore damage.

The amount of times iv ended up with forest floor jammed in the end of me barrel that,s why I opted for the rod , remember reading storeys as a kid about the cullers & some of the ways they cleared there barrel out when plugged up like pulling out a projectile tipping out a bit of powder chambering the projectilles case & firing it !!

Every single rifle I have had has shot better when its had a few rounds through it than straight after a proper clean with a rod and patches etc. So I just use a bore snake after a hunt and might go all out with a rod every once in a while if I really really dont have anything else to do.

I have never used a bore snake, but I have seen a pull through break at the start of a trip. If going hunting I take a length of curtain rod .... the flexible plastic coated stuff that you can poke through an obstruction if need be. It rolls up to nothing and you can add a small patch with oil to to clean a barrel during the trip.
As others have said cleaning a rifle "target shooting style " is a whole other level.
It really woke me up to how ineffective "normal" cleaning is.