So the bore snake wont hurt the barrel. The barrel steel is harder than the copper brush that is woven into the snake...I was just at the range today and was using it during some load development shooting groups of 3 and then run the snake through once or twice and shoot again. The good news is with only using the snake it only cleans so much not like a wet patch and chemical. So your barrel stays somewhat foulled between shots and you don't burn up more powder and bullets shooting multiple foullers when shooting. It only my opnion but it seem to work for me. Shooting a 300RUM 210 and 230 bergers....