Bore snakes

[Texanjohn]

Dewey rods and Tipton rods are good, personally I use Boretech rods,I won't use a snake, never, you can't possibly keep it centered so I just don't use them.

 

[crkckr]

I will agree that one should never use bronze brushes in a good barrel. My first really good barrel was a McGowen in .22 CheetaH. After one pass with a bronze brush I could look down the barrel with my borescope and see the fine scratches left behind. I haven't put a bronze brush down a good shooting rifle barrel since. Undersized nylon only with patches to full bore. Plus, with the chemicals available today, there's absolutely no need for bronze brushes with the possible exception of handguns & lead bullets. I do use the 100lb fishing line in my rimfires (melting an end to make a patch holder then stabbing the other end thru the center of the patch) however I take great care to keep the line from touching the crown when pulling them thru (mostly on rifles that are a pain to clean from the breach end, like Ruger 10/22). I would assume the same could be done with a snake but I don't use them myself.
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[KyCarl]

I checked and I seem to have more Boretech stuff than any other?
Guides, Rods,Nylon brushes but I do have an old box of Midway jags made in USA?
I never use a snake in a rifle but I do shotguns?

 

[Boss Hoss]

I will agree that one should never use bronze brushes in a good barrel. My first really good barrel was a McGowen in .22 CheetaH. After one pass with a bronze brush I could look down the barrel with my borescope and see the fine scratches left behind. I haven't put a bronze brush down a good shooting rifle barrel since. Undersized nylon only with patches to full bore. Plus, with the chemicals available today, there's absolutely no need for bronze brushes with the possible exception of handguns & lead bullets. I do use the 100lb fishing line in my rimfires (melting an end to make a patch holder then stabbing the other end thru the center of the patch) however I take great care to keep the line from touching the crown when pulling them thru (mostly on rifles that are a pain to clean from the breach end, like Ruger 10/22). I would assume the same could be done with a snake but I don't use them myself.
Cheers,
crkckr

Well I have to disagree 100%. Used then for 15 years on nothing but BR quality barrels (Krieger 15 different rifles 30 tubes) and I have a bore scope before you dispute this and it does not lie. You have some trashy tubes that are way too soft or something else is horribly wrong. There is no way that bronze will scratch barrel steel unless something is terribly amiss. Stainless now that is a no no!!!

Read and learn. https://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=13001

The rifles I refer to above Speedy built 13 of them.

 

[crkckr]

All of my custom barrels are stainless, a fact I should have mentioned. I tend to rust the living crap out of anything blued! The blued firearms I do have all have patches of different color blue where I've had to clean it off & cold blue. I have to be diligent to keep them rust free. And no, I have practically no salt in my diet.
My scope clearly shows fine scratches on hand lapped SS barrels. That was enough to get to stop using them on all my barrels. Nothing but nylon for me now.
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[dfanonymous]

Bore snakes are good for in the field. I have a bunch of Ottis kits. For regular cleaning however as others said, a one piece non metal cleaning rod is going to do well. More people probably ruin a barrel more from cleaning then not cleaning. Parker Hale jags and nylon bushes can do the majority of cleaning that one would need.
I recommend a boreguide as well. Helps even out the cleaning but more importantly keeps that chamber from getting scratched by any of the cleaning equipment.

 

[whirlwindjml]

I bring break free and the snake in the wet weather. If im in the wall tent or camper a few days i definantly pull the snake through with the break free clp and wipe the gun down.

As far as breaking in the gun? As everyone mentioned you need a good 1 piece rod. If you ever get the chance to watch the american gunsmith institutes cleaning vid you should. Darrel holland scrubs the bore with brush and solvent. Then wipe it out with patches. Says "the 1 pass per shot down the barrel rule is hogwash" I have always figured the same since im hot lapping copper into riflings its going to need agitation to get it out. Kinda like brushing your teeth. Mouth wash and wiping them off aint gunna cut it.

 

[crkckr]

Whirlwind,
Having talked to Dan Lilja specifically this point (and other barrel makers as well) they all recommend that you do not ever put anything with teflon in it down your barrel. Plain Rem oil or something similar is ok but no teflon. As I've never put it down any of my barrels, I can't say but it's supposed to adversely affect accuracy. I do use Breakfree on everything else, just not in the barrel.
I will have to disagree with having to scrub your barrel clean. The chemicals available today have virtually eliminated that chore from the "old days." Products such as Wipe Out, Montana Xtreme Copper Killer, CR-10, Bore Tech and Hoppe's Elite no longer need to be scrubbed. Coat a patch, run it through your barrel, let it sit for the recommended time, then a dry patch and repeat until you're down to nice shiny bare metal. Protect as necessary to prevent rust. Unless you're shooting plain lead bullets, scrubbing is a thing if the past. I do run some Hoppe's #9 first to clean the loose junk out of my barrels but mostly because I have a gallon of the stuff laying around! This is nice point in time to be a shooter, no more stinking up the entire house with Hoppes #9 and going thru 40 patches and a bronze brush trying to get the barrel clean!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[whirlwindjml]

Whirlwind,
Having talked to Dan Lilja specifically this point (and other barrel makers as well) they all recommend that you do not ever put anything with teflon in it down your barrel. Plain Rem oil or something similar is ok but no teflon. As I've never put it down any of my barrels, I can't say but it's supposed to adversely affect accuracy. I do use Breakfree on everything else, just not in the barrel.
I will have to disagree with having to scrub your barrel clean. The chemicals available today have virtually eliminated that chore from the "old days." Products such as Wipe Out, Montana Xtreme Copper Killer, CR-10, Bore Tech and Hoppe's Elite no longer need to be scrubbed. Coat a patch, run it through your barrel, let it sit for the recommended time, then a dry patch and repeat until you're down to nice shiny bare metal. Protect as necessary to prevent rust. Unless you're shooting plain lead bullets, scrubbing is a thing if the past. I do run some Hoppe's #9 first to clean the loose junk out of my barrels but mostly because I have a gallon of the stuff laying around! This is nice point in time to be a shooter, no more stinking up the entire house with Hoppes #9 and going thru 40 patches and a bronze brush trying to get the barrel clean!
Cheers,
crkckr

Ive nevere heard that on the rem oil. Also i would have sworn my rem oil has teflon as well. I personally have never noticed any ill effect of teflon in the barrel especially since i use only a very light amound and really only in our nasty weather late fall. Ill have to look into that though... I cant see how 90 grains of powder sand blasting the barrel wouldnt remove it since it removes the throat. (Either way rust pitting is worse)

As for the patch only... Ive tried it with all the moden stuff (basket full of stuff[larry potterfield thanks me for my business])and i can pull blue patches for a long long long time that way. I actually alternate many of the ones you mentioned. I fimly believe the custom barrel makers are concerned with people skrewing their barrels up (no bore guid for example) and then blaming the barrel. So they recomed chemical and patch. Also a quality lapped barrel has less copper bond than factory barrel with machine marks.

After lots of diffrent approaches i still use a brush then patch. I try to to make it a quick thing. I like to shoot more than clean. Then every winter i do the more thorough clean. My groups are where i want them so it works for me...

Happy shootin

 

[crkckr]

Hoss, you meant stainless brushes. Duh! I can be thick at times. At any rate the scratches are still there and plainly visible. The absolute worst thing you can do is reverse a bronze brush while still in the barrel instead of pushing it all the way through. It leaves little curlie-cues on both lands and groves. I got lazy once... blech.
I can't find one brush still in it's package so I can't be certain of the brand, which may or may not make a difference. They were probaby Outters but there's no telling. I stocked up on things like that when I sold my gun shop so they may just as well might have been some off brand that was on sale.
Cheers,
crkckr
P.S. while I had my shop a sales guy sent me a brush that was wound stainless... even back then I was smart enough to toss it in the trash!

 

[crkckr]

Whirlwind,
There used to be two kinds of Rem oil, one with and one without teflon. As I now used mostly synthetic oils I still have a can maybe half full of the non-teflon left. I also use moly grease, and Brownells Action Lube Plus, which I believe was advertised for stainless firearms. Breakfree and even WD-40 at times (especially after using a degreasing agent like Break Parts Cleaner or Carb Intake Cleaner from Wally World, both essentially the same stuff). I mostly use 5w-40 oil and 75w-95 synthetics now, however.

Looking over the Lilja website they make no mention I could find regarding using teflon although there are a folks that mention that he has told them not to use it in the bore, as he told me, on the 'net. They do, however, recommend using a bronze brush for cleaning. Go figure. I'm sticking with my wonder chemicals and nylon brushes... and (gasp!) moly coating a lot of my bullets. Lot's of controversy there but I like not having to clean my barrels as often, which is the main point of the stuff as far as I'm concerned. Maybe some lower pressures and higher velocities, too, but I've never really compared. My barrels hold accuracy longer using the stuff so I'll keep using the messy icky stuff until I run out.
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[crkckr]

BTW, everyone using the bronze brushes should go to the Lilja website and read up on how they should be used. The old "run 'er back and forth once for each shot" is definitely not what Lilja recommends!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[whirlwindjml]

Whirlwind,
There used to be two kinds of Rem oil, one with and one without teflon. As I now used mostly synthetic oils I still have a can maybe half full of the non-teflon left. I also use moly grease, and Brownells Action Lube Plus, which I believe was advertised for stainless firearms. Breakfree and even WD-40 at times (especially after using a degreasing agent like Break Parts Cleaner or Carb Intake Cleaner from Wally World, both essentially the same stuff). I mostly use 5w-40 oil and 75w-95 synthetics now, however.

Looking over the Lilja website they make no mention I could find regarding using teflon although there are a folks that mention that he has told them not to use it in the bore, as he told me, on the 'net. They do, however, recommend using a bronze brush for cleaning. Go figure. I'm sticking with my wonder chemicals and nylon brushes... and (gasp!) moly coating a lot of my bullets. Lot's of controversy there but I like not having to clean my barrels as often, which is the main point of the stuff as far as I'm concerned. Maybe some lower pressures and higher velocities, too, but I've never really compared. My barrels hold accuracy longer using the stuff so I'll keep using the messy icky stuff until I run out.
Cheers,
crkckr

I have been buying nylons brushes and using them for most of the cleaning. After a few hundred shots usually winter i been using a bronze and really getting it all. Im just not scared of a bronze brush.
Ill burn the throat out before i notice a problem.

The new cfe powders are an interesting thing. My brother shot a lot more tjan he should have in his ar15 without cleaning. When we cleaned it, it wasnt that bad.

Btw... Are New of the newer solvents out there recomended for lead? It seems most i see are for dissolving copper. I suppose thats a whole different thread...

 

[whirlwindjml]

The old "run 'er back and forth once for each shot" is definitely not what Lilja recommends!

I dont see anything that resembles that. It says 5 to 10 strokes after you Patch repeat ect and they advise that nylon dont cut cut it out. Hart also recommends a bronze. If figure if its worked for 30 years for me and longer for the folks that showed me then im going to continue to recommend its since there is no real evidence, as lilja points out, that brushing does anything but clean the bore.