Hoppe's Bore Snake

jimmcgeh@lisco.com

I have a Hoppe's bore snakes for cleaning 22 cal. pistols and rifles.They sure clean good.Do the 30 cal.and 12 gauge work as good?

charliemeyer007

I think I have 4 or 5 and they all work good. I do use a regular rod too when required or with treatments like JB Bore paste.

badchris

My 30 cal works just fine.
The 12 ga works but a very dirty bore still requires a brush.

TANK78Z

I use them in 5 calibers, they work great if used after every shooting session, after multiple sessions usually need to first brush the bores , still a good product

toad67

I think they work great for what the are designed to do. A lighter cleaning used more often. Not for cleaning your gun every 5,ooo or so rounds. I did learn one thing awhile back about the bore snakes. All of the snakes made within the last 3-4 years except the 22 have the caliber stamped on them in the little brass section.

perry shooter

I have a question about the wisdom of using a bore snake. All my life I have been told to not use an aluminum rod because the grit in the bore would impregnate the soft rod and then the rod would turn into abrasive rod quickly wearing the bore. If this is a correct result. Then tell me why a ROPE/SNAKE would not be more prone to being contaminated by this same grit and quickly wearing out the rifle unless cleaned after each pass through the Bore. Seems to me a braided rope would be a worst case to collect grit during use and even storage. just my opinion.[V]

rsnyder55

I assume because the rope is pliant as opposed to an aluminum rod, the grit would not be as abrasive against a barrel.

I usually just run/or pull a patch soaked in CLP immediately after a shooting session and by the time I get home, cleaning is a two or three patch swab.

For my shotguns, I use my old TICO tool.

jonk

Depends.

For a .22, they are the bees knees, and are all I use.

For rifle, they are great to have at a gunshow to look at dirty or greasy bores, assuming the owner will let you run one through.

I use them for corrosive military ammo; drop the weight from the muzzle to the breech, drop the bore snake in a bucket of boiling hot soapy water, pull through once, then back, after 2-3 passes it's done.

But for regular cleaning, I find they do not do much for centerfire rifles. Helps, but still needs a patch/rod.

For handguns... good enough, but you still need to strip down now and then to remove carbon from everywhere else.

Never tried for shotgun.

charliemeyer007

Aluminium Oxide will scratch glass. I have brass and steel rods but but my 44 revolver rod is a graphite/nylon bushing material.

yonson

The difference is that grit embedded on aluminum rod protrudes from the hard surface & the abrasive is all that touches the bore. Not nearly so with a BoreSnake which is compressible, cannot wear bore nearly as effectively.

Navybat

They are easy to clean, too. I have them in .38, .45, 12 guage, .22, and .28, and I throw them in the washing machine by themselves whenever they get dirty. They come out good as new.

Dunk the brush portion in Hoppes and you'll get a thorough cleaning after a pass or two. Then I put some oil on the end section and run it through the barrel on the last pass.

RCrosby

+1 what Perry Shooter said.
Makes sense that grit in the bore snake would be less harmful than grit on an aluminum rod, but still not ideal IMHO.
Guess how much of an issue this might be would depend on how much you shoot and how much you clean.[:D]