bore cleaning with a boresnake ?

[mjr88 50]

Hi all

 

I've owned my Cz Varmint .22 rimmy for about 3 years and i have never cleaned the bore once.

The rifle has only ever been used for pest control, mainly rabbits, and i have never really felt the need to clean the rifles bore.

 

However,i have now decided that i want to join a local target shooting club and i have purchased a Bore Snake from my local dealer.

 

I was just wondering if it is ok to pull the Bore snake through the barrel a couple of times DRY,or is it better to use some kind of solvent on the snake first.

The only solvent i have at home at the moment is ' Bisley Bore Cleaner ' that i use on my shotgun. Is this ok to use on the snake ?

 

The rifle has only fired about 1500 rounds since new and i'm not even sure if it needs cleaning at all.

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated ,

 

John

Edited May 8, 2010 by mjr88

[andyf 144]

Hi:

Throw that 'boresnake' away!

Your crown is at risk!!

Get a 'proper' boreguide and a Midway UK cleaning rod.

AndyF

[Deker 3,478]

Cleaning rimfires usually promotes a lot of comment, from never cleaned it in my life to every time I shoot it.

 

Rimfire ammo is filthy as you obviously know and it gets everywhere, the bolt extractors can be a real problem. If you have been exclusively using lead then barrel cleaning should not be too much of a problem, but if you have been using copper coats you will have a bit of work to do.

 

As I have said many times before, Bore Snakes were "invented" to give your shotgun a quick once over in the field to clean the highly corrosive propellant residues out, and then do the job properly when you get home.

 

Somehow they have got into the rifle world and been promoted (and accepted by many) as a one stop do it all cleaner.

 

They potentially have a place, but will never be a substitute for a proper clean!

 

Edited May 9, 2010 by Deker

[mjr88 50]

Cleaning rimfires usually promotes a lot of comment, from never cleaned it in my life to every time I shoot it.

 

 

Whats your personal opinion Deker regarding bore cleaning on .22 rimfires , are you for or against regular cleaning ,

 

John

[mjr88 50]

Hi:

Throw that 'boresnake' away!

Your crown is at risk!!

Get a 'proper' boreguide and a Midway UK cleaning rod.

AndyF

 

Thanks for your reply andyf

 

Although i am not disregarding your advise , this subject on ' Boresnakes ' damaging the rifles crown seems to be a bit of a myth , according to quite a few comments on another popular American chat forum ,

 

John

[Deker 3,478]

Cleaning rimfires usually promotes a lot of comment, from never cleaned it in my life to every time I shoot it.

 

 

Whats your personal opinion Deker regarding bore cleaning on .22 rimfires , are you for or against regular cleaning ,

 

John

 

Personally, on the .22lr which I use virtually exclusively for sub sonic lead (the last time I put copper down it was to try the new fragmenting CCI sub stuff...won't be bothering again) it is the least cleaned barrel I have.

 

Certainly the bolt and action are cleaned regularly (the crud builds up), and the barrel probably gets cleaned about every 200 rounds!

 

It works for me but many will have other ideas!

[clint 45]

bore snake no damage crown ,if use correct.You more chance of scuff crown with brass brush & rod !! Is not true . All military use bore snake, day after day after day, after day ,all good with snake ,use brech to crown only pull.

[trooperman 73]

Hi all newbie on here so hello to you all just thought i would add my 2 penith if you dont mind been shooting for over 35 years rimfire and bigns i clean all my guns after use even if only fired 1 shot it is good practice INMHO and not one of my rifles have suffered for it i use bore snakes on all my guns and they do not damage the crown ,the crowns are set back as to allow gas tp disperce so a snake is not going to do any damage i also use an old SLR snake they are as rough as a bears bum they do no damage either.

 

paul

[mjr88 50]

i clean all my guns after use even if only fired 1 shot it is good practice INMHO and not one of my rifles have suffered for it i use bore snakes on all my guns and they do not damage the crown

paul

 

trooperman

 

Do you find that after cleaning a .22 rimfire it alters the previous POI.

 

I've fired off approx 1500 rounds with my .22 Cz Varmint since new and i still havn't cleaned the bore , Just curious , that's all ,

 

John

[statikpunk 0]

hey mjr88 , I have been collecting .22s all my life and love shooting them. officially you should clean your guns every time you use them, all propellants are corrosive ad will eventually wear out your barrel. and as far as bore snakes go, as long as you pull from chamber to muzzle (that goes for cleaning with a rod also) then you will not harm your crown (just remember your crown has to be crisp for accuracy, and any contact with anything that rubs against that crown will deform it over time)

all that being said i do not thoroughly clean my .22s every time I shoot them, I use a bore snake after each shooting session just to get the big stuff cleaned out, then several times a year i do a thorough cleaning with a rod and patches (which works much better than a bore snake)

 

anyway the real reason i posted was that you mentioned something that stuck out to me that, no one addressed. you said that you use your bore snake with cleaning solvent, what is drastically important is that you get the cleaning solvent out of the barrel..do not leave it in there, it is more corrosive than the spent powder. when I use my bore snake i use only break free gun oil, which is an oil and a non-corrosive cleaner. when cleaning with a rod you use patches in this order solvent soaked patches until the bore is clean, then a dry patch to clean out the excess solvent, then a very lightly oiled patch to protect. it is impossible to do all that with a bore snake unless you washed it after each step. anyway just be careful of that...oh and no, cleaning will not change your point of impact, unless your gun was absolutely filthy.

 

 

update: oh sorry I misread your post, the answer to your question is NO do not use solvent on your bore snake unless you plan on cleaning it between each pass through the barrel, like I said I recommend using break free gun oil, its a non corrosive cleaner and protectant.

Edited May 13, 2010 by statikpunk

[kernow oli 28]

how do you go about cleaning a .22lr semi auto from chamber to muzzle if using a rod and patches, ive not had gun that long and previous owner said he neveer bothered to clean it, but looking at the end of the muzzle it looks dirty so i would like to clean it through?? any advise??

cheers

oli

[clint 45]

how do you go about cleaning a .22lr semi auto from chamber to muzzle if using a rod and patches, ive not had gun that long and previous owner said he neveer bothered to clean it, but looking at the end of the muzzle it looks dirty so i would like to clean it through?? any advise??

cheers

oli

 

you do like any other rifle, breech to crown ! Take out of wood with semi rifle, remove bolt action & clean,with hot water, lightly oil after, use pull thru on barrel, simples. After 1500 round thru semi auto, it defenatley want clean,it be like wax candle, it will effect p.o.i . I use semi auto & clean like all rifle after use, this also keep p.o.i true & exact.

[mjr88 50]

Hi all

 

When i got home from work earlier i decided to try the Boresnake.

 

As ive never used one before i followed the advice given and dropped the weighted end down the barrel , breech to crown end.

 

On the first pull through the cord felt quite stiff , but on the second it glided through with little effort.

 

I then looked through the barrel from the crown end up to the light and everything looks spotlessly clean so i didn't bother to use the snake a third time.

 

Thanks for all the advice lads ,

 

John

Edited May 13, 2010 by mjr88

[shootingcharley 3]

Hi all

 

I've owned my Cz Varmint .22 rimmy for about 3 years and i have never cleaned the bore once.

The rifle has only ever been used for pest control, mainly rabbits, and i have never really felt the need to clean the rifles bore.

 

However,i have now decided that i want to join a local target shooting club and i have purchased a Bore Snake from my local dealer.

 

I was just wondering if it is ok to pull the Bore snake through the barrel a couple of times DRY,or is it better to use some kind of solvent on the snake first.

The only solvent i have at home at the moment is ' Bisley Bore Cleaner ' that i use on my shotgun. Is this ok to use on the snake ?

 

The rifle has only fired about 1500 rounds since new and i'm not even sure if it needs cleaning at all.

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated ,

 

John

 

 

Hi there the best thing you can do with the boresnake is use it as a belt to keep your trousers up i hate them.

 

Shootingcharley.

[mjr88 50]

Hi there the best thing you can do with the boresnake is use it as a belt to keep your trousers up i hate them.

 

Shootingcharley.

 

 

 

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