All posts tagged Hoppes gun cleaning

Boresnake life span, are they worth it?

Are they worth it?  Do they hold up to heavy use?   I have the same 22 caliber bore snake and it has been used in 22LR rifles, AR15 rifles, M4 Carbines, AK74 and Mini 14s.   The same bore snake is approximately 6yrs old and probable gets used about  50 times a year.   I usually run the snake through the gun about 2 times.   I may only need to do it once, but i’m use to using cleaning rods and just get in the habit.   I almost only use Break Free CLP on my firearms, and the occasional grease application, and gun cleaning is now simple.

Cleaning revolvers is probable easier than some semi-autos because there is nothing you really need to disassemble.   I have been using the Hoppes boresnakes for rifle the majority of the time because handguns just don’t seem to be that much of a hassle and I’m really not that worried about how clean the barrels are for any particular accuracy reason.    When it comes to cleaning out a bolt action rifle like a Winchester M70,  It sure does make a difference in cleaning time when you do a one, two, and then just wipe the gun down and put it away.   If you clean the guns often, from my experience there is very little worry about hard to clean areas.

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Road trips and cleaning firearms

I was never one to jump on the bandwagon that it should  be necessary for someone in the military to break their M16 down every day and clean it.   I always thought that if the gun needed that much attention, they really should think about a new design.   The real reason the military does this for many soldiers is basically to keep everyone occupied and give them something to do.   I don’t think even an M16 needs to be cleaned more than 2 or 3 times a week, even in dirty conditions.   I’m sure that it some situations you are better off keeping  your chamber hatch closed and not opening to clean it when the air is full of sand and will just attach itself to the gun lube on your  bolt.   We sell a lot of Otis gun cleaning kits to the military for a reason though.   Everything you could want to clean a pistol or rifle is in a small compact case.

I personally find using rifle cleaning rods to be easier and for some reason I feel like I am getting a thorough cleaning.   Bore snakes work very well, but I have found them to become real messy to use if they are being used often.   You have to put them back in the clear case they came with and sometimes I feel it’s easier and cleaner to toss out dirty cleaning patches instead of putting the filthy boresnake back in it’s patch.   Bore snakes are easy to clean if you want to toss them in a wash machine, but this isn’t practical if you are on a road trip.   Otis gun cleaning kits, depending on which you purchase, should have just about every tool and brush you need to clean your firearm.   I did jam a patch in a rifle once and i did have to resort to using a cleaning rod to unjam it, but after I got the right method for “taking a pinch on the patch” and not using too much of it for a smaller caliber, I got the job done.   Otis has plenty of videos you can watch before you buy a cleaning kit if you think the kits are a little overwhelming.

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