Cleaning air rifle with a bore snake

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Oct 2, 2015
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On many air rifles, even on PCP's with magazines, breech is big enough so one can easily put the bore snakes brass end in and clean properly from the right side.
​So, to me, bore snakes look as an easy and practical way of cleaning air rifle barrel
​But, where ever I've been searching online, people are not using bore snakes for cleaning air rifles. There are thousand ways of cleaning air rifle bore with patches and various pull through contraptions but nobody's using bore snake.

​Is there some obvious reason that I've missed?
​Some hidden danger in using bore snake for cleaning air rifle barrel?

Thanks!
 
In my opinion a boresnake works perfect for cleaning the barrel but there is a downside: if there is an o-ring inside the barrel it will be easily damaged by the brass brush.

I've used a boresnake viper from hoppes to clean my barrel, never seen any damage of using it. There are three brass brushes in the viper, I removed two of them to minimize the risk of potential damage. The brass brush is there for removing hard fouling, since I shoot with lead only there is no real need for the brass brush. A couple of weeks ago I trimmed the brass of the last brush because I didn't need the brass. After trying to pull the boresnake through the barrel I found out that the brass brush is the connecting part between the pull cord and the boresnake itself. Long story short, I had the pull cord in my hand and the boresnake was still inside the barrel :( So I have to get a new one someday...

The regular boresnake however has a direct connection between the boresnake and the pull cord so with that there is no harm in removing the brass brushes. The downside of the regular boresnake is the rather thick pull cord which could make it difficult to lower the pull cord through a .22 air rifle barrel. These boresnakes are made for .22 firearms which have a slightly larger bore in most cases.

Hope this helps;) But remember, always be careful using metal in an airgun barrel (except pellet materials ofcourse), the material is softer than firearm barrels so damaging it is easier. Brass is softer than the barrelsteel but with improper use you can still damage it.
 
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Forgot to mention, I always remove brass brushes!
​There is no need for them in PCP airguns

​You are right "JoeWayneRhea", weight needs to be cut to fit the breech in most cases

@broekzwans
​I'll remember not to buy hoppes viper since I always remove all brushes

​After all, it seems that I'm not the only one who uses bore snake instead of rods or a pull through with patches

​Any other experiences with bore snakes, good or bad, post them here as it seems that bore snakes are very, very easy to use (if you can fit the brass weight through the breech) and do get the job done.
 
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I used one with brushes to clean my friend's badly fouled Sumatra. He'd been shooting on full power and had the bore leaded up badly. I had to clean from the muzzle which required cutting off the weight and using a crown saver from the breech to grab the bore snake and pull it into the barrel. I had the rifle upside down with the muzzle pointing down so the solvent would run out the barrel rather than into the gun. I needed an extra pair of hands as I don't have a gunsmith vise! I had hold of both ends of the snake and worked it back and forth, keeping the brushes well away from the breech O-ring. The cleaning helped but the gun is no tack driver.
John
 
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The airgun-specific .177 Bore Snake from Hoppe's doesn't have the brass bristles embedded, so it won't tear up O-rings. I don't know if they make airgun-specific ones in other calibers, but they should! If not, buy a regular one and cut the bristles off with a side cutter. Careful, they go flying and will get stuck in your rug and end up in you feet, if you're not careful. ;)

I've done several other methods, but the bore snake is by far the best. Just put a little Goo-Gone on the first couple inches of it, then pull it through several times. The bore comes out shiny and clean.

Other methods are for very heavy fouling, accumulated through some kind of abuse. Like shooting alloy pellets at high velocities without lube or having detonation from lube in the breech area. They work, but they're just a lot more trouble and mess than a Bore Snake.
 
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Maybe I did something wrong, but the Hoppe's .22 viper boresnake would not fit into my Diana Chaser ,22 barrel. The brass lead and cord went through fine of course but the little plastic lead got stuck before the actual snake entered. (Barrel was off the gun and moderator removed). I think it is because the airgun .22 barrel is smaller diameter than a .22 firearm barrel.
 
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I use boresnakes in my powder burners for a quick clean, but never used them for my air rifles. I actually bought a kit from patchworm, and liked how well it works that I'm going to start using it for my powder burners too. Very happy with the product, and the kit fits multiple calibers, in case you don't want to disassemble your boresnake:

http://patchworm.com/patchworm.html



Not trying to hijack the boresnake discussion entirely.
 
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I have used bore snakes, and they work, but even with the brushes removed, I think they are hard on the breech O ring. And I also prefer starting with a clean patch, rather than a bore snake that has been pulled through a dirty bore (but I admit being a little anal about it). If I need more than a patch worm, I remove the barrel and breech seal, and clean with a rod and nylon brush, from the breech. That said, I agree that bore snake, properly prepared, is an effective cleaning tool. 
 
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I've been using these boresnakes for a couple of years now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M2UISO1. For barrels with an o-ring I pull out the brass brush insert. For something like a Leshiy 2 removable barrel I'll use one with the brass brush. Usually 3-4 pull throughs and accuracy is back. Sometimes I'll soak the beginning of the thicker part with some Ballistol if I think it's really bad.
 
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I use .080" weedeater line...
Cut one end and heat (match, torch) then press onto metal and make a mushroom head. Give it a few tries until you get the nice little mushroom head about .125" or so.
Then, cut the other end at an angle. Make some small cotton patches and they easily thread onto the cut angled end, and stop at the mushroomed head.

I have several of these in my boxes of shooting supplies in various lengths. 
 
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