I’m rereading a history of military sniping and the authoritative author points out that the once-common steel and aluminum chain type pull-through bore cleaners could quickly damage the crown of the bore if not used very carefully. He also states, “Even the comparatively soft British regulation cord pull-through can damage the crown of a muzzle over a short time, affecting accuracy.” If that claim is true, it would also apply to the current “bore snakes” that many shooters rely on these days.

This is a question I’ve pondered for a long time, so what do the precision shooters think and do? Do you regularly use pull-through bore cleaners? And most important, do you believe the claim about the damage they can do is correct?

(I don’t, BTW, use them myself; just seeking opinions about the claim of possible damage.)

For whatever it's worth I use em. Haven't noticed anything in any of my rifles.

I do recall Bartocci saying it could score the barrel. I want to say he stated the Otis version wouldn't do any harm though. Could be wrong.

I don’t picture a *clean* boresnake doing anything bad to a barrel crown.
A dirty one with hard carbon imbedded in it I could imagine being an issue after many uses but I bet it wouldn’t be used that much on a high quality rifle anyway.

No.

I wouldn’t use a pull thru on a precision rifle. I’ve seen SMLEs with a notch at the muzzle due to pull thru not being held at the same angle as the rifle. IIRC the manual for the SMLE manual stipulated two people using the pull thru to avoid damaging the crown....

I'm not a precision shooter, by far, but No! It's only clean once. After that, it's a dirty rope.

Tony.

I think every knowledgeable person I have ever seen make a recommendation for precision rifles has recommended a one-piece coated or nonmetallic cleaning rod with patches, nylon brush if necessary, and relying on chemical cleaning rather than mechanical.

I do agree that I don't think the bore snakes can clean that well after a couple of uses on a dirty rifle,other than removing some of the heavy fouling, but I am not sure how they can damage a crown on a rifle. I am not the most knowledgeable about precision rifles and barrels but I don't see how they can damage the steel around a barrel crown. I also don't use my snakes by pulling them through the muzzle first. I think if you have a precision rifle, I wouldn't recommend a bore snake for cleaning as you would want the best tool for the job to keep the rifle precision.

No way would I use one on my BR rifles.
I want total control and ripping a snake through a 17 lb rifle isn't gonna be controlled.
I have $$$ in cleaning rods made for the job.
Plus ... BR shooters clean a rifle clean not just the carbon knocked down.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:
I do agree that I don't think the bore snakes can clean that well after a couple of uses on a dirty rifle,other than removing some of the heavy fouling, but I am not sure how they can damage a crown on a rifle. I am not the most knowledgeable about precision rifles and barrels but I don't see how they can damage the steel around a barrel crown. I also don't use my snakes by pulling them through the muzzle first. I think if you have a precision rifle, I wouldn't recommend a bore snake for cleaning as you would want the best tool for the job to keep the rifle precision.

My understanding and why I've never used pull-through devices on my rifles:

When you use a cleaning rod, the rod can be controlled somewhat so that it never "droops" allowing the body of the rod to touch the crown. This is especially true when using a bore guide or that cone-shaped crown guard that sometimes comes with cleaning rods (not sure what the technical term for it is).

But with a pull through device, unless you pull perfectly through the middle, you can pull to the side, and that rubs on a part of the crown, which can create a notch over time.

I'd never use one on a precision barrel, but I've been flamed by one of the "experts" on another forum who stated that all his world class benchrest shooter friends used them

Hypothetically speaking, if there was a compensator or flash hider on the end of the muzzle would it still be a concern? Then misuse would result in the side force (wear) on the comp/hider end and not the crown/rifling.

quote:

Originally posted by huskerlrrp:
Then misuse would result in the side force (wear) on the comp/hider end and not the crown/rifling.

I imagine you’re correct as far as that particular issue is concerned.
I would still avoid pull-throughs myself, though, unless I were in a situation in which a conventional rod wasn’t available and making some attempt at cleaning the bore—however poorly—was necessary.

quote:

Originally posted by huskerlrrp:
Hypothetically speaking, if there was a compensator or flash hider on the end of the muzzle would it still be a concern? Then misuse would result in the side force (wear) on the comp/hider end and not the crown/rifling.

Such devices don't cover the crown -- they just push the ultimate opening forward a bit. The snake can still produce a sideways force on the crown.

The worst for this is an open prong type flash hider, as the snake can be pushed to the side almost immediately after passing the crown.

Oddly enough the military standard issue cleaning kit for rifles and carbines is the Otis which is a pull through style.
The sniper rifles in my unit ( going back some years here) came in a deployment hard case with one piece Dewey style rods.
I actually do use a bore snake frequently on my single “precision” rifle, a gun I use for nrl22 matches. I fail to see how dropping a brass tipped string through the bore from the chamber end and pulling it through can hurt a hardened steel crown

Imo,
It doesn't hurt but it doesn't clean worth a chit.