Simplify your cleaning process and better your gun's reliability in the field with a diameter snake

The bore was always the most frustrating role. An effective shotgun cleaning chosen for a cleaning rod, a potent bristle brush that could screw on to the terminate of the rod, and strips of an undershirt that could slip through an opening of a sewing-needle-similar attachment for the rod. Oil, bristle, wipe, echo. It was a time-consuming process. Towards the end of Basic Training, our Drill Sergeant let skid that he preferred a bore snake over all those rods and attachments. Our ears perked upwards. He explained how a bore serpent could accomplish much of the same tasks as the rods and bristles and rags, merely in a fraction of the time. If you had been continuing exterior those barracks that day, peering through the window, I suspect it would have looked like that Drill Sergeant had simply returned from Mount Sinai.

That night my bunk mate, Miles, wrote his wife. He pleaded for her to track down a bore snake and include one in her side by side doting alphabetic character. I will never forget the mail call when it showed up. However in the packaging, sized for a v.56×45 NATO bore, Miles unveiled it before everyone's eyes. The science experiments began immediately. To the seasoned firearm owner, putting a diameter serpent to use is a straightforward task. To a room full of army privates that have never seen one before. . . welcome to graduate-level astrophysics.

Nosotros figured it out, eventually, and it was truly a game changer. In the army, I never went to a field practise, to a firing range, or on a deployment without a bore snake. Now, as an gorging hunter, I never pace afield without 1. The book of infinite it takes up and its weight are practically negligible. The impact information technology can have on your success—be it in a combat zone or in pheasant land—is undeniable. I should mention that a bore snake needs a fiddling oil (I similar CLP) to do its job, so those two things are always packed together, forth with a cleaning rag. For a big game chase, those items will go sequestered to an easily accessible small pouch in my pack. On a waterfowl hunt, they get their own designated compartment in my blind bag. And, for upland hunts, my belong has a zippered pocket that's merely the correct size to hold those few cleaning necessities.

Telephone call it paranoia, OCD, classical workout from the army, or a combination thereof, but I've plant myself performing minor "maintenance" on my firearms mid-chase when fourth dimension allows. Misplaced steps have led my barrel to find its style into dirt and mud. A day full of aplenty shot opportunity has resulted in a carbon-filled chamber. Mother nature has graced my guns with all kinds of precipitation. Rather than await to become dorsum home from a weekend of adventuring to tend to my gun, I'll make the time to accost whatever the elements threw at me that day. I'll drop a scrap of CLP on the breech, run a swipe or ii of my bore snake through the barrel, and wipe down the commodities and gun. At least, in theory, when I miss the next shot it wasn't due to an obstructed or dirty butt.

Summer 2022 Issue of Project Upland Magazine

A bore snake and gun cleaning oil are arranged on a stump

The anatomy of a diameter snake

You may notice a handful of slight differences in bore snakes between manufacturers, but at the end of the day, a bore snake volition have these components (starting at the end yous insert into your breech starting time):

The weight – There's a minor (usually brass) weight at one end. Its purpose in life is to take advantage of gravity and guide the line, along with the rest of the bore snake, down the butt and out beyond the muzzle.

The line – This section of the bore snake, intentionally longer than your barrel, is designed to give you something to grip and pull. Information technology is located between the weight and the bore brush. Y'all'll probable want to loop this effectually your hand to requite yourself enough leverage to pull the remainder of the bore snake through the barrel.

The bore brush – Just like yous would see equally an attachment at the cease of a cleaning rod, this stiff brush is designed to loosen upwardly any of the carbon build-up, dirt and mud, and whatever other particles of stuff you don't want living for eternity within your barrel. Some bore snakes will accept more than one brush integrated throughout the snake.

The floss – The floss is usually a nylon fabric of some sort and is intentionally thicker than your barrel. After the bore brush does its job, the floss will come through and wipe out everything in its path. Information technology's typically made of an absorptive material so you can direct apply your cleaning solution to it if yous'd like. Some bore snakes volition have various floss sections, similar to having multiple brushes integrated together.

A bore snake being inserted into a shotgun barrel

How to utilise a diameter snake

  1. Open up and clear the action of your firearm.
  2. With the butt pointed at a downward bending, spray or drip some CLP into the barrel and let gravity describe the CLP down the barrel for a moment.
  3. Driblet the weighted end of the snake into the breach of the butt until the weight emerges from the cage finish.
  4. Grip the barrel firmly with one hand and the end of the snake with the other and pull with a single, fluid motion (having Larry-Bird-sized arms helps). Y'all can't always go it in one fell swoop, and that's okay. But exist aware that starting and stopping this movement may result in leaving some of the junk behind in the barrel so y'all may need to run another swipe through. Note that appropriately-sized bore snakes are slightly wider than your barrel. You'll notice that pulling the snake might take some elbow grease, but that's normal. The oversized diameter is what helps the diameter snake grab, scrape, and pull everything out of your butt.
  5. Concord the barrel upward to a light to see how effective you were. Especially dirty barrels may phone call for 2 or three swipes of a bore snake through the barrel.
  6. Bonus Round: If yous've got a hunting buddy, hand off the weight and line to them. Accept them pull the diameter snake while you hold—and I tin't stress this enough—your firearm firmly in identify.

I should acknowledge that a diameter snake isn't an end-all perfect solution for a deep, thorough cleaning of whatever firearm. Just, for expeditious field maintenance, a fleck of oil, a diameter serpent, and a rag will keep your firearm doing what you need it to do.

The bore snake featured in this article is a product of Sage & Braker and tin can be establish here.