Bore-Snake

13 Oct 08

Useful tip from one of our Instructors:

"Bore-snakes are wonderful devices, as you know, and they belong inevery range-bag. However, the brittle, plastic packaging in which they come doesn't hold up well. In no time, it cracks and subsequently falls apart. Thus, most of us then end up with dirty, loose, hopelessly tangled Bore-snakes littering the bottom of our range-bags, with no way to determine what caliber any of them are.

On a recent trip to Walmart, I noticed, in the pharmacy section, plastic travel containers for bars of bath soap. They were on sale for less than one dollar per copy, so I bought several.

They work perfectly as durable and convenient Bore-snake containers! Not only does the bore snake fit comfortably, but one can also put a small oil bottle in with it. I put my label-maker to work and affixed caliber, in large print, on the side, and top, of each container.

My DSA/FAL travels with me as my car-gun, along with two spare magazines. Now, within the tennis-racket case where it all resides, I have a durable mini-cleaning-kit as well!"

Comment: Of course, running a Bore-snake through your rifle, pistol or shotgun does not substitute for thorough cleaning, but I still make it a practice to run Bore-snakes through each of my guns before leaving the range.

The reason is that, while carrying, I want to be sure my bore and chamber are clean, for two reasons:

(1) I want to be sure rounds are going to chamber completely and thus be ready to be discharged. A dirty chamber can compromise complete chambering, thus rendering a gun that cannot fire, as most pistols and rifles have mechanical systems that prevent the weapon from firing when the bolt/slide are not in complete battery. It is actually a safety feature, but, when used as an item of emergency/safety equipment, I have no use for guns that don't fire when I desperately need them to. Cleaning the chamber with a Bore-snake before leaving the range is thus an extremely good idea!

(2) When, later that same evening, there has been a shooting, and I am in the area, but I was not involved, I surely want physical/forensic evidence to clearly indicate that my gun was not fired! Leaving the range with a dirty gun may create a problem, as it will be impossible for police to subsequently determine how and when the gun got dirty. Accordingly, always leave the range with a clean bore and chamber!

/John