Bore snake in barrel

I don't understand how a bore snake can become stuck? If you can't continue to pull it through for any reason (such as the thin cord breaking or becoming detached from the thicker "snake" part), why not just pull it back out the way it went in? At no point in using a bore snake is the whole of it inside the barrel. There's always a decent amount poking out one end or the other to get hold of, even without the thin pull cord.
 
Instruments of the Devil! Bought one when they first came out, got it stuck in the bore, finally managed to get it out by fixing it to a gate post and getting two people pulling on the rifle. Put it in the bin where they belong!
 
Well , I have just got in from the gun room and I have sorted it 😀 what a relief 👍🏻 . If this happens to anyone else cut the bore snake below the wire brush bit take loose the stitching that holds the inner cord to the outer , peel back the outer and then put the inner in a vice and give it a very good pull . Job done .
Now don’t ever use another, ever!!
 
I had the same thing happen- first time in Croatia, it was freed by 17st of me hanging on it with the end tied to a branch .
Idiotically, I bought another & same thing happened a year later in Scotland on the Sunday before a week on the hinds & was impossible to free it. Ended up using an estate rifle & had to get it removed by Kent Gunsmiths on a lathe. Next purchase was a spare Blaser barrel & the other calibre BoreSerpents went in the bin. Would never go near the things again.
 
It does happen, I managed to get a hoppes 243 snake stuck in a Howa 243 with only the string protruding and the rest completely jammed in the barrel, local gunsmith had no clue so it went to Trulock and Harris who got it out over a week by dissolving it with solvents. Apparently, the inner can ‘ruck up’ inside the outer making the whole thing stuck

I will never ever use another bore snake on a rifled barrel
 
I had the same thing happen- first time in Croatia, it was freed by 17st of me hanging on it with the end tied to a branch .
Idiotically, I bought another & same thing happened a year later in Scotland on the Sunday before a week on the hinds & was impossible to free it. Ended up using an estate rifle & had to get it removed by Kent Gunsmiths on a lathe. Next purchase was a spare Blaser barrel & the other calibre BoreSerpents went in the bin. Would never go near the things again.
I hate to point this out but are you a slow learner 😬. Everyone has heard these stories but they still use them. What is so inconvenient about a rod and disposable patches that people want to keep pulling the same dirty thing through their barrels until it gets old and breaks.
 
I don't understand how a bore snake can become stuck? If you can't continue to pull it through for any reason (such as the thin cord breaking or becoming detached from the thicker "snake" part), why not just pull it back out the way it went in? At no point in using a bore snake is the whole of it inside the barrel. There's always a decent amount poking out one end or the other to get hold of, even without the thin pull cord.
When the thick part of the snake is 18" long and the barrel 24" long, the cord snaps just after the thick part is in the barrel it is stuck, happened once and i'll never use another in a rifle barrel again. Fine in shotgun barrels though.
 
I bet half the time the snake is incorrect for it's barrel, or a poor quality job ... I always apply a little lube to a section of a brand new snake, & never use them more than a handful of times before binning them.
 
When the thick part of the snake is 18" long and the barrel 24" long, the cord snaps just after the thick part is in the barrel it is stuck, happened once and i'll never use another in a rifle barrel again. Fine in shotgun barrels though.
I have bore snakes for 3 of my rifle calibres. I've just measured them, and the thick part is 32" long, so absolutely zero risk of getting stuck should the cord happen to snap ìn a 24" barrel.
 
I bet half the time the snake is incorrect for it's barrel, or a poor quality job ... I always apply a little lube to a section of a brand new snake, & never use them more than a handful of times before binning them.
I put a drop of Butches Boreshine just ahead of the brush part.
Last Time through I put a small amount of Lockease on the end of the tail.
Even with the genuine Bore Snakes I’ve had tight ones and just now I’ve got a 22 one that’s very loose from new.
Maybe, some of the genuine ones are not?
Ken.
 
. Apparently, the inner can ‘ruck up’ inside the outer making the whole thing stuck
That can't happen. Certainly not with any of the ones I've got. Because only the last 1" of the cord protrudes into the thick part of the snake. So there is no "inner" to ruck up. The thick part of the snake is basically a fabric tube with nothing inside it
 
I put a drop of Butches Boreshine just ahead of the brush part.
Last Time through I put a small amount of Lockease on the end of the tail.
Even with the genuine Bore Snakes I’ve had tight ones and just now I’ve got a 22 one that’s very loose from new.
Maybe, some of the genuine ones are not?
Ken.
I do similar clean the boresnake regulaly but also damp the area of the snake behind the brass brush area
 
Like VSS, I find this thread somewhat baffling.
I'm at least as prone to mishap/idiocy as the next chap, but have thus far failed to have any kind of bore-snake-related misadventure.
I've used bore snakes from .17 to 12ga for at least 2 decades without a single issue.
I wash them regularly, replace them on the rare occasions when they fray, and use the correct one for calibre. They're not my only approach to cleaning, but they are a convenient way to give a barrel a prompt and quick pull-through.
Naturally, I also keep a rod in the car for those times when a bore obstruction (squib, mud, etc.) needs knocking out.
 
That can't happen. Certainly not with any of the ones I've got. Because only the last 1" of the cord protrudes into the thick part of the snake. So there is no "inner" to ruck up. The thick part of the snake is basically a fabric tube with nothing inside it
Better tell the gunsmith then! Although they probably know better
 
Better tell the gunsmith then! Although they probably know better
Well I'm guessing there must be different makes of what we generically term a "bore snake".
But if anyone (gunsmith included) were to suggest that the inner on any of the bore snakes I own could "ruck up", causing the snake to get stuck in the barrel, I'd know they were talking absolute nonsense. Because there is no inner.
Maybe yours was just a different make of snake, manufactured in a different way?

(Edit: having just had another look at mine, I see that the doubled over loop at the opposite end from the pull cord does pass inside the snake for a portion of its length. So presumably that's the inner you're referring to? If so, my apologies. I hadn't noticed that. I was looking at the pull cord end, which is where people seem to have problems).
 
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I would normally say good evening, but it’s not. Been out stalking this evening shot 1fallow doe , got home and bye the time I had finished in the ladder time was getting on so I just sent the bore snake down the barrel and it jammed. I have about 15inchs out of the barrel and I can see it just in from the chamber. It seems that the inner cord of the snake has snapped, now when I try pulling it it’s jammed. Any ideas, it’s a Blaser R8 in 308 . Sensible help would be appreciated, I’m really not in the mood for keyboard nonsense 👍🏻
The usual approach is to burn it out. A well known gunsmith told me he loves boresnakes as they have provided excellent additional income over several years.

You might be lucky with a rod and spear jag,but personally Id take it to a good gunsmith and stop using anything other than a rod to clean with.
 
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