Love using the bore snake on my pistol. My rifle has a muzzle break that makes it difficult to use a snake though, so it turns out that the cleaning rods of doom are the easiest way to clean my AR.
I run’em through the 12 & 20 gauge or 22 after fun times and haven’t slacked up bc they work well, but never tried with pistols so can’t comment.
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I’ve bought a few since making this topic. I still like running a brush and patches over the snake, BUT if I’m short on time or feeling lazy it’s more than adequate.
The bore snake is a necessity for my rifle and .22 revolver though.
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@Scoutbob I clean my bore snakes when they start to look dirty. Put snake in a jar with a few drops of Dawn ( not the moderator ) - dish detergent and hot water, shake well, let stand for a hr. Don’t shake again. Dump water & Flush with hot water and line dry.
PS. DONT USE Solvent on The bore snake just a spray lube. Keep snake in a zip lock bag & spray lube into bag on snake. I see people using snakes on the range and during use let the snake touch the floor that has sand and dirt on it. You can’t clean stupid. 
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Can I ask why? I’ve always dipped the bristles in bore cleaner, BUT if there’s a good reason I’ll just use CLP for bore snakes. I’ve started to really like CLP lately.
@SCOUTBOB - solvent will eat the copper brush in the snake over not much time.
The idea of the snake is to remove loose debris, slow down the hardening of carbon and to put a light protective film in the bore to stop the Hydroscopic affect of residue left from gunpowder. You may have not noticed the copper Bristles coming off of a bore brush that has come in contact with solvent over time. So when it comes to bore brushes discard them after a short while or wait until you notice little copper bristles that have come off of the brush now you have to make sure that you remove all of them from the firearm. I shoot almost ever day and have tried to preserve brushes in several different ways which all failed to include storing them in alcohol, WD-40, and mineral spirits. The only thing that works is spraying them down thoroughly is with brake cleaner or a product called mass air sensor cleaner in a spray can. It’s expensive but it won’t eat plastic and other products I use it for a lot of different things like cleaning a rifle bolt or other gun parts and it completely evaporates (do it in a well ventilated area or outside ) What I do may or may not be right for you. PS I ALMOST ALWAYS USE A DRY BORE BRUSH ON A CLEANING ROD. How to clean the boar with patches solvent and benchrest nylon brushes is a different story, to include the use of a bore guide.
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Use them at the range when the bores are still warm. They’ll work better 
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Remember when WW2 surplus Mausers etc… could be found in barrels at Army-Navy stores?
Yeah I’m that old 
A disproportional number of these service rifles could be observed having deformed muzzles because many service rifles employed “pull through” cleaning kits stored in the buttstock. After heavy use in the field the cord would get imbedded with dirt and erode the crown of the muzzle destroying accuracy.
With Bore snakes as with any pull through kit, it is important to always pull the cord straight up and out, without contacting the crown.
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Arguably the best pull through for rimfires is the Patch-worm.
This gent makes his own and I highly recommend checking out the instructions
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@John292 - Wow you did some home work. I made some for my pellet rifles & they are fast & easy to use. Use snakes on all my rifles before I put them in the rack if I’m not going to give them a standard cleaning.
@John292 >>> the snakes I make are for pallet guns to include 17 cal. All of them have moderators ( not Dawn ) on them and, they are easier to get thru the bore than weedy Wacker cord. I use over the counter cloth snakes for firearms as a Quick fix. I did check out you post - good job >>>>>> breaker breaker come back.
I just found awful copper fowling and build up on one of my boresnakes.
I think I’ll go back to only using rods on pistols and leave the bore snakes for the rifles.
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If the fouling is on the boresnake… doesn’t that mean its doing it’s job?
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I guess so, I’m wondering if the bore snake will be fine if I just clean it with some dawn and scrub it.
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I just throw the thing out and replace with a new one after awhile.
Pretty much all I do with my firearms is field strip, CLP wipe, CLP boresnake, re-lube, shoot…repeat
Boresnakes multiple in every caliber
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I think the instructions say you can wash them, but if they ever get that dirty I think I would throw away and get another one like @Nathan57
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