Boresnake life span, are they worth it?
Are they worth it? Do they hold up to heavy use? I have the same 22 caliber bore snake and it has been used in 22LR rifles, AR15 rifles, M4 Carbines, AK74 and Mini 14s. The same bore snake is approximately 6yrs old and probable gets used about 50 times a year. I usually run the snake through the gun about 2 times. I may only need to do it once, but i’m use to using cleaning rods and just get in the habit. I almost only use Break Free CLP on my firearms, and the occasional grease application, and gun cleaning is now simple.
Cleaning revolvers is probable easier than some semi-autos because there is nothing you really need to disassemble. I have been using the Hoppes boresnakes for rifle the majority of the time because handguns just don’t seem to be that much of a hassle and I’m really not that worried about how clean the barrels are for any particular accuracy reason. When it comes to cleaning out a bolt action rifle like a Winchester M70, It sure does make a difference in cleaning time when you do a one, two, and then just wipe the gun down and put it away. If you clean the guns often, from my experience there is very little worry about hard to clean areas.