I felt the need to pick up a new 243 cal. bore snake to religiously clean out my 243 Wildcat's 26 inch long Shilen barrel. The packaging said 243, and the brass bob has 24 stamped into it. The brass brush looks to be correct, so no problem, right?
When I started pulling it through from the breech, it hung up inside the barrel. This isn't my first rodeo, so I pulled it back out, using the back end of the lanyard. Then I got a nylon bristle brush on a cleaning rod and slopped bore cleaner down the barrel a few times. This has always loosened things up in the past. I also dampened the front of the lanyard with bore cleaner for some extra lubrication.
So now I went at it again. But this time things happened in exactly the same way. Only since I was sure I had this dog by its tail, I really herked on the pull through, and I really got it stuck. The second time, pulling on the lanyard to remove it from the breech, strained my back muscles. I didn't notice this until I sat down in a low folding chair while the other shooters were out changing targets under the range's red light warning. When I got back up, my back went out, and I've suffered for the last week with it.
This bore snake is; first, going back to the hardware store, and secondly, going back to the manufacturer. Maybe someone there, can figure out, just, "Wat Went Wong". I feel that the problem must lie, "like a snake in the grass", with how the lanyard is sewn to the pull through cord. Because that's just about how far it went into my .243's riflings.
I've previously used a 45-70 bore snake in my 44 cal. wildcat rifle, so pulling an overly tight one through isn't some brand new experience for me. But this snake, definitely won the first battle.
When I started pulling it through from the breech, it hung up inside the barrel. This isn't my first rodeo, so I pulled it back out, using the back end of the lanyard. Then I got a nylon bristle brush on a cleaning rod and slopped bore cleaner down the barrel a few times. This has always loosened things up in the past. I also dampened the front of the lanyard with bore cleaner for some extra lubrication.
So now I went at it again. But this time things happened in exactly the same way. Only since I was sure I had this dog by its tail, I really herked on the pull through, and I really got it stuck. The second time, pulling on the lanyard to remove it from the breech, strained my back muscles. I didn't notice this until I sat down in a low folding chair while the other shooters were out changing targets under the range's red light warning. When I got back up, my back went out, and I've suffered for the last week with it.
This bore snake is; first, going back to the hardware store, and secondly, going back to the manufacturer. Maybe someone there, can figure out, just, "Wat Went Wong". I feel that the problem must lie, "like a snake in the grass", with how the lanyard is sewn to the pull through cord. Because that's just about how far it went into my .243's riflings.
I've previously used a 45-70 bore snake in my 44 cal. wildcat rifle, so pulling an overly tight one through isn't some brand new experience for me. But this snake, definitely won the first battle.