bore guides

[Mark Sluka]

Does anybody use these? obviously, wood is softer
than steel and even a brass rod is softer than steel so i would guess there would be no chance of dammaging the bore while cleaning. Anyway,i have seen these for sale and i am curious if anybody uses or reccommends them.

 

[roundball]

Does anybody use these? obviously, wood is softer
than steel and even a brass rod is softer than steel so i would guess there would be no chance of dammaging the bore while cleaning. Anyway,i have seen these for sale and i am curious if anybody uses or reccommends them.

Actually that's not the free license you seem to think...smooth Easton aluminum arrow shafts wear right down through the stainless steel arms of an arrow rest.

I use muzzle guides religiously...my short starters all have brass muzzle guides captive on their shafts, and I use 'nylon' muzzleguides from ML Builder's Supply on ramrods...they weigh nothing and are 100% quiet...two good features for hunting.

ANYTHING will wear the muzzle...the only question is will it happen in a few months at the range or a few years depending on usage

 

[CrackStock]

I use a range rod for most matches and use a bore guide every time that I load at the range and also to clean and load for my first shot in the field. I also use one when cleaning after shooting.

I do not want the grit and wear to damage the crown of my rifles.

While brass, wood and even stainless steel may be softer than my barrel, they carry grit and can even wear a bore by rubbing on their own. It is not an incidental touch now and then, but rather repeated rubbing that is the concern. If you are a serious shooter, you will quickly cause considerable wear in a fairly short period of time if you are not very careful.

CS

 

[ryoung14]

Don't think it matters any in a T/C QLA barrel.

As much as I've been shooting lately, it doesn't matter in anything
Bob

 

[Norskie]

I use a steel range rod for serious cleaning and it has a bore guide installed. And I carry a spare bore guide for times I don't have the range rod along. I load w/o a guide, but will not clean w/o one!
Moose

 

[tom hargrove]

:thumbsup: me too

 

[jethro224]

Yep. I have one on a steel range rod that I use when practicing (except when I forget to bring it) and always for cleaning.
The steel range rods are so much sturdier and easier to use, especially for pulling balls and cleaning. Everone should own one. The bore guide is just cheap & easy insurance.

 

[rabbit03]

Hello Mark S,

Definitely what everyone said, use one! The reasons are mainly that you will eventually wear the crown away in a certain spot and then your accuracy will fall off also.

We shoot thousands of rounds each year and if we did not use one we would probably be replacing a barrel each year instead of many years of shooting.

I have a TC Hawken that I put a GMT barrel on in the 80's and it is still going strong today partly because of using the bore guide for loading.

rabbit03

 

[MikeChapin]

I became a believer many years ago. I had two rifles at the time that I used heavily for both hunting and competition. The accuracy started dropping off and I was thinking about replacing the barrels. I happened on an article in a magazine about muzzle wear.

I ended up taking about an eighth of an inch off the barrels and recrowned them and they came right back. Since then I have used a muzzle protector on all my range rods and have not had a problem for about twenty years.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Its not the friction that is wearing down the muzzles, but the microscopic grit that can be picked up by wooden, aluminum, carbon fiber, and brass cleaning rods, or arrows, that cuts the arrow rest, or the muzzle of the gun. Since muzzle guide are so inexpensive, and come in both brass, and a nylon synthetic material that is much easier to clean, and does not hold that microscopic grit, why not use them to protect the barrel?

That does not mean that someone with very good loading skills, well practiced, over years of shooting, cannot load his rifle with a wooden ramrod, and not experience any wear at the muzzle of his gun. As long as you load slow, careful, and act like the edge of the muzzle is a switch to a loud alarm and a painful electric shock that will punish you if you touch it, you can use an ordinary ramrod to load that gun for years without any sign of muzzle wear.

When I was very young, I watched an older shooter, with an original gun he inherited from his grandfather, loading his gun just that slowly. He was appreciably slower in loading the gun than the other shooters, often only firing one shot for every time they fired two! But his shots were in the ten ring, so I paid attention. When the line was closed to change targets, I got a chance to talk to him about his loading procedure.

What I have explained above is why he was loading so slowly. He showed me the muzzle of his gun, and it looked as sharp as the day it was made. Now, having tried this much later in life, You use your hand holding the muzzle of the gun to act as a muzzle protector, insuring that the ramrod is aligned straight, and will not touch the side of the muzzle at any time. It does take very slow movement to guide the rod down the barrel as you are seating the PRB.

I have gotten " lazy " since I bought a range rod of stainless steel with its nylon muzzle protector. Its easy to sipe the rod clean several times during a match, to keep grit and grease and soot off my hands, and wiping the muzzle protector with a solvent, and then a clean patch before it goes into storage is small work.

 

[renovato]

I always use a guide. I prefer the nylon ones, but brass is a good alternative. They're worth using, even if it's just for the peace of mind.

 

[Coot]

You can also use the brass flare fittings from an auto or plumbing supply as guides. My pistol range rod is made from steel rod with one end threaded for a jag, a flare fitting slipped onto the rod and a wooden file handle screwed onto the other end of the rod. The jag keeps the flare fitting from sliding off the rod.