Curiosity got the better of me and I decided I needed to see if the £3.59 bore snake was up to the quality of the branded Hoppe’s bore snake. Is this a case of shooters paying more for snake oil…?

As we know Hoppe’s Bore snakes come in plastic packaging with the Hoppe’s branding insert.

Hoppe’s Packaging

The Ebay offering however comes in a clear plastic bag with only a sticker to show the calibre that it is for.

20 Gauge eBay Bore Snake Packaging

Since I only have one official Hoppe’s Bore Snake I’ll be comparing a .22, .223, 5.56mm version with a shotgun 20 gauge version.

First impressions are actually pretty good.

eBay 20 Gauge Boresnake Weight

Hoppe’s .22 Brass Weight

Aside from the Hoppe’s Boresnake having been used and showing a slightly matt finish at this point they look pretty similar indeed. The orientation of the marking is opposite, other than that, they’re the same.

eBay and Hoppe’s Boresnake Brass Weights

As on the Brass weight the paracord is slightly shinier on the £3.59 version than the Hoppe’s version. Perhaps this will dull down after it’s been down a dirty barrel or two.

eBay and Hoppe’s Boresnake Para Cord

As you can see the pattern is slightly different on the eBay Boresnake compared to the Hoppe’s the colour banding as the stripe is twice as wide.

As for strength, I’d love to do some kind of test to see how much weight each would take before breaking however since these are my personal snakes, I’d prefer to use them than break them, however after tugging on both, neither show any sign of stretching with significant force applied by hand. certainly more than would be used pulling the snake through a barrel.

A slight difference that I believe is attributed to one of these being for a shotgun and one for a rifle is that the 20ga has “fluff” at the start of the pull through.

eBay 20 Gauge Boresnake Fluff

Hoppe’s .22 Boresnake Lack Of Fluff

Following this are the brushes. The brushes on my .22lr are slightly dirty but after 50 or so pull throughs they are still in great condition. Time will tell on the eBay version, however they seem the same quality.

eBay 20 Gauge Boresnake Brass Brushes

Hoppe’s .22 Boresnake Brass Brushes

As you can see the weaves on the pull through are wider apart on the shotgun, however this makes sense as it has more space in the bore to fill.

eBay 20 Gauge Boresnake Woven Pullthrough

Hoppe’s .22 Boresnake Pull-Through

Verdict

Well I hadn’t cleaned my Silma 20 Gauge since I repaired it and after test firing it. I didn’t have a mop/jag to do so on the 20 gauge, which really is what prompted my thoughts on the matter. I figured I’d buy a cheap snake off eBay and give it a go on the 20 gauge before buying one for my Beretta shotgun.

After pulling through dry on a dirty barrel, well I think the results speak for themselves.

Before eBay Boresnake Pull Through

Before eBay Boresnake Pull Through

I’d always suggest if you can afford it go for the branded item, at least then you’ll have some recourse if it breaks or goes wrong, however if you’re on a budget like me the £3.59 version from eBay seems to do a damn fine job.

After eBay Boresnake Pull Through

It turns out it’s really difficult to take before and after photos with a phone camera. Even more so when the bore is completely shiny from breach to muzzle..!