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fake .17 cal hoppe's bore snake??


chaz

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Hi folks,

I made a purchase on fleabay last week for what states is a genuine .17 Cal Hoppe's bore snake.

When it arrived it looked ok-ish. I compared it to my shop bought .22 Hoppe's snake. The 'bristle' part of the snake looks a tad crap in comparison to be honest. And where the brass head factory pressed in, the indentation it never had it's calibre stamped on the machine press....

The seller also said the snake is sent out in a small poly bag with a nice (Not!) little .17 sticker printed on it. Apparently as this saves on postage....

Are all Hoppe's snakes stamped with their calibre? as my others are? I'm just trying to be certain before sending him an email, and reporting him.....

I agree you get what you pay for 'most' of the time and it was under a tenner. So my own fault as their usually nearly double that... I do have a decent 1 piece rod and brushes i use at home, but just wanted this for out in the field, considering how dirty the barrels can get after a string on rimfire shots

Anyone out there able to say if its fake on the info i've given? I ask, as although i could upload a picture it is the same colour as what i've seen on the Hoppe's site, and couldn't make out if the genuine parts are always calibre stamped?

Any constructive advice would be appreciative....

Cheers.

 

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It certainly sounds like a dud, because afaik, all Hoppe's snakes have the size stamped on them.

Cheers for the reply Les, Obviously turning the brass slightly so the stamp could not be seen was for a reason...

Anyone else agree with the calibre stamp theory?

Cheers.

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I have 4 snakes in various calibres (not .17 though) and all have the calibre stamped.

Kind of says enough really. :angry: Although i'd love a post from someone who has one in the .17 Cal to confirm it has the .17 stamp.??

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Sometimes you have no choice. I'll always try my local gun shops or known UK internet ones first but getting stock of certain things seems to be an issue for a lot of them.

 

I recently bought a pair of Atlas PSR bipods and after 2 days of calls and emails looking for stock with no luck, I turned to eBay and got 2 the next day from a UK seller.

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Sometimes you have no choice. I'll always try my local gun shops or known UK internet ones first but getting stock of certain things seems to be an issue for a lot of them.

 

I recently bought a pair of Atlas PSR bipods and after 2 days of calls and emails looking for stock with no luck, I turned to eBay and got 2 the next day from a UK seller.

No.

 

The fact he says it was "under a Tenner" and "less than half price" says it all

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Still doesn't make eBay evil. My local shop has a clearance bin with stuff for next to nothing.

The fact you're willing to take a risk, get stung and then moan about it..........well, I'll wait for Chazzer to tell us which shops he tried first

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The fact you're willing to take a risk, get stung and then moan about it..........well, I'll wait for Chazzer to tell us which shops he tried first

Not that i have to justify myself to you or anyone else. However, as you asked.....The nearest shop in question is around 40 minutes from me. I won't name the shop, because i don't want to slag off his business. Although 'they' (father and son) are well known for being rude to customers. I've been on the receiving end, and a spectator. Even his own staff can't stand either. Although they say the son 'isn't quite as bad'. You can/could always tell if one of them was in the shop, as the staff all looked gloomy and there was no general chit chat.

His father, who was well known for being a tw.. as he had the monopoly on sales as to my knowledge he was/is the nearest RFD for miles around. Then he retired and his son has taken over. And within weeks he was just like his old man.

I usually wait until i have a list of items i need, and drive down to Dauntsey Guns in Wiltshire. Who have plenty of stock, at good prices, and are great to deal with. On this occasion i wanted one asap, Did a quick surf and due to 24 hour delivery i bought it. Having been a while since i had bought one i couldn't recall the going rate, so just bought it on the basis that i know Hoppe's are good, and that was what it was described as, and i'd get it quick.

So there you go....

Also, try and bear in mind that some people have to buy 'cheap' alternatives due to limited funds, but do their best to keep the hobby going.

But just to point something out, the below sentence was at the bottom of my post...

Any constructive advice would be appreciative....

Cheers.

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Fake or not, my constructive advice is that a boresnake is totally worthless as a means of cleaning a barrel.

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By defouling I can only assume you mean dislodging any debris that the next bullet would dislodge - as they won't shift copper fouling, and they wont shift carbon fouling......

 

They only real use I can see for one is perhaps if you've been a nugget and dumped your muzzle into the ground and got some grit/mud or other foreign body in the bore you'd like out. Beyond that, t!t's on a bull.

 

Oh, and I'll give you a tip, a boresnake that snaps in a bore, tends to stay there ;)

 

The devils work they are.

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I have a genuine hoppes .17 cal bore snake and .22 . The 22 is stamped and the 17 isnt as im sure the diameter of brass is too small to stamp effectively ;)

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Bore snakes only ever snap in one place.

 

The bore.

 

Try and remove one without damaging the barrel. Especially in 17 cal.

 

If ever there was a more useless [and gun dangerous ] item of kit, I have yet to see it.

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I can't argue with the facts regarding them breaking. It's as stated by MrCetirizine, it was for my pocket pocket when away from the motor. I generally buy Parker-Hale rods, but they're not exactly very portable...

I'll be returning the one i bought as there doesn't seem to be any way of confirming it's a Hoppe's. I'll wait until i go down to Dauntsey Guns again...

Out of interest, i wonder how many have broke inside the barrel. I have a few, and the brass weight always slides down the bore by gravity as they're a fair bit smaller than the bore.

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Try putting a magnet on the brass weight. Some of the Chinese rips are just brass plated mild steel which would probably not do your barrel a lot of good long term.

Having said that, they're all made in China anyway. I have a few that came in proper Hoppes packets, all Kosher looking, for a fiver apiece. Most had the cal. stamp, a couple (both 308) didn't.

I certainly wouldn't pay £20+ for one, authentic or otherwise.

 

RePete

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Try putting a magnet on the brass weight. Some of the Chinese rips are just brass plated mild steel which would probably not do your barrel a lot of good long term.

Having said that, they're all made in China anyway. I have a few that came in proper Hoppes packets, all Kosher looking, for a fiver apiece. Most had the cal. stamp, a couple (both 308) didn't.

I certainly wouldn't pay £20+ for one, authentic or otherwise.

 

RePete

Thanks for the advice. Tried it, it's definitely not magnetic...

I wouldn't pay £20 for a genuine one, but with Dauntsey's prices i don't need to! :)

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I`d wager a steel weight couldn't damage your barrel if used correctly , it barely touches the barrels sides.

Yea i agree, but i'd rather it be brass just for safety sake... All the snakes i've had are like you say, very loose fitting.

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Yea i agree, but i'd rather it be brass just for safety sake... All the snakes i've had are like you say, very loose fitting.

 

Try the bronze brush bristles, I had a fake off eBay in .357, steel bristles washed in copper!

 

Only thing I use the 3 genuine ones for is a couple of passes through the bore to dry it if I've been out in the wet.

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why bother with a bore snake total waste of money

They are better than nothing if you are in the field , I run an oil patch through barrels when in storage , when I get to the field and confident I`ll be shooting I run a bore snake through to remove the oil.

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