Newbie handgun cleaning

[kennymo]

Yeah, I try not to over clean. Every few range trips for me, I do a basic strip on the semi autos and wipe/scrub most of the carbon out, then push a few patches through the barrel, one with solvent, a couple clean ones and then one with a few drops of oil at the end. Then a little lube on the rails and any other contact points and slide it back together.

As for boresnakes, I keep a few around for field cleaning, mostly on days I might have got a little moisture in the barrel. I find the .22 ones scary tight and have pretty much quit using them after hearing tales of them snapping off in the barrel and being damn near impossible to remove without destroying the rifling. A one decent piece pistol rod will be a better friend to you than a snake.....

[RangeBob]

As for boresnakes, ... I find the .22 ones scary tight and have pretty much quit using them

Yep.
Same observation here "scary tight". As in I had serious doubts if it was ever coming out of the rifle, and it took everything I had to pull it through a little bit at a time, constantly worried about the tensile strength. I tried it again once, and that was it for me -- no more boresnakes with 22s.
I suppose I could weld a steel frame to hold the gun back at the muzzle, and then have a comealong to pull the boresnake through -- but a patch kit is so much easier.