Accessories, Firearms 2

Sage & Braker Bore Cleaning Kit Review

More than a Bore Snake

Sage & Braker Mercantile was founded by Fred Bohm, an outdoorsman, hunter, shooter, and father. He entered the market as an escape from the drudgery of everyday life, and to give back to the wilderness he loves. According to Bohm, the birth of his son helped to make his mission clear. Sage & Braker was founded in the lifeblood of our country: in the spirit of entrepreneurship, with a commitment to our wilderness, and for family. Clearly, his heart is in the right place.

Bohm elaborates on his inspiration for the product in this blog post about respect for guns. He goes on to describe his first concept: “I wanted to make it easy to carry around, so I threw it in a canvas sack that would fit in my backpack, upland vest or cleaning box, whatever the situation called for. I didn’t like the fact I had to pour solvent on the brush part with other bore snakes. OK, so the make a brush that detaches from the rope portion.”

Ok, it’s a boresnake…

If you’re anything like us, you accumulate pieces of cleaning kit here and there, and probably have a few different bits of each necessity. An all in one solution like an Otis can be a good option for a lot of people, but not everyone feels like spending $80 on a kit when they buy their first firearm. Most people accumulate cleaning kit as their collection grows, and learn the most effective ways to pack it in with other gear as they go. We like the Sage & Braker Bore Cleaning Kit because it’s great looking, effective, and easy to store, and because it’ll be easy to scale as you buy more gear. It’s exceptionally well designed too. The bore snake comes with a high quality copper brush, the snake, detachable rope for cleaning or for hard scrubbing with the brush, a canvas carry bag, and a gauge identifier stamped into the rope weight.

It works. Well.

We’ll be the first to admit that a we haven’t exactly used any bore cleaning kits that haven’t worked. The principle is pretty simple: scrape gunk out of the barrel and follow with a smooth cloth to wipe it clean and lubricate. Push-through kits attached to metal or plastic rods can be annoying, though, and if you’re cleaning multiple guns, attaching and re-attaching different brushes and swabs can be time consuming. We’re not making an infomercial style claim that it’s wasting your whole life, but it’s pretty nice to have a sparkling bore in one pull-through. We love the idea of being able to disconnect the brush from the rope for cleaning too- push and pull kits get nasty quickly, and there’s not much to do with a flat black swab except throw it away.

Unfortunately…

We couldn’t unscrew the copper brush from the rope. Try as we might, the thing just wouldn’t budge. At RHO, we always try to reconcile our experiences with those of other consumers, and couldn’t find a single instance of this occurring in other product reviews. We probably got a lemon, but we’re going to make some customer service lemonade. We’ll reach out to Sage & Braker and update the review with our findings. We’ve chatted with them in the past, and they’ve been responsive, informative, and kind. We expect the same from them in this instance, and feel that other reviews online justify our positive findings for this bore cleaning kit.

Red Hatchet Says…

At Red Hatchet Outdoors, we believe in companies that give back. Black Rifle Coffee donates in support of our second amendment rights, and Sage & Braker donates to preserve American Wilderness. Their product isn’t expensive, and it seems like it’ll last you a long while. Gun cleaning is a ritual for most gun owners, and we’re the same way. Sage & Braker has introduced a product that’s both innovative and durable, and we’ll be buying more, pending their response on our detachment issue. Part of what bolsters our confidence that we got a lemon is their 4.8/5 star rating on Amazon, with 584 reviews. We’re going to go ahead and say that you should grab one.

Customer Service Update: Less than 25 Minutes after Contacting Sage & Braker

We figured they’d come through, and they did. Not only did they respond to us within ten minutes, but they elaborated on the issue. Apparently this happens very rarely, and when it does, they replace the product at no cost. A new one will be shipped to us ASAP. Customer service home run: order carefree.

 

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2 Comments

  • Fred Bohm says: March 21, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    We are pleased that you liked our cleaning kit! Excellent photos by the way. I’m glad you pointed out the collar being stuck on yours. We have had that happen from time to time. We have a suspicion that they are getting dinged up in shipping, but regardless, if there is ever a problem know that you can contact us and we promise to make it right. We’re here to make you happy!

    Reply
  • Bernard Mansuetti says: March 22, 2016 at 7:30 am

    Also received a kit with the same issue, received a new one in a few days by priority mail. Works as expected.

    Reply

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