Get Better Cleaning Results with Side Spiking

You just received your new Bore Tech order and are excited to clean your firearm. You did your research to ensure that you purchased the proper gear, knowing that everything should work flawlessly. You begin to push your first patch down the barrel and you notice it is extremely tight and then it jams! How can this be?

The avid shooter wants to accurately place shots in the center of the target. The closer to the center the better the result but NOT when it comes to correctly using jags and patches………

A commonly overlooked solution to remedy the frustrating occurrences of overly tight or jammed patches is what we like to call “Side Spiking”. Side Spiking is super simple and works!

As the name suggests, “Side-spiking” is simply moving your spiking position from the center of the patch towards the corner of a square patch or the edge of a round patch. (See Figure 1) 

Figure 1: Moving From Center Spiking To Side Spiking

The closer toward the edge of the patch you spike your jag, the looser the patch will be when pushed down the bore. Important: Be careful to not go to the very edge of the patch. Leave enough patch material to cover the first set of rings on your jag as this insures your jag is properly centered in the bore and that no contact with the rifling will occur. (See Figure 2)

Figure 2: Proper Side Spiking Location

We recommend side spiking all wet patches. This allows for a looser patch in the bore which removes gross powder fouling and leaves more cleaning solution behind to start working on the remaining fouling.

When a tighter patch is needed, simply move your spike closer toward the center of the patch. The closer to the center of the patch you get, the tighter the patch will become in the bore. The objective is to have a snug fitting patch that allows you to smoothly push your rod down the bore. Remember you do not need to end up in the center of the patch!

Check our Patch Size Selection Chart for proper patch sizing guidance.

Note: We engineer our Bore Tech jags to be used in conjunction with our X-Count Cotton Flannel patches. Using non Bore Tech brand patches, may affect Side Spiking results due to differences in patch thickness, size and material.