I have them in the common calibers and use them occasionally. I've been told, that after buying a new firearm, a bore snake is all you need to clean the firearm before firing it for the first time. I've never done this, as I like to strip the firearm down and to a complete cleaning as the manual instructs. It's a good thing I did this, for when I bought my Stoeger Semi Auto M3500 Shotgun, I stripped in down & it was packed with grease. It would have been eventful if I tried firing it after cleaning with just a bore snake and it was a good thing that I gave it a through cleaning before shooting Sporting Clays. I may use a bore snake at the range or even after a range session that I didn't fire a lot of rounds.