• A Better Bore Guide? Pro-Shot Products "The Stopper"


    Ever since my good friend and gunsmith Fred Moreo (aka sharpshooter) introduced me to the wallet-draining joy of centerfire rifle ownership in 2003 I have used Possum Hollow bore guides - mainly because that is what Fred recommended and generally uses himself.
    However, as the years have passed I've started to wonder if they're really the best option for my needs. While the Possum Hollow bore guides are a fine quality product and do their job very well, the one downside to them is that they are fairly specific to rifle, caliber, and in some cases even cartridge.

    For someone like me who deals with an ever changing assortment of rifles in various calibers and cartridges, it means having to buy a lot of different bore guides which adds up quick. Additionally, having a large assortment of bore guides that all look pretty much identical and are unmarked as to what specific rifle or caliber they are for results in my doing the trial and error dance as I try to find the right one for the rifle I want to clean. On top of that they take up a lot of space and the more I thought about it the more I realized there had to be a better solution.

    Universal bore guides are not new to the market and are offered by at least a dozen or more companies these days. I know quite a few people who presently use them or have used them in the past with varied results. Some of them are reported to be of high build quality and work very well, others - not so much. With that in mind I started my search for a suitable replacement for my vast assortment of Possum Hollow bore guides with the hope of reducing that pile to just two or three universal guides.



    As the title reflects I ultimately decided upon "The Stopper" bore guide (SKU# BG22-30) manufactured by Pro-Shot Products out of Taylorville, IL. The reason I chose to go with this product is two-fold. First, it's primarily made of aluminum and brass with the only non-metal bits being the replaceable Delrin coned tip and rear solvent port pieces that thread onto the main body. Second, it effectively replaces most all of my bore guides for .224 to .30cal as it fits most all bolt-action centerfire (and some rimfire) rifles produced in the last 75 years, as well as some earlier designs such as the Mauser 98 and Enfield 1917.

    Pro-Shot offers the same product in a dedicated .17 caliber version (#BG5) as well as a larger bore version for .303 to .375 calibers on the same actions (#BG3). Last but not least, they also have a .224 to .30 caliber version for larger actions (#BG4) such as the Sako A3, A4, L-61 Finnbear actions and the Weatherby Vanguard and Browning L-70 actions.

    As the photo's show this product is of a very simple design that's quite easy to use. The plastic caliber specific tip and solvent port are threaded and screw on to the red anodized main tube. The blue anodized sleeve is sized to fit into the rear bore of the action. The gold locking rod threads into the sleeve and allows for length adjustment for both long and short action receivers.

    To use, simply screw on the appropriate set of plastic ends (white = .22-6mm; black = 6.5mm-.30) and loosen the gold locking rod slightly to allow the blue sleeve to slide freely on the main tube. Insert the guide rod into the rear of your action, pushing it forward until you feel the cone bottom out in your chamber. Adjust the blue sleeve so that it is started into the rear of the receiver and the gold locking rod is positioned in the bolt slot and resting against the rear of the slot as shown in the photo to the right. Tighten the locking rod to secure the blue sleeve. When finished there should be little to no fore or aft movement of the bore guide. When finished cleaning your rifle simply loosen the locking rod and remove the unit from the rifle.



    So far in using "The Stopper" I have been quite happy with it. It takes up considerably less space than my old collection of Possum Hollow bore guides and there are no o-rings to wear our or try rot over time. On the flip side, the Pro-Shot unit doesn't provide as good of a seal as the o-ring does on the Possum Hollow guides so you may get a little solvent leakage back into the action area. I don't see this as a big issue as these days most of my rifles are either single-shots or have a detachable magazine and you'd be hard pressed to muck things up bad enough to somehow get solvent back into the trigger group area using any solid tube bore guide.

    The Pro-Shot Stopper currently sells for around $30 at most online retailers, while the Possum Hollow bore-guides are presently selling for anywhere between $10 and $40 depending on what make/model it's for. When you consider how many of the Possum Hollow guides the one Pro-Shot guide replaces it's easy to see how quickly it can save you a lot of money.

    Is the Pro-Shot Stopper the perfect bore guide solution? No, but it's darn pretty close in that it is easy to use, works with a wide range of rifles, and it is reasonably priced.




    Contact Information
    Pro-Shot Products

    311 S Baughman Rd.

    Taylorville, IL. 62568
    Ph. (217) 824-9133
    www.ProShotProducts.com





    Comments 6 Comments
    1. celltech's Avatar
      celltech -
      This is functionally the same design as a Tipton unit I got on Amazon. They work great! There can be a little dribble off the reducer cone where it meets the bore, but nothing like not using one at all. These are highly recommended!!!
    1. jpx2rk's Avatar
      jpx2rk -
      Have you by chance tried or used the one for 17hmr, Savage in particular??
    1. J.Baker's Avatar
      J.Baker -
      Quote Originally Posted by jpx2rk View Post
      Have you by chance tried or used the one for 17hmr, Savage in particular??
      I have the Possum Hollow Savage Rimfire bore guide that works with the Mark I/II/93 Series as well as my CZ 452's. Not sure what else they will work with. I don't really care for the design as the bottom half of the guide is machined away (pretty much has to be) to clear the sear and standing ejector. As such it really does nothing to keep solvent out of the action area, so it's only benefit is keeping the cleaning rod aligned with the bore which it only does so-so as I find it slides all over the place if you don't hold onto it (no o-ring to keep it locked in place like the centerfire bore guides).

      Haven't looked around yet to see what more universal options might be out there for rimfire bolt guns. Give me time, I'll get there - some day. lol
    1. sharpshooter's Avatar
      sharpshooter -
      They are a decent bore guide, but nothing really new. That is the original design from Stoney Point products from 25 yrs ago. Stoney Point went out of business and sold most of their product lines to other companies.
    1. DesertDug's Avatar
      DesertDug -
      got this on your recommendation and this article, and I am very pleased and I am glad that I am cleaning my riffles correctly now-a-days.

      Works like a chime.
    1. A&8's's Avatar
      A&8's -
      I used to shoot comps with John Dameran Sr., the guy who started Pro-Shot. Since his passing, it is still a family ran business, with his son, John Jr., taking the reins. All of their stuff is great and the only cleaning product I stock an entire line of in my retail shop.

      BTW: It's Taylorville....not Taylor(s)ville, as stated in the article. ;-)