Bore snakes are GREAT for the guns that aren't easily cleaned from the action end with a proper rod, think M1 Garand, M14, etc.
On a bolt gun, I tend to use a proper cleaning rod. My personal favorite is a graphite rod with brass fitting and a ball bearing rotating handle.
This is the one I use (ie, the last cleaning rod you'll ever buy):
http://sirmailorder.ca/show_prod.php...=105&PHPSESSID=