I use a sealey brake bleeding kit, it’s a big bottle with a pump on top of it to it attaches to the res and pressurises the brake lines.
Never had any issues before. Only recently fitted braided lines with out a problem bleeding the system.
The brake fluid ran low in the sealey brake bleeding bottle and sent air under pressure about 8psi through the res at the master cylinder. The air bubbles made all the way to the caliper I was bleeding at the time, almost instantly once the kit ran dry of brake fluid.
Anyway I haven’t had a chance to work on it again yet but I’ll give it a go at the weekend. A mate has a gti that’s been parked up for ages I might be able to swop some parts off that, if it is the brake servo or pressure release valve.