Cleaning rods

[NOTABIKER]

I own quality & cheap cleaning rods. Being that stainless steel is a harder material than most rifle barrels why is it popular ?. Also how can a cheap Aluminium cleaning rod harm a steel rifle barrel ?. I mostly use a Coated one piece rod with the tapered plug you center the rod in the muzzle end.
I confess on my 22lr & 223 i use a WM three piece Aluminium cleaning rod or a bore snake.
Interested in feedback and opinions
Is it really important to use a bore brush on every cleaning ?. I always feel i am harming my bore using a brass or SS brush on my nice shinny bore..

[Citadelgrad87]

The split in cleaning religeon, the great rod schizm, is as follows:

Coated guys swear that any bare metal rod is bad for the bore as it will scratch when it rubs the rifling.

There is merit to this.

Stainless guys swear that the soft coating will embed with debris that cannot embed in a steel rod and will scratch when it rubs the rifling.

There is merit to this, too.

Aluminum guys sort of buy #2, but point out thwt AL is softer than steel and should not scratch.

There is merit to this as well.

I use a coated dewey on my precision rifle, with a chamber bore guide, and i wipe the rod every (wait for it)stroke.

I use this with an aluminum jag, more to prevent from false copper sign on the patches.

I dont use brushes ever except as embedded in bore snakes. I dont use rods any more on anything other than my precision rifle.

[Hinnerk]

While aluminum metal is soft, all aluminum rapidly oxidizes in air to form a thin layer of very hard aluminum oxide on the surface. It is the same material used in many forms of sandpaper, abrasives and abrasive stones and wheels.

[NOTABIKER]

I will polish it before i use my aluminium rod

[NOTABIKER]

Just took a micrometer to my coated Kleen bore one piece cleaning rod i use for 30 06 etc .205 same as my 22lr cleaning rod. So i put my 22 plastic patch holder on my quality Kleenbore cleaning rod. Can use it on 22lr and 223.

[67Cuda]

This is what I use. Seems to work well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VC6ERZK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Svashtar]

[Calamity Sue]

Never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot.

???? what ????

I repeat, never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot. Example: I shoot 22lr, 22WMR, 223, 556. I have two cleaning rods at each home. Pro Shot ss and the Tipton carbon. All of them are .17 cal rods. Far less chance of marring your barrel. Also, I never use metal brushes of any kind with the exception of using a snake one in a blue moon. Yes, snake is sized for the caliber shooting. If I need a brush, it's nylon or similar in the caliber the gun is. I never see any lead, copper, polymer, etc in my barrel or while cleaning it. If I did, I'd use Hoppe's on a mop. I do patch clean with my rod and final lube using a mop that I only use for this purpose.

RFC forum has hundreds of posts on this topic and most say the same thing. It's just common sense.

[Scratch705]

i only use tipton's carbon fiber rods now.

the only "cheap" rod i have that i still use is for my pistols. it is the typical brass coated aluminum 3 piece rod. i just use 1 segment and push through. i didn't want to buy a short 12" rod just for pistol use.

i also use nylon brushes to prevent any potential scratching, and i can brush my barrels as much as i want since if a nylon brush can damage a treated steel barrel, then that barrel sucks.

edit: i don't agree with not buying the same caliber rod as you need. with the tipton rods, the carbon fiber flexes too much if you are using an undersized rod. especially if the brush/patch end is a very tight fit.

i had this problem with my 22 brush so i actually sand down my nylon brush for my 22 just a hair, then i wrap my synthetic cloth patch around it (thinner than cotton) this way i can customize how "tight" i want the brush to be depending on how dirty the barrel is.

[Svashtar]

Cleaning rods

Never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot.

???? what ????

I repeat, never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot. Example: I shoot 22lr, 22WMR, 223, 556. I have two cleaning rods at each home. Pro Shot ss and the Tipton carbon. All of them are .17 cal rods. Far less chance of marring your barrel. Also, I never use metal brushes of any kind with the exception of using a snake one in a blue moon. Yes, snake is sized for the caliber shooting. If I need a brush, it's nylon or similar in the caliber the gun is. I never see any lead, copper, polymer, etc in my barrel or while cleaning it. If I did, I'd use Hoppe's on a mop. I do patch clean with my rod and final lube using a mop that I only use for this purpose.

RFC forum has hundreds of posts on this topic and most say the same thing. It's just common sense.

[Citadelgrad87]

Never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot.

???? what ????

I repeat, never use a cleaning rod made for the caliber you shoot. Example: I shoot 22lr, 22WMR, 223, 556. I have two cleaning rods at each home. Pro Shot ss and the Tipton carbon. All of them are .17 cal rods. Far less chance of marring your barrel. Also, I never use metal brushes of any kind with the exception of using a snake one in a blue moon. Yes, snake is sized for the caliber shooting. If I need a brush, it's nylon or similar in the caliber the gun is. I never see any lead, copper, polymer, etc in my barrel or while cleaning it. If I did, I'd use Hoppe's on a mop. I do patch clean with my rod and final lube using a mop that I only use for this purpose.

RFC forum has hundreds of posts on this topic and most say the same thing. It's just common sense.

[Citadelgrad87]

There are several foaming bore cleaners that will remove lead, copper, and fouling without a brush.

[Mayor McRifle]

What did the Greatest Generation use?

[Calamity Sue]

Mine never flex, but I'm only using them in 22lr/223. Both the ss and the carbon are stiff and don't bend at all.

[Calamity Sue]

As I said, I've never seen lead, copper, etc. in any of my barrels. Fouling is mainly carbon and is easily removed by lots of cleaners, esp. Ballistol which I use. I put the corners of two 1 1/4" square cotton patches into ... the .17 gizmo to clean my barrels. Tight fit for the patches, but not for the rod or attachement. I usually repeat spraying the barrel/ patch routine. This is followed by a coupon dry ones that come back out clean. Then I use a mop clean with Ballistol for the lube, carefully noting no residue on the mop.

I clean my barrels after every shoot. Takes about ten minutes per rifle, including a quick spray/wipe down of the chamber. That means twice a week in some instances, like this week as I'll be shooting again tomorrow. Calamity and I shoot between 4-500 rounds of 22lr in each of our rifles when we shoot. I'll also shoot 100-300 rounds of 223/556 through my DD.

For the 22's I completely take apart rifle, chamber, etc. after around 2000 rounds and 800-1000 rounds in my DD. This means every 2-4 weeks. I also wax my wood stocks every two months or so when I disassemble them. No idea what a "fouled" barrel is.