This may come across as a seeming foolish question from someone who occasionally posts what might appear as intelligent responses/questions, but I have been doing a great deal of thinking concerning cleaning rods. Most of the major barrel manufacturers that I have talked with [namely Krieger, Lilja, Obermyer, and Hart], seem to think that too much cleaning can have a negative effect, but really why?? Is it from the cleaning rod rubbing where it shouldn't be rubbing? If so, here is my true question?--why in the hell not have cleaning rods made solely out of a very stiff, chemical-resistant plastic? Or, what I have tried and now love is fiberglass or graphite fishing rod blanks! If you get the right size, you can glue in the female thread adapter, and you're set. But I don't know if it is as good of an idea as I'm thinking, and I highly suspect quite a few of you wisen gentlemen may have thought along such lines before, but it'd be great to hear some remarks over this one. Just a thought I figured would make a good post--surely I'm not the only chap to slightly muff up the perfect of a well-made crown! *-)

Well my expereinces with cleaning rods have been a real sorry , sorry , on-going story. Until , that is, I met up with the Dewey rod.

I dont know how many cleaning rods I bent, broke, stripped, or otherwise mangled up to the day I decided I was going to find the "perfect" rod, "on the same day I swore I'd never again be cheap when it came to cold weather hunt clothing.

I discovered the Dewey's and discovered perfection. They are strong, real strong, and hold up to the tightest wet patch I can shove up and down a barrel. They have a tough rubber coating that doesnt peel off and, I believe, protects my bore and crown.

For years I always had "2-piece" rods cause I always wanted a cleaning rod with me when I hunted in case of an obstruction. Now I have my Dewey's for cleaning and I carry the "Bore Snake" for obstructions, and for a quick wipe down of the barrel.

It took me many years but I finnaly reached "cleaning Rod Nirvania"........10

There's an ongoing disagreement on cleaning rods. Some say stainless steel, some say coated. I have some of each, and can't tell much difference.

The coated ones may tend to get more grit embedded in them, but the stainless ones grind better with the grit that does get embedded in them!

Just use a bore guide and be careful!

Don

Thank you, both, for the imput--what brought the whole issue up was a lsight mistake I made while cleaning a 7-08 of mine. I had noticed a slight slipping of accuracy at the range one day, and it was *concidental* with having banged the bell of my Leupold on one of the elevation-adjustment screws on the bench. I was thinking, 'Well, damn, watch what yer do`n, you crazy bastard..', but then I switched to a different scope. The problem stayed its course, and by now I was getting to the quite-less-than-pleased state, so I angrily left, took the rifle back home, and *looked* at it quite thoughly. :-O Noticing the crown of the rifle had taken on new shape, so to speak, I regarded that I must've made some boo-boos while cleaning. The flaw was hardly visable until I used a magnifying glass, but it was there. After using a marble and some rubbing compound to the best of my abilities, I tested old betsy once again--accuracy returned. So I learned a little lesson. The Dewey I have heard a lot of good about, and intend to try one, but a seperate problem I will have is with a custom rifle I'm having built; 36" barrel, action around 9'5"...this takes a fairly long cleaning rod--to my knowlege, Dewey's longest is 44"....has anyone but me tried thee old fishing rod tactic? Is it worth having a bore guide at BOTH ends of the rifle, seeing as it's the muzzle end that's been "getting the friends", so to speak?

Electra,
I don't know how much damage that I have caused over the years,to gun barrels,but I do know that careless cleaning was one of the things that killed my favorite Krag rifle.
Now,I ONLY clean my rifles when they are clamped in a cradle,and the cradle is clamped to the bench.I made mine,using the Decker cradle as a model.
Any "in between cleaning"is done with a Bore Snake.
I use a brass rod,and operate it with one hand,and guide it with the other.
I also have a Dewey rod,for longer barrels.
I believe that using one rod for all size barrels,is poor economy.
In any event,I haven't ruined any barrel lately.

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Electra,

I'm not sure what the hardness of fiberglass and/or graphite is but I would expect that they may well be harder than stainless steel.
I would also think they might be somewhat abrasive. I don't believe I would be ramming either down my rifle barrels until I checked it out pretty thoroughly.

I use the coated Deweys. Wipe them down well after each use and I don't think you can go wrong.

I just use the aluminum segmented rods, wiping them after each swab. However, I always clean from the chamber end of the barrel. The chamber end of the barrel can take more abuse and still retain accuracy. Besides, most of damage that you do from the chamber end is to the throat, which really does not matter much.

Mike M
Glass will cut steel, graphite in its natural form is one of, if not THE, softest elements. The resin that glues them together is softer than steel. So, having said that, Neither will come into direct contact with the bore since both will more than likely be finished with a gel-coat outer layer. This layer will be softer than steel, but may have the same abrasive embedding problem as the other rods.

I use stainless steel rods that rotate on a bearing in the handle, along with brass jags and bore guides.