Hello,
Can someone please tell me the difference between a normal and Yugoslavian sks cleaning rod. I thought there was just a length difference but someone at a gun show told me there was a diameter difference too.
Thank you
-Josh

I've just measured five different cleaning rods for SKS's.

Length Dia. threads

Yugo M-59
16 15/16 .195 .148 x 36

Chinese Type 56
17 1/16 .195 .155 x 36

Romanian MDL 56
17 1/16 .192 .152 x 32

Russian SKS
17 1/16 .190 .155 x 32

Albanian SKS
17 1/16 .189 .156 x 32

As you can see, the differences are more a matter of thread pitch (I used an inch pitch gage as I can't find my metric pitch gage right now)than anything else. The differences of diameter are meaningless really, well within factory tolerances for an item like this. The length difference is also meaningless as the difference of 1/8 in length means nothing. The biggest difference between the Yugo and the others was that the threaded end that the jag and brush screw onto was about half the length as the others with a longer relief diameter.

Clearly this is a result of a different type of jag and brush than used by the others. Unless you are a fanatic about being absolutely "correct", this too is meaningless unless you happen to only have Yugo jags and brushes on hand. As the rod merely rests in it's station (unlike other rifles where the cleaning rod screws into a retainer), the pitch only has to match the cleaning kit you are using.

My two cents.

Regards,

Eric

Thank you very much for the information. My Yugo was sold to me without the rod and I just want to fill the empty space between the barrel and bayonet. Again thanks.
-Josh

I have an extra Yugo SKS cleaning rod. Send me a private message if you're interested in it.