I sent the following message to several of the premium barrel manufacturers regarding the use of carbon fiber cleaning rods:

quote:

I have been using Dewey coated cleaning rods with good bore guides for years in my custom barreled rifles. I need to replace a rod that was accidentally bent (in a door). I have heard a lot of buzz recently about carbon fiber rods from Tipton. From a custom barrel maker’s perspective, what do you think about carbon fiber rods? Do they damage the bore? Anecdotally, I have seen the steel arrow rest on my bow show wear from carbon fiber arrows, so that is why I am asking.

Here is what they had to say:

BARTLEIN BARRELS
I've never used one of the carbon fiber rods. So no personal knowledge. In my book any good one piece cleaning rod with a good bore guide and roll the patch on a Parker Hale type jag and there will be little to no rod contact in the bore. Also I don't completely exit the muzzle with the rod tip. Rolling the patch on the rod tip like you roll a cigarette will keep the tip of the rod centered going down the bore. Take a look at the cleaning pictures in our Website. I use Dewey and Bore Tech rods myself.

LILJA BARRELS
We use the Dewey rods in the shop too and have excellent service from them. I have not used a carbon fiber rod but don‘t think they’d cause any problems in a barrel.

KREIGER BARRELS
We actually use the Tipton CF rods for the really long .50 cal barrels and the very small .17 and .20 cal barrels that we cannot get Dewy rods for. There is no problem in using the Carbon Fiber rods in a rifle barrel. The wear you see on your arrow rests are more attributed to the pressure and speed that the arrow shaft exerts on the rest (water will erode rock given enough time and pressure). I would still use a good bore guide regardless of the type of cleaning rod you use, but the Tipton's are just fine.

H-S PRECISION BARRELS
We have always used the Dewey cleaning rods and really we do not have an opinion on the others, due to not having experienced the others before or of anyone using them enough to change our minds here at H-S Precision, sorry I could not be of more help to you on this matter but I'm a bow hunter also and I have only seen carbon fiber on my rest which is coming off my arrow, and not any wear on the rest itself.

LOTHAR-WALTHER BARRELS
We are old fashioned. We use brass. We have special shop rods we make here and it is a simple brass rod with the tip end slotted and flattened for a patch or other material.

PAC-NOR BARRELS
I’ve been wanting to try the carbon fiber rods, but have not as yet. I think with the use of a good bore guide, it should not cause problems.

HART BARRELS
(waiting for response)

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Question:
Considering the expert opinions above, would you be willing to use a carbon fiber rod in your rifles?

Choices:
Yes
No
Undecided

 

50/50 how ironic as I use both Dewy and CF rods and I see no differences in effectiveness .

I also have a brass rod which I seldom use any longer . With a decent bore guide I fail to see

relevancy as too which type is used ,provided proper jag brush or swab is used .

I bought Dewey rods a few years back and have since thrown out all my old multi piece aluminum junk. the only multi piece rod I have left is a .177 for my air rifle that I don't have anymore. Upgraded that to an RWS 48 in .22 cal

Anything softer then metal is better then metal going down the bore.

I'm a bow hunter too and yes a flipper style or any solid contact arrow rest will show wear but that again is from one the speed and frequency of the arrows passing over the rest and the pressure the arrow exerts on the rest.

Get a whisker biscuit if it bugs you. Best hunting rest made.

I dont know anything about the efectivness of different rod types, But extencive tests performed, while cleaning out lappingresidues, after the lappingprocess, has werry clearly shown, that a rod should be as hard, straight and stiff as possible. This to prevent the rod from picking up compound or dirt in anny form.

By having the rod surfacehardened, we totally eliminate the ability to carry along dirt, acting as grits along the barrel..

Rods with soft surface as aluminiumrods, plastictoated rods, brassrods or like, has clearly shown that they carry along dirt imbedded into the surface, acting lik some sort of irregular lappingrods.

Generally you would se that if 2 different materials is rubbed against each other, with abrasive between, the hardest part will bee the one to get most worn, because that the abrasive tends to imbedd into the softest part, and only moove in relations to the hardest part.

quote:

Originally posted by jørgen:
Rods with soft surface as aluminiumrods, plastictoated rods, brassrods or like, has clearly shown that they carry along dirt imbedded into the surface, acting lik some sort of irregular lappingrods.

That's an interesting point and one I have heard mentioned before. In addition to the proper caliber sized patch I am using with my Dewey coated rods, I keep a small pile of 45 caliber cleaning patches that I use wipe down the rod frequently to remove any grit or material. It does not feel like there is any embedded material in the coating even after years of use.

Any other thoughts on this?

jA, rgen is correct. In any lapping situation intended or unintended is done by the use of two materials differing in hardness and the abrasive digs into the softer material creating your lap.

I too wipe the rod down at least every other pass through the bore. and always from breach to muzzle to prevent damage to the muzzle

UPDATE:

Hart had this to say:

"We don't know much about them. We've never used them. We only use Dewey coated cleaning rods."

I use high polish tool steel and high polish stainless rods. The last rod that I would use is a carbon fiber rod.
Butch

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
I use high polish tool steel and high polish stainless rods. The last rod that I would use is a carbon fiber rod.
Butch

Butch---what is your process for keeping the rod from hitting the lands when exiting from the muzzle? Have you noticed any wear at all? Just wonder if the "high polish" and the ability to keep the rod absolutely free from contaminants by wiping because of the high polish mitigates the concern of wear somewhat. The coating of the Dewey rods which I use will wear some over time and special attention must be paid to cleaning the rod off. I always use bore guides (Lucas) so flexing and touching the inside of the tube by the rod during brushing does not happen.

I just saw that he asked for barrel makers opinions I am sure not a barrel maker. I believe the most important thing is keeping the rod clean and not banging the rod in and out. Most of us won't wear out a barrel from cleaning.
Butch