All,

I am looking for recommendations on a good coated
cleaning rod. I have a Stoney Point Universal Bore
Guide, and my current cleaning rods are not clearing
the muzzle, on some rifles, so it is time to buy a new
cleaning rod. So what does one look for in a good cleaning
rod? Any brand reviews are welcome. Also, any suggestions
on vendors would be appreciated, too.

Thanks
Squeeze

Squeeze-

As for coated cleaning rods, you can't go wrong with Dewey's. BoreTech is a good choice also. I have both brands and either is a good choice.

Good luck!

I use the Dewey rods and like them fine. Back when I bought mine the coated rods were male and required an adapter for most tips. They may offer them in female now. They come in lengths up to at least 36".

Dewey (available up to 44")



http://www.sinclairintl.com/cleaning.html



http://www.brunoshooters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=BSS&Category_Code=12

I've used Dewey rods for many years, as well as Bore Tech. I like both brands very much, but I really think that Dewey builds the better rod.

AD

I've got both Dewey and Bore-Tech. The Bore-Tech is better by miles. I hardly ever use the Dewey any more.

Dewey is my choice for coated rods. I've had Bore Tech, and the coating doesn't last long at all. My Dewey;s are three times as old as the Bore Techs, and the coating looks new.

Tipton has a rod out that is carbon fiber. From what I've heard, they are great. Haven't tried one yet, but it will be my next one. Midway sells 'em.

I also like the Pro Shot stainless rods. Although not coated, they a burnished very hard and will not pick up debris. Very stiff too, more so than the others since the diameter is all steel, not coating.

I've got two deweys, a small diameter and a large, and highly recommend them. I've used them for years and had no problems at all. I've also heard good things about the boretech but have never seen one. My deweys have the male end with the adapter, I just epoxied it on when I first got it so it hasn't moved since. Whatever you buy get the longest one (it's 44" for a dewey). A buddy of mine liked my cleaning rods so he went out and bought one for himself. The only thing the shop had was a 36" rod and he thought it'd be good enough. When he got it home he found out that it wouldn't reach the end of his 26" barrel rifle with a bore guide installed.

The coating on my Bore-Tech has held up perfectly. The Dewey on the other hand has 3 places on it where the coating has come off.

I recently added a 44" Tipton carbon fiber rod from Midway to replace a shorter (30"?)Remington SS rod the wife bought me a couple years ago. I like useing two rods, one with a brush and one with a jag so I don`t have to stop and unscrew and screw in tips all the time. I haven`t had it long but I`m impressed with the smoothness of the bearings. The rod is quite stiff and won`t wear on your barrel (supposedly, I can`t varify) like a uncoated rod will. I use a Dewey on my smaller cal bores and can highly recommend them also.
I have one of the stoney point guides and prefer the midway or sinclair nylon types. I can`t say they work better , I just "like um".

I have both Dewey & Bore Tech (BT). BT make the better handle - more ball bearings Dewey make the better coated rod. Both my BT's the coatings are very thin & wear much easier. As a result on both my BT rods towards the end they are down to metal.

You will note that calibre for calibre the Dewey rods are thicker. This allows a thicker coating. Downside of Dewey is that the handle is not as good so the jag/brush tends to unscrew on repeated stokings - does not happen on BT's. Now I understood that Dewey Rods have come out with double race ball bearing handles too - if correct you have the best of both worlds.

Another thing - Don't buy the BT jags/brushes. I have found their sizing pretty screwed up - my 375 jag won't fit-oversize, my .224 brush won't fit - oversize. Deweys are much more reliable in this regard. They also have brushes with female threads so you don't need the adapter & their jags have the calibre engraved on (unlike the BT- no wonder their sizing is screwed)- plus you can use it as a spear jag or Parker Hale style (wrap around) on the one jag.

BT makes the best bore guide & patch holder-combined unit although you need to get 3 sizes if you have a range of calibres. Best design IMHO.

I tend to use 2 rods at once when cleaning - the BT with Brushes since they are female threaded and the Dewey for the Jag. But now that Dewey are making female threaded brushes you don't need to do this.

Regards
JohnT

Dewey makes a good product, therefore I have them all in stock.
Tetra-Gun makes what looks like a good one and the few I've sold have gotten good feedback.
Kleen-Bore is the ORIGINAL coated rod producers and their stuff is great too.
I've never heard of Bore-Tech.
Must be some mail-order company.

-Spencer

Bore Tech is based out of PA. The comments about their handles and bearings are true, they are great. Shame their coatings don't hold up. And when I called about it, they basically said to bad. They wouldn't stand behind it at all.

I've heard the same thing about new Dewey handles. They will sell new handles only for $7 each I think. I haven't seen one yet, but hear it's good.

All,

Thanks for the replies. I believe I have just been given
a good short course in cleaning rods. Sounds like a
new style handled Dewey is in my future...Maybe two.

Squeeze

FYI,

I have both Dewey an BT and like them both. Since I use WipeOut now rod durability and other mentioned issues are not as significant to me.

For what it's worth, I also have a set of Neil Jones stainless steel rods that are really nice. Neil believes that all coated rods pick up bits of stuff that turns them into giant files on your bore.

A properly fitted rod, using a proper bore guide (Neil makes one that has bushing for centering the rod) used properly wil NOT touch the bore. According to Neil If the rod is peening the bore you're not doing something right.

Like I said, WipeOut signifiantly reduces "rod anxiety" because the rod isn't make large numbers of passes or used with much force.

Cheers

R

I've changed over to "Wipe-Out", too. Incredible stuff. Better living through chemistry, or so the '60s saying goes.



I've had Dewey rods for a long time and really like them, but the "handle bearings vs. unscrewing accessories" issue does get bad. Looks like I need to get a few new-style handles myself. Maybe time to break the habit of tightening the jag after every pass.

Wayne,
I have a Dewey rod in .17 and after considerable use the handle started to bind up and after lubing it with Tri-Flow it still wasn't free so I decided to take the handle off. As you may have already guessed, I had ball bearings flying everywhere.
I called Dewey and related my problem, the man on the other end asked for my name and address, I said how much for the new handle, he said NO CHARGE, that never should have happened. He even included an adaptor for my Parker Hale rod, for free. Customer service means a lot to me and if I should ever need another rod, it will have Dewey's name on it.
For the same reason, I use an Oehler chronograph.
Stepchild