Cleaning Rods

Hi,

Did my first cleaning on the new WASR yesterday. I used the stock cleaning kit, which seemed to work fine. The only things that raised a red flag were the rod and jag. Both seemed seemed like they could really do come damage. That jag is huge and made of a pretty stout steel. Were a pad to get inserted just wrong it seems like it could scratch up the bore pretty bad. The rod was so stiff that going in from the breach looked like it could damage the top of the chamber.

What do you guys think of the aluminum rods? They would have a bit more flex I would think. What about jags - is the stock one okay and I'm being to sensitive about it?

Thanks for any recommendations on cleaning tools.

Steel on steel is not good for your bore.
The best way to clean barrel is from the chamber to the muzzel (kind of hard to do with an AK)
Otis cleaning kit is good. Pull through kit.(chamber to muzzel)
Coated Dewey rods with bore guides are really nice. One piece coated rods are hard to beat.
Want to save some dough go to Wally world pick up a shotgun cleaning kit with the brass rods.
The one I picked up had .410- 20 ga-12ga brushes and mops(great for cleaning gas tube etc.)
Pick up a couple of .30 cal bushes .30 cal patches and CLP and you should be GTG.
If you really are strapped for cash a knotted bootlace soaked in motor oil.
Goodluck

Perhaps not, but steel on chrome isn't likely to do any damage.
I've never seen a chrome lined AK bore that was damaged by a cleaning rod.
And if one thinks about it, if you could damage the bore with the cleaning rod, it wouldn't last long with steel jacketed bullets passing down the bore at much higher speed with an interference fit.

So there is nothing wrong with using steel cleaning rods being used from muzzel to chamber for regular cleanings?
Thats good to know I'll save money on Dewey rods.
Thanks

Good info here - thanks!

My main concern was damage to the [what I think is called] the throat - where the barrel meets the breach. When cleaning from the chamber out there is quite a bit of pressure exerted on that area by the steel rod. In fact, due to the way the receiver is formed I can't even get the rod all the way through the barrel. It gets so tight - that is why I worry about the upward pressure damaging that area.

In fact - even tho I have been told by several people not to - I ended up cleaning from the muzzle end. I put some paper towels there at the throat so that I didn't dump a bunch of gunk into the action.

Does anyone use the guides I've seen available?

use a bore snake. breach to muzzle problem solvented. Thats how I clean mine. That n Q-TIPS

Chrome lined barrels
Not to be confused with chrome molly which is a steel alloy containing molybdenum and chromium.
Chrome lining is done after the barrel has been rifled.
The bore is slightly oversized to accomodate the chome lining so the barrel will be back to intended tolerances.
Some mfgs lap the barrel just before chroming to ensure uniformity
The barrel is lined with the chrome and is actually bonded to the steel.
Chrome is roughly 2xs as hard as 4150 steel.
Chrome lined barrel can have a life up to 20k vs a non chrome barrel life up to 10k.
Chrome lined barrels as easier to clean than non chrome lined barrels because the micro "voids" have been filled in.
There is less friction in a chrome lined barrel thus less heat. Heat is the biggest enemy of a rifle barrel.
Because of this "coating" the lands and grooves of the barrel are not as pronounced (sharp) as a non lined barrel thus a chrome barrel is not as accurate.
The lining also magnifys any imperfection a barrel may have also affecting accuracy of the barrel.
Most wear on Barrels is in the throat where the hottest temp and the most friction occurs.This is where the attributes of chrome lining really shines.
From what I am told the chrome lining does not protect the crown of a barrel.(The edges of the lands and grooves at the muzzel)
I had a custom AK built by a reputable builder in Ohio.
When I received the rifle the crown on the barrel was damaged.
The rest of the barrel including the throat was fine. (This is the area of most barrel wear.)
I contacted the builder and sent the rifle back.
He called me and told me he replaced the barrel because of the gouges in the lands at the crown.
He said instead of re- crowning the barrel he would just install another barrel.
I asked him why the only defects were at the crown area he replied it was most likely damaged from cleaning
the rifle from the muzzel with a steel cleaning rod.
ETA

I don't suppose you asked him how the cleaning rod moving perhaps 2 feet per second without hot gas under pressure behind it damaged the barrel if hundreds or thousands of steel jacketed bullets moving 2200fps with hot gas under 30+K psi pressure didn't damage it.
Wear at the muzzle is caused by erosion caused by the hot gas which propels the bullet.

The concern for damaging the barrel with a cleaning rod began long ago when steel was much softer than todays modern alloys. In those days wear was a legitimate concern. In fact, many of the cleaning rods issued by the US Army for use in the barracks (wear 90+% of cleaning is done) were made of hardwood at one time. Has anyone seen a military issue hardwood cleaning rod recently?
It is kept alive because people repeat stories started (or perhaps heard and repeated) by their grandfathers.
The problem is compounded by the fact that benchrest shooters (who don't use chrome lined barrels and clean much more often) may see some minute difference in accuracy.

The AK is not a benchrest rifle. It is not capable of benchrest accuracy.
AK barrels are made of modern steel, issue barrels are hammer forged (which work hardens the barrel further) and chrome lined. Chrome is much harder than steel (It is one of the metals often added to steel to make steel harder). As a result, contact between the cleaning rod and the bore is more likely to cause wear on the cleaning rod than in the bore.

Has anyone ever seen a cleaning rod for an AK that was worn out?

There a ton of good info here - thanks!

I still have the question of whether those of you that do use the AK rod are able to get it completely through the bore from the breach end? Mine gets so tight I would literally have to hammer it through that last couple of inches - surely - even tho I understand chrome is harder than the steel - this would take a toll at some point on the throat...

And thanks for the bore snake suggestion - I will look into that. There seems to be some strong opinions both for and against them.

I can put the cleaning rod through without pounding.
I suspect that you have too large a patch on the jag.

Good tip! I got a couple of Winchester cleaning kits (shotgun and "general") from Walmart and got a lot of good size mops and brushes for those unique areas like the gas tube.

Thanks - you may be right. I'm using some I got from cheaperthandirt.com:

.30, 7.62 Caliber Patches Square Cotton Flannel Bench Pack 2 x 2"

They are tight.

Those are probably designed to be used with the slotted US style jag. If your cleaning rod has a slot behind the threads, try putting the patch through the slot and don't use the jag.

Thanks POLYTHENEPAM,

I wasn't even up to speed on the different jag/slotted jag swabbing methods. I've done some reading and will now experiment with using each.

Thanks again!

cna anyone tell me what thread size or pitch they have on the end of the cleaning rod

can anyone tell me what thread size or pitch they have on the end of the cleaning rod that comes with the AK

Hi,

I think it's 8-36 - and most commercial rods are 8-32 - again I'm kind of shooting in the semi-dark. One of the regulars will probably be more help.

I do know that there are converters you can get that will allow you to screw commercial jags/brushes on your AK rod (if it is in fact 8-36)

Universial Adapter - near the bottom.

Maybe this will help

I thought it would be some metric size, maybo .75mm or something like that. I will see if I have a tap that size you suggested.
thanks.

You may be right - I really couldn't find any info on it other than that adapter item.

I figured out what it is on my Century Arms Yugo underfolder. It is M4 X 0.70, I taped my cleaning components and they threaded right onto
my ram rod.

I guess it makes sense that it's metric being European.

The standard 7.62 AK cleaning rod has a 4mmx.8mm thread.

BSW

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