On what I felt was solid advice from someone who should know, I bought a Pro-Shot spear-point jag for .223 barrel cleaning.  However, when I tried to use it, with 1 1/8" GI patches, I could NOT get the patch past the chamber.  It was stuck enough that I bent my Outers aluminum cleaning rod.

So, was I using the wrong patch size, is there a trick (beyond "spearing" the patch in the middle) to using a jag, or "other"?

And yes, I've been using an aluminum rod for a very long time.  This one bent at the joint between the "brush" end and the next rod section.  I totally reject that an aluminum rod can hurt the rifling or crown on a steel barrel, especially one that has an A2 flash hider on it.  With that said, any suggestions for an affordable, usable cleaning rod that I can use for barrels from 8" to 30"?

I have a set of Tipton Jags. I use 1" square cotton patches with them.

I use Tipton carbon fiber rods. Many swear by the Dewey coated rods. I have 2 rifle rods and one I use for pistol. I like them very much.

I am sure an aluminum rod won't hurt a steel barrel. Aluminum hardness is 2-2.5 and Copper is 2.5-3. I am sure the aluminum rods are an alloy and are probably a bit harder but I doubt harder than Chrome which is a 9.

I am thinking of trying the Parker Hale style jags. The look interesting.

I have a set of the Tipton Jags as well.   The coated ones that aren't affected by copper remover.   I also use the precut small caliber(.22) patches.   Never an issue.  At times I double them up for a tighter fit.   Still not an issue.    Tipton one piece rod as well.   But the aluminum ones shouldn't be an issue.

Is it possible your Pro-Shot jag is oversized?

I started using jags and had same issue.
I noticed some of the packaging for my patches says to use the .22 for a standard loop type patch holder, but use smaller patches (0.177) with jags.  0.177 patches work great in my .22/.223's with a jag.

If you spear the patch towards one corner it will sometimes go in easier than if you spear it right in the middle.

Do it

I cannot stress this enough.  The use of standard loops or front-spear jag have more cons than pros.

Let me explain myself: loops and spears either push or drag the patch after it's gathering under itself and will lead to uneven pressure while passing, binding the rod and requiring you to really jam on it... which is never good.

Also, the patch is gathered unevenly inside the bore, so very little of the patch is making any contact the lands and grooves.  This requires additional passes, patches, time, and energy.  I don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my time besides huff solvent fumes for fun.




This gentleman absolutely knows what he's talking about:

Ryan Cleckner shows you how to clean a rifle properly

I'll be posting a review of his book in the Precision Rifles sub-forum in the near future.

P.S. - the baby food jar trick he shows is scary-stupid-genius.

The guy is pretty smart but with jamming the cleaning rod in and out like that can damage the crown of the barrel ..

Cleaning regimens vary according to need and opinion.  Mr Cleckner is a tactical shooter-competitor and doesn't need to pay a whole lot of attention to the crown.

The majority of shooters that can actually tell if the crown is getting damaged are benchrest shooters shooting with extremely high tolerances built into their rifles.

Lastly, Mr Cleckner is cleaning a threaded barrel for use with a muzzle device, it doesn't matter a whole lot.  Here's why: the muzzle of most rifles with a coarse TPI thread pattern have about 0.005" stress inadvertently relieved, expanded, or "belled" under the threads.  Also, any crown that was there before is going to be affected by the lip of the muzzle device gathering fouling inconsistently at the barrel muzzle.  While it may not negate any advantage of a good crown, it certainly doesn't help it.

I tend to think he knows what he's doing, but that's my opinion.

ETA: A Parker-Hale jag is also inconvenient for use with a barrel with an open-baffle muzzle device, like a large compensator.  The reason for this is the patch may get caught in one of the baffles, and then you have to fish it out.  depending on the type of muzzle device this can be a real pain in the neck.

Bama, I was thinking I should measure my jag's diameter, but I've also been using the 1+" GI patches, and together they may be "the problem."

Tweeter, I'm more and more sold on the Parker-Hale style jags.  I have big fingers and loops have been a royal pain to get patches into.  The P-H jag looks like the solution.  And yes, that baby food jar trick is awesome.

Torque Ranger, if you watch closely, you'll notice the guy in the video is anything but random in how he uses that cleaning rod.  It's also coated, and it seems to be a very close match for the bore.  That won't hurt a crown in any way, because the rod keeps the brush or other tool centered.  It's not the way I was taught to use a brush, but the nice man with all the stripes also wasn't a high power rifle competitor; he was some poor schmuck that was ordered to be our instructor...

New-ish question: Obviously I need the correct jag for each bore diameter, but is it worthwhile for me to buy caliber-specific rods?  Considering how smooth that (is it a Dewey?) rod in the video ran, it's looking really good to go with a coated rod.

A caliber-specific rod is a must.  Most rod manufacturers agree that you shouldn't use a smallbore rod on a centerfire, the size variation is more specific to the size of jags available for that model rod.

Also, even though some jags and rods have a similar thread pitch, try not to mix them.  The pitch on the jag is made for that specific type of rod, you don't want a wobbly jag in your bore.

protip: when using a P-H jag, determine which way the jag tightens and roll the patch on in the same way, otherwise you might be loosening the jag while rolling a patch.  and that ain't cool.

Got it!  And rolling in the "tighten" direction makes all sorts of sense.  Thanks.

I just ordered P-H jag's for .223 and .308, and .22 and .308 cleaning rods as well.  I'm looking forward to getting these things and working with them.

I actually use a .20cal pierce style jag on a .20cal rod with 1-1/2" patches.

How much intelligence does it actually take to know to remove the jag and patch from the gun when it won't go into the barrel with moderate force and cut down the patch until you find the size that will? And wherever possible, always clean from the breech. Actually, it's always possible because when you can't get a rod in from the breech, you can use a pull-through (Otis).

I'm taking this as being aimed at me.  Maybe it's not intelligence, but a concern with whether or not I was using the right technique - as pointed out in my OP.  Obviously I knew I had issues as soon as the rod stopped, but it stopped very suddenly, and while I was using the kind of effort I use when running a patch through a barrel with an eyelet/loop.  It stopped, and the rod bent, in one seamless instant.

I WAS going from the breech, which is probably why everything stopped so suddenly.  And I didn't trim anything because a) the rod had already bent and b) I wanted guidance on whether it was my technique or my equipment.

I don't like Boresnakes or other brands of the same design with .22s.  Between the ability of some "snakes" to collect and hold crud, and the minimal space in a long barrel for the leading end of the "snake" to get all the way through.  Besides, I was following a procedure I had been taught in a formal class, by someone who builds AND maintains service weapons as a primary business - I was trying to do what I was taught, and that clearly wasn't working.

pro-shot patches
Fits .22-.270 Cal. 100 Count Patches
11/8" Square 100 Count Patches

I also cut my own out of double nap white cotton flannel around 1 sq min to 1-1/8 sq max.

midway brass jag and a dewey rod

the fit is tight, but works. You do have to get the patch centered.

I have also used a worn out 22 cal brush and wrap the patch around it in a helical fashion.

Loops are for suppling a heavy dose of solvent or oi,l not removing crud.

Lots of resolve for such a simple problem. If your .22 jag / .22 patch is too tight, place your jag in a hand drill and run the drill while you hold a file to it and take off a minute amount at a time until you have a workable diameter for your patches. I have seen several different diameters on different brand .22 caliber specific jags over the years. A jag is designed to run the patch through a barrel once from the chamber and then either having it fall off once it passes the muzzle or you take it off if it's a spear point design. A loop design requires a larger patch and can be run back and forth past the muzzle as long as you're careful not to let the base of the loop jig hit the crown as you reverse the direction. For best results, use a tight fitting jag for cleaning and a looser fitting loop jig for lubricant.

Today, I got the .22 and .30 caliber jags and cleaning rods I ordered from Brownells.  Too much to do tonight to try them out, but I plan to do so soon.  Thanks for all the helpful and insightful suggestions and comments.

Cruffler,
soulman and I came upon the same solution.  I may try the P-H jags depending on your experience.
Also, the one piece rods are so nice, I do have multi piece range rods but there is no looking back from the one piece, properly sized for each bore.
I've used these:  Pro Shot rods

and these: Sinclair/Dewey rods

Yes I found the .223 patches don't seem to work with a jag as well as it should. I do have one I bought from Brownells that seem to work very well but it is very hard to put it on the jag. I find the best one to use is Hoppe's cleaning patches. Even though it is meant for pistols I find it works very well in a .223 bore since it is so soft and thin. I also recommend a guide to push your patches through the chamber if you're finding you're not quite centering everything. You can buy a nice plastic based guide from Tipton or elsewhere.

You should feel some resistance when you push a jag through a barrel. Even with the Otis pull through, the patches can be a little difficult to pull especially in a very tight barrel.

As such, I can understand why people would feel hesitant when they meet resistance on the barrel. I remember when I first got my AR15 and I put a brass brush into the barrel and how hard it was to pull. I was scared crapless about damaging the barrel and luckily the first thing I did was go ask a friend about it who gave me solid advice. Luckily I didn't ask people on ar15 about it because folks like you, who should help new shooters, seem to have some idea about being high and mighty about how you properly use a ar15.

I have had plenty of times where a patch started feeling caught, and all I have to do is pull it back out and reposition the patch.  Just because it feels odd doesn't mean it needs to be cut.  It doesn't take much intelligence to figure that out.

I use a Montana Extreme jag and here is how you use it.
https://youtu.be/DwWv_66YdlQ

where did you order from, I may do the same...thanks

That illustration doesn't really make sense.  If you roll the patch around the jag, there is only one complete revolution of the patch making contact with the barrel and if you don't have the exact proper size of patch, it could be providing very little contact pressure as well.  When you use the eyelet, the patch is scrunched down to the point where it matches the inner diameter of the bore.  If you were to spread it out and calculate how much of those contact points were touching  the barrel and picking up debris and solvent, even if they look sporadic when the patch is spread out, it would work out to the same or possibly better (due to the diagonals) area as the one complete revolution of the patch.  Also, since the rod spins as you drive the patch, even if there was uneven pressure as illustrated, the tension would cause the patch to follow the path of least resistance, so the heavy folds would follow the grooves, and the lighter parts would ride across the lands, effectively cancelling out pressure differences.  You have to keep in mind, that when the patch is in the bore, there aren't huge voids as you are illustrating.  The patch is compressed.  It only looks open with voids when it pops back out the other end and patch spreads back out some.  That is actually the reason some people can get them stuck.  If they had huge voids, they would just compress more and never get stuck.