WHenever I clean my guns, I worry about the barrel when I hear that sawing noise.  Will the aluminum rod shorten the barrel's life?  If so, does anyone know of someone who sells rubber-covered rods or something?

I use Dewey coated rods.  I am not sure about a "sawing" noise, but I doubt that can be good.

You can buy bore guides and muzzle guides that will center the cleaning rod in the barrel and keep the rod from scraping the inside of the barrel. The guides can slow down the cleaning process but if you are worried they would provide some protection. Midway should carry them.

Contact Georgia Precision at 1-888-741-8259. They can hook you up. When I bought my AR,I bought a one piece Dewey rod, chamber brush, bore guide, and all the slotted tips and brushes required. The coated rod and bore guide are a must!!!!Don't screwup a $1,000.00 rifle with a $5.00 kit from Wal-Mart....

Bore Snake, Bore Snake, etc.

I've bookoo rods and I thought about taking one and using the super loctite to make it a one piece.

I've also got some of the dip, and also the spray, used to coat tools like the handles on pliers.  Anyone have any ideas if that might work?

A small strip of duct tape or black tape makes a good stopper so the patches don't get pushed out and then the rod bangs the crown on the return trip.

return trip? rifle bores are like buttholes, one way only!!!  i have recently gotten turned on to the Otis system. i really like the coated cable used in lieu of a Rod. soft brass fittings and coated cable is easy on your bore.

Beekeeper, yes I do. I run the bore snake from chamber to muzzle min. 5x and then drop my own invention down the muzzle and attach patches and pull thru until 2 patches pull thru clean.
It seems to work, results is what counts. That's my method and I am sticking to it, unless of course someone proves me wrong.

FWIW Kleenbore makes solid brass rods, nice and soft if you worry about this stuff. I don't because I belive its the 50,000 psi, 2500F, and shoving 55 grainers down and bore at 3000 FPS that I believe erodes the barrel

Quoted: FWIW Kleenbore makes solid brass rods, nice and soft if you worry about this stuff. I don't because I belive its the 50,000 psi, 2500F, and shoving 55 grainers down and bore at 3000 FPS that I believe erodes the barrel

I agree with you. I don't see how a little cleaning rod and brush powered by your arm can erode the bored, unless of course you're superman or you got a cheap barrel.

"SAWING NOISE"?!

use a pullthru. many service rifles were originally issued with them.

boresnakes are good.
ive been using pullthrus for several years, never a problem. only place a rod is needed is for muzzleloaders, chamber brushes and removing obstructions.

The only thing I dislike about aluminum rods is that they are almost too soft, and abrasive debris will embed itself into the rod.

Cleaning a .22, 223 or similar with a multiple- piece or one-piece rod, it's almost impossible not to touch the barrel on the inside.  Technically you could use a .22 cal. rod with adapter end to clean .38s or .45s and never touch the rod inside the larger barrel with anything but the patch.

With the .22s though, the rod diameter is so close to the diameter of the bore, you will almost always touch. The only rod smaller is the .17, and that one has different threads with no adapter available that I know of, and I think most of those are steel.

I'd worry more about the crown when the jag pops in or out, depending on what rifle you're cleaning, and from what end you are able to clean it from (breech end preferably, of course).

I say try the one-piece Deweys for the rifles, but there's a bit of a storage problem when you have a rod as long as your rifle.

Sometimes you need three hands to push the rod in straight if you don't have a holder for the gun.  Ask someone to help you hold it straight, as butt on ground, rifle between the knees with long barrels doesn't always allow you to pull the rod straight out (if cleaning, for instance, a lever gun from the muzzle end).

Dewey rod and a Sinclair boreguide

powderburn,    those dips and sprays are okay if they do not come in contact with solvents.  If you want to make a coated rod, go to your local electronics store and buy a 3 foot stick of heat shrink tubing and put that on the rod.

CHZ

Spray brake cleaner down barrel, then clean your rifle. Everything will be either washed out or softened up!!!

BUY A DEWEY.

Cabelas, Champion Shooters Supply, and many other places sell them. Also get a bore guide-Midway, Stony Point, or Sinclair.

For home, use a Dewey coated rod with parker-hale or Pearce style jags and a good bore guide.  Clean only from the chamber.  Never pull a patch back through.

For the field, use an Otis pull through system.  It's a great system and I actually use it a lot at home as well. It can also be used to remove obstructions, but it's a bit more complicated for say a stuck bullet.

Water can drill a hole through solid stone over time, and water's about as soft as it gets.  So an aluminum rod with a bronze brush can also erode a steel bore over time.  It happened a lot.  Most WWII vintage M1's have eroded muzzles from cleaning rod wear, and that produces fliers and big groups. So avoid that.

A Dewey rod will cost you 25 bucks, the jags (get two) another 10.  The guide will cost another 10 or so depending upon what you get.  A new barrel will cost you a couple hundred bucks plus the installation charge.  Simple choice really.

You can get a great deal on Otis kits directly from Otis.  Go to Culver's Shooting Pages to find out how.

Get a Dewey or Bore-Tech rod and a bore guide from Georgia Pecision or Sinclair.
As far as the " I don't see how a little cleaning rod and a brush powered by your arm..." thing, ask any good smith, most will agree that they've seen just as many if not more barrels screwed up by overzealous cleaning and "breaking-in" than by shooting.
I'll use my bore-snake in a pinch, but never as a regular cleaning tool.  There's been evidence that nylon actually functions as an abrasive to steel and can (if used mucho)cause uneven wear on the crown.
Later,
R

A bore guide is a must.  Keeps you in line, and allows you to use the brass removers like shooters choice in the barrels without dripping all over the other parts.  

Originally quoted by Trumpet: "There's been evidence that nylon actually functions as an abrasive to steel and can (if used mucho)cause uneven wear on the crown."

Nylon brush wearing down the crown?  Gimmie a break.  I don't believe it.  Maybe after 1 million brushes used on the crown and after each brush had 500-1000 strokes used with some battery acid on the crown, I could see some "uneven wear."

Some people just baby these guns as if they're more sensitive than a new born's ass.  These are "combat" weapons, not tools for putting on womens facial make up!