Polished SS cleaning rods, good or bad?

Pops1085 · February 10, 2019, 03:03 PM

Ended up with a few stainless cleaning rods over the holidays and haven't had an excuse to use them yet. I always thought you were supposed to use brass or aluminum rods, but these proshot ones seem like quality.

School me, please.

LineStretcher · February 10, 2019, 03:31 PM

They are great. If you use them with stainless jags and nylon brushes. You will never get false copper positives. Use a bore guide with them which you should do anyway and wrap your patch around the jag instead of poking it in the center. When you run a patch through stop just as it shows up at the muzzle and then draw it back.

Dfariswheel · February 10, 2019, 08:57 PM

Virtually all top shooters use either hardened stainless steel or carbon fiber rods.
Virtually no top shooter will use a brass or especially aluminum rod.

This is counterintuitive.
You'd think that a softer rod would potentially do less damage to a muzzle or bore.
However, soft metals allow grit to embed into the metal and that can turn a cleaning rod into an abrasive lapping rod.

The hard stainless will not embed grit and just wipes clean.

Even worse are the screw-together rods. They never mate up perfectly and the sharp edge where the rods join can really ruin a muzzle or even chamber.

One trick to limit potentially damaging a barrel is to PULL the rod.
This prevents the rod from flexing and bumping the bore.
Even with rifles I can clean from the chamber end I still pull the rod through by putting it through, screwing the brush or patch and patch holder on and pulling it out the chamber end.

February 10, 2019, 03:03 PM	#1
Pops1085 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2012 Posts: 369	Polished SS cleaning rods, good or bad? Ended up with a few stainless cleaning rods over the holidays and haven't had an excuse to use them yet. I always thought you were supposed to use brass or aluminum rods, but these proshot ones seem like quality. School me, please.

February 10, 2019, 03:31 PM	#2
LineStretcher Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2018 Posts: 619	They are great. If you use them with stainless jags and nylon brushes. You will never get false copper positives. Use a bore guide with them which you should do anyway and wrap your patch around the jag instead of poking it in the center. When you run a patch through stop just as it shows up at the muzzle and then draw it back.

February 10, 2019, 08:57 PM	#3
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	Virtually all top shooters use either hardened stainless steel or carbon fiber rods. Virtually no top shooter will use a brass or especially aluminum rod. This is counterintuitive. You'd think that a softer rod would potentially do less damage to a muzzle or bore. However, soft metals allow grit to embed into the metal and that can turn a cleaning rod into an abrasive lapping rod. The hard stainless will not embed grit and just wipes clean. Even worse are the screw-together rods. They never mate up perfectly and the sharp edge where the rods join can really ruin a muzzle or even chamber. One trick to limit potentially damaging a barrel is to PULL the rod. This prevents the rod from flexing and bumping the bore. Even with rifles I can clean from the chamber end I still pull the rod through by putting it through, screwing the brush or patch and patch holder on and pulling it out the chamber end.