Three piece cleaning rod vs. one piece....

[Sitting Duck]

Okay, I did a search on this site for a definitive answer and I'm still unsure if I'm destroying my bore with the three piece rod. Some say yes, some say no, and some I don't understand at all.

If I didn't know better (and I don't) I'd say this is a sales gimmick geared to selling the cheap starter kits to the novice and then just sitting back and waiting for the forum reading to begin.

Heck, I haven't figured out how to utilize the bore guide. It just ends up on the rod sliding back in forth. How do you keep it stationary in the bore/breach area? We all know that I'll ruin my barrel without it. The forums say so.

So what is the skinny on the rods and guides? The real deal. I went to purchase a Gunslick one-piece only to find that it's made in China. The starter kit says USA but the one-piece says China. I guess there must be tremendous savings making a complicated rod, such as this, in China as opposed to the good old USA. But that is another story. Sorry for digressing.

The low down? A study? The real deal? Any, understandable, information would be appreciated.

 

[aka108]

I bought a 3 piece aluminum rod with the ball bearing ball bearing handle in 1948 for $1.50. Used it in all the 22's for years. Always cleaned from the breech without any guide. Recently switched to a carbon fibre one piece from Tipton which I think is a Midway owned brand. Like it pretty well so far. I've stayed away from any steel rods. Three piece is nice for carrying with you stuff in the field.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

The giant advantage of a multi piece is the ease of storage. It isn't fun trying to put a 30" rod in your range bag. If the three piece fits together well and is properly tightened, there should be almost no difference. I use a Kleen-Bore 4 piece rod and guide. I usually hold the bore guide with one hand while holding the rod with the other. Having a gun cleaning rest helps tremendously. Mine was $16 and came with a silicone cloth, nylon brush, rod, guide, copper brush, jag, cleaning formula, and a box of patches. All made in the US of A.

http://secure.armorholdings.com/kleen-bore/product378.html Only $22 from the factory.

I have a bunch of other cleaning stuff as this kit only covers .30 cal. It cleans all of my 7.62x39,51, and 51 guns.
Rod construction doesn't matter if the rod doesn't hit your bore, that is what the guide is for anyway.

 

[Halo]

This is one of those subjects that basically boils down to the minutiae enthusiasts of any hobby like to bicker over. IMO proper technique with the rod is more important, i.e. don't angle it and always clean from the breech when possible.

I suppose the joints of a multi-piece rod could collect some potentially abrasive stuff. But has anyone ever seen a bore ruined by that alone? I haven't. As for me, I do use a one-piece coated rod mainly because it fits a little slot on my rifle vise and, yes, it allows me to focus my stress on some other, equally miniscule and unlikely source of damage.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

For a quick clean at the range I'm hooked on boresnakes. Those suckers actually work.

 

[dakotasin]

i use a 1-piece dewey because i don't like the 3-piece sets - i think they are fragile and flex too much.

 

[MIL-DOT]

OK,the rod is going to bend under pressure, possibly scraping the bore. What if the rod is inserted, THEN the brush is attached, and then the rod is PULLED back out, rather than pushed. Wouldn't this solve any problems with a multi-piece rod ?

 

[LB7_Driver]

I AVOID the screw-together rods. A good one-piece rod is so much nicer to use!

 

[Vaarok]

Deluxe tipton plastic-coated thirty-inch carbon fiber rod with the ball-bearing handle and never look back.

 

[HB]

OK,the rod is going to bend under pressure, possibly scraping the bore. What if the rod is inserted, THEN the brush is attached, and then the rod is PULLED back out, rather than pushed. Wouldn't this solve any problems with a multi-piece rod ?

Rod only goes the way of the bullet...

I like the one pieces best, and never clean a .22's barrel

HB

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Tried them all, use them professionally. Spend your money on the Dewey.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Sitting Duck]

Thank you, for the replies. I probably read too much, especially on forums. One of the first things a novice buys after the rifle, scope, ammunition, etc. is a cleaning kit. Most make a purchase based on price, what the kit contains, and what the little old guy at the gun counter recommends. That is what I did while making "Made in the USA" a number one priority.

I thought the Dewey one-piece rods I saw at retail were made in China. Dewey's website says otherwise. I'll have to give them a second chance. Thanks, Georgia Dave.

 

[esmith]

I use a three piece, but the one pieces are a lot more convienent. I have wanted one for ahwile but i don't go shooting that much so it isn't that practical yet to get one.

If you are cleaning a precision weapon, you probably should use one of those one piece dewey rods that are synthetic or something. Even if using a three piece doesn't damage it all, is it worth the risk for an extra 5 or 15 bucks?

 

[Snipe315]

For my precision rifles, I only use a 1 piece cleaning rod.

Why try to save $10 and possibly degrade the performance of my $2-400 barrel on my $1-3,000 rifle?!?

:banghead:

And I don't bother to clean my non-precision rifles much so...

 

[Walkalong]

Tried them all, use them professionally. Spend your money on the Dewey.

Regards,

Dave

Hard to argue. Dewey is good stuff.

For my precision rifles, I only use a 1 piece cleaning rod.
Why try to save $10 and possibly degrade the performance of my $2-400 barrel on my $1-3,000 rifle?!?

More excellent advise.

But I would add---any rifle.

 

[highlander 5]

I have not had good luck with the multi piece rods,all my rods are one piece and I use either a bore guide or a brass muzzle guide (triangular shape) for my rifles and handguns. Biggest rod I have is 3/8' dia SS and 3 feet long purchased from Shiloh for my Sharps.

 

[DWARREN123]

I like and use one piece stainless steel cleaning rods. I do not use a chamber guide but then I do not have any target rifles. I believe people clean too much and cause damage, so I clean only when accuracy degrades. Mil-surps are another thing since I shoot corrosive primed mil-surp ammo.

 

[MIL-DOT]

Quote:
Rod only goes the way of the bullet...
No, the BRUSH is supposed to go "the way of the bullet", the direction the rod goes, pushed or pulled, couldn't possibly make any difference. Right ?

 

[brian923]

brass, aluminium and plastic will not harm steel. the one thing i have noticed is that the twist together brass rods seem to snap at the most in-opertune times, leaving a bore brush and parial brass rod stuck halfway down the bore.

as to cleaning 22's. its a must. anything that shoots should be cleaned. Expescially anything that shoots lead bullets. lead rubs off of every bullet, and buildup can and will create dangerous situations. (squib) brian

 

[RavenVT100]

The basic idea is that the three piece rod has a greater chance of harming the inside of the bore (for obvious reasons) than the one piece rod. As for empirical evidence of this, I'm not sure if there is any--it basically boils down to what many percieve to be common sense.

I use one piece Dewey rods because I think it's convenient. I have a three-piece, which I never use, as an emergency rod for the range.

 

[Rmac58]

I just got an Otis cleaning kit. It has a cable that you attach a patch on, and send it down the barrel. Comes with brushes also. I'll try it tomorrow, for the time being, I use a bore snake.

 

[Freedomv]

I have seen many m-1 garand barrels with muzzle wear from jointed cleaning rods. With out a bore guide attached to the muzzle the rod will rub the bore and remove metal, especially when the joint contacts the barrel and takes a little nick out of it.

I always carried a .30 cal bullet in my pocket for a fast check on muzzles at gun shows. You would be surprized by the number of ruined barrels from G.I.s pumping 3 and 4 piece cleaning rods in and out of the bore to get it ready for inspection.

The military even counterbored some of the barrels a couple hundred thousands of an inch to bring back the acuraccy and therefore the service life of the barrels.

In my opinion nothing should touch the rifling except the bullet, a brass bore brush and a cleaning patch with appropriate chemicals.

I always use a chamber bore guide or a muzzle bore guide if I can not clean from the breach/chamber. Also keep the cleaning rods clean and in good repair.

For what it is worth Cleaning equipment is cheap/inexpensive compared to replacing a barrel.

Vern

 

[dmazur]

I clean from the breech whenever possible (bolt actions, Ruger #1, SA22 take-down, Winchester 1895 take-down) and those remaining I use a muzzle guard to protect the crown (Garand).

If you clean from the muzzle (which isn't recommended), you hold the muzzle guard in place as you run the rod down. The cone-shaped end is supposed to center the rod and keep it from kissing the rifling at the critical muzzle area.

I also use a 1-piece Dewey rod, in different lengths and well as diameters to fit the rifle being cleaned. No reason to use a whippy .22 cal rod to clean a .30 cal rifle.

Another neat tool is a bore guide, used from the breech end and most commonly used with bolt-actions. This keeps cleaning solvents out of the action and also keeps the cleaning rod from scuffing the chamber/rifling area.

 

[bogie]

Benchresters have to carry a LOT of gear. They will spend several hundred dollars to "shrink" a piece of equipment (i.e., a sizing press and seating die combo that will fit in the top of a Kennedy toolbox). If three-piece cleaning rods were safe to use, don't you think that they'd be using 'em?

I like Dewey or Pro-Shot. You're good as long as you don't get crud embedded or run aluminum oxide up and down the bore...

Get a good bore guide. Look at www.sinclairintl.com.

 

[Art Eatman]

I do most of my shooting here at home, so the one-piece is my general deal. I like to take a cleaning kit with a jointed rod to a hunt camp, somewhere away from home, just for convenience. It would only get used if I'd been hunting in wet weather or had some sort of Oops! and got garbage into the barrel, somehow.

I guess the main thing is to not regularly be sloppy about rubbing on the muzzle end. The occasional "kiss" isn't gonna hurt anything. I figure that if you can clean a rifle from the breech, ya oughta. But I started out with corrosive ammo and hot soapy water for my old 1917, and that habit began at an early age.