Brass Drop Rods?

C

carl hansen

Guest
Where can I find Brass Rods for the purpose of dislodging bullets in the throat of a barrel? I thought I saw them listed in a reloaders catologue but I can not remember who. carl
 
Carl

I don't know if you are aware of this, but those things have sort of a bad name in Benchrest.

A while back, a shooter accidentally left one in a barrel, and fire a round, with catastrophic results.

Just be carerful.........jackie
 
Sinclair International has the drop rod sets. They are called Sinclair Bullet Drop Rod Sets Item # 52-500. Two rods come to a set (small diameter and large). Hope this helps.
 
Drop rods

Have been using an old fashioned proper diameter wood dowell rod for too many years to remember, at a cost of about .98 each.
 
I have been using the ones from Sinclair for the last year or more but Jackie just scared the crap out of me!:eek:
 
I must be doing things wrong or my barrels are shorter than ya'lls. I have a cheap, 32" Hoppe's brass cleaning rod I just slide down the barrel and tap it. Kinda hard to leave it in there when you see that black "T" handle sticking out the end of the barrel.
 
Brass Bolt

I went to the hardward store and bought a brass bolt of the proper diameter about three inches long. Cut the head off and turned it down to the proper size. I needed to remove a bore brush that was just a little to big (I hate when I do stuff like that) Oiled up the turned down bolt and with in a couple of drops the brush fell out. I did order the set from Sinclair's and will most likely never need them.
 
Main things about dropping anything into a bore is first it should be softer than steel and second it should not be subject to a twanging vibration when it makes a solid contact. Third would be that it not be soft enough to pick up grit and rub against the bore. Slickly polished metal is less likely to wear bore steel than a wooden dowel.

If a rod vibrates it dings or beats down the top of the land, I've seen the effect of this at mid bore of rifles cleaned from the muzzle with military steel rods.
Bras can pick up imbedded grit but not easily, aluminum can become imbedded with grit pretty easily.

I keep a set of M16 cleaning rod sections in the butt trap of a few of my rifles for an emergency such as unplugging a bore in the field. I radiused the edges of the interface between each rod and polished the surfaces mirror bright to avoid picking up grit from an obstruction or from fouling.
If used to push out mud or dirt I'd pull the rod through the muzzle, so I didn't put any handle on the end. After clearing an obstruction I'd then use a pull through to remove any remaining crud.
I haven't had to use this method, I learned long ago to avoid getting the muzzle plugged, but theres always the possibility of a fall or dropped rifle. I tumbled down a mountainside and went over a cliff once when a fox barreled out of a bush and struck my ankle just as I took a step. Luckily there'd been some sort of mining done there generations ago and after free falling about twenty feet I caught an iron rod that protuded from the rock face under my arm and got a grip on it before sliding off it. I must have looked like Harold Loyd hanging there.
 
Brass drop rods

Using the cleaning rod has always done the job for me. I am just careful to start it properly down the barrel. Gravity does the job no need to force anything.

One has to be unusually absent minded to forget the cleaning rod in the barrel when fired.
 
Three important things about freeing something stuck in the barrel whether it is tight brass a stuck bullet or both;

1) Never, never use a drop rod. Ask Dennis Tinkham. He is blind in one eye because of a drop rod left in the barrel.

2) Use a cleaning rod, with the jag or brush removed and NEVER, NEVER take your hand off the rod handle until the rod has been removed from the barrel.

3)Get in a habit of looking down the barrel immediately before inserting the bolt.
 
You know when a guy forgets to put powder in a case, you really need to re-think your loading procedure. The next problem is to regain your natural height, after feeling and inch tall.
 
If I had my way, which I don't, drop rods would be banned. What I would like to see at matches is a nonscratch rod of some discription with a circle, like a timing disc on one end so that if you had to use it you would not be able to see out of the scope until it was removed.
 
I find it hard to believe that a drop rod can be used during a
registered competition. Cleaning at the bench when someone
is waiting to take your bench for the next relay doesn't get it.
Possibly at the end of the day after the last relay is done, and you
want to continue shooting.As unfortunate as it was, the incident
in my understanding was in practice at home, kinda thing. Drop rods
are in my estimation just more junk to carry, a cleaning rod works fine.
Those can be left in a barrel also. If one forgets
any part of what we do serious consequences may result. Blaming a piece of brass, is like blaming guns.
 
Accident at the range

Bob Kingsbury said:
I find it hard to believe that a drop rod can be used during a
registered competition. Cleaning at the bench when someone
is waiting to take your bench for the next relay doesn't get it.
Possibly at the end of the day after the last relay is done, and you
want to continue shooting.As unfortunate as it was, the incident
in my understanding was in practice at home, kinda thing. Drop rods
are in my estimation just more junk to carry, a cleaning rod works fine.
Those can be left in a barrel also. If one forgets
any part of what we do serious consequences may result. Blaming a piece of brass, is like blaming guns.
Click to expand...

This accident happened at a Bench Rest School in Michigan around 2001?
Virgil (Doc) Wasniak (spell?) walked to the firing line to try some loads
he had just put together. He must have carried the gun level or barrel up
because the drop rod he had used at the loading bench was still in the 6PPC
Panda action when he fired it. He was a left handed shooter so when a small chunk
of metal came out of the right port it hit him over the right eye. His wife
took him to a hospital ER but it didn't look too bad so they took too long and
brain swelling killed him. He was not a new shooter but he was in too much of a hurry. He is the one that got me into BR shooting and I often think about him when ever I look down the barrel before inserting my bolt. Haste makes waste. Slow down for safety. Gerry Nordmann
 
Familiarity breeds contempt. The above story is just a down right shame, and hart breaking to boot. Some people still think that and open port in your face is no big deal. It can't happen to me, the thought still rules the day. Lots of good practical advise here. Ignore it at your own risk.:eek:
 
Drop Rods

I am sorry anyone has been hurt or worse yet killed by a drop rod, but the fact of the matter is that drop rods are no more dangerous than the person using them. Mistakes are made, accidents happen. A drop rod in your box at the line is a lot more handy than carrying a cleaning rod around imo. Why would anyone leave a bolt in their gun while putting an object in the loud end of a barrel? Leave the bolt out, drop the rod down the barrel, pick rod and bullet off the ground. Also, like someone else said, get into the habit of looking down your barrel before you shoot----- before we have to pass some more rules.

Dave
 
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If one must have a drop rod why run to Sinclair or where ever. Go to your local Ace Hardware store, get a 3 foot long piece of 7/32" brass rod, cost about $5. I cut mine into a 2' piece and 1' piece. You can also use these to tamp a lead slug if you want to slug a barrel. Never do I take them to the range. Shop use only. Too much crap to carry now.

Donald
 
Talking about leaving things in the bore...
What ever happened to looking through your bore before chambering a round when you are at the bench?
I always look through the bore before I insert the bolt. I'll do the same before I load the first round if the bolt was already in.
 
BenKeith said:
I must be doing things wrong or my barrels are shorter than ya'lls. I have a cheap, 32" Hoppe's brass cleaning rod I just slide down the barrel and tap it. Kinda hard to leave it in there when you see that black "T" handle sticking out the end of the barrel.
Click to expand...

I agree. Even a cheapie aluminum one with the T handle on one end being longer than the barrel, without the jag...
That was not the case which had a disastrous result which took place at the range I frequent.
 
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