Cleaning Rod Damage

J

jim

Member
I used my Bore Tech cleaning rod to clean my Winchester 52 reproduction rimfire and scratched the dickens out of the coating - not certain how or why - any ideas? I've used this rod on my Suhl, Anschutz and Finnfire rimfire with no problems - but now the coating is rough. Is the rod safe to use in other rifles? Coating is still intact however grooved and rough.

I'm ready to buy Proshot stainless rods.

Thanks for opinions.
 
The coating on BT rods suck. I have a pair of Deweys that are over 15 years old and the coating is still intact. However, I would now buy Pro Shot stainless. I use the Deweys and Pro Shots for everything.
 
After a few Problems with Bore Tech Rod coatings I saw a friend of mine wrap his BT rod around a Tree at Holton and tie it in an overhand knot. The next time I saw him he had Ivy or Pro Shot or Dewey Stainless rods. I don't know what Greg Uses now, but I bet it isn't BT.

That was at least 8 years ago, and we are still using the same sets of Pro Shot Stainless rods.

Paul
 
Another advantage of polished stainless rods is that, for a given caliber, they are stiffer. A friend changed to one for brushing, after having rod bowing issues with a 44" coated rod, when starting new brushes. He uses a Pro-Shot, and likes it.
 
On that 52 repro, there is.........................

something (I believe its the ejector, I only looked to see how high it sat) that sits quite high, and, yes, I had the same problem. :mad:
A rimfire rod guide doesn't always work, because most makers are too lazy to drill the guides, be they Aluminum or Delrin, off-center, so that when reducing the diameter by about 50% for rimfires, the bottom would still be "closed" and the rod wouldn't emerge before it was ready to enter the chamber.

I don't have that 52 Repro around here, I wanted to try an old Freeland RF rod guide for the Anshutz in there to see if it did a better job. The only complaint I had w/that Freeland was that it, too, was an open bottom guide.
 
Cleaning Rods:

I have a pair of Dewey 30 Cal rods I bought used when I first got into Benchrest competition. They came in a Home Made carryer made of SS tubing with Delron fittings. Neither of them show any more wear now than they did when I got them and they were obviously very used. I have used them a bunch ovet the past 11 years.

I have seen a lot of new rods come and go over that time but I still see folks using and buying Deweys. I like new stuff as much as the next guy; mebby more but this is one area where we need to think hard before we try something new.
 
I got a Dewey .20 cal rod for cleaning rimfires for exactly this reason. The ejectors on a lot of rimfires sticks up in the way like a burr under a saddle. The .20 cal rod is just smaller enough that it doesn't bind on the ejectors. Even with a stainless rod that doesn't have a coating to get scraped up it doesn't seem like a good idea to have something shoving the rod one way or the other.
 
Fixed ejectors as used in rimfires can be reworked to remove the sharp edges. This
has no effect on ejection , but will save cleaning rod damage, which transfers to the bore
 
jim said:
Is the rod safe to use in other rifles?
Click to expand...

Yes. I wipe off the scratched rod with a paper towel after brushing and have never had any significant grit adhere because of the scratches.
 
Your rod is riding the sharp edge of the sear. The 52 sear comes up into the bolt body to catch the firing pin. If you have a rod guide of bolt diameter you can modify the front with a bevel and push it over the sear to hold it down. You may have to use the guide to force the sear down while holding trigger forward to get the sear out of the way far enough. Some 52's you can just re-insert bolt and others you have to push trigger forward.
BV
 
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