22 Rimfire Rod Selection

[Chama]

Hello, should I get a 20 cal or 17 cal cleaning rod for my 22 rimfire rifles. Help me decide. Thanks.

 

[Rsadams]

If your useing Dewey's rods the actual.22 is a bit to large.... Check out their website for a better description of what to use....

 

[Fotheringill]

I would suggest a 17 caliber. As important is the size of the patch.

 

[Tim s]

I would suggest a 17 caliber. As important is the size of the patch.

Which I guarantee you will flex right into the lands of the bore with regularity.

 

[Ksmirk]

Looks like a post with 3 pages worth of info on down in the rimfire/smallbore forum, might find some info in there.

 

[Rsadams]

If you use the coated .20 caliber Dewey's rods you can use your brushes and jags you already have... Which is what I use for all my .22 calibers including AR-15s.... Just use the short pistol brushes with these rods to reduce stress and you will have no problems.... The actual coated .22 caliber Dewey's rods are just to big for .22 calibers bores.... Even Dewey's recommends useing the .20 caliber rods... The .17 are very light weight and flexible and require an adapter.... Of course all can be found on Dewey's webpage....

 

[Stepsjframe]

I like Dewey cleaning rods because they are coated ,on the downside the handle can be a little large in diameter for certain bolt-action rifles .In that case I would consider a Pro Shots stainless steel micro polished cleaning rod .The handle is a smaller diameter which will give you less interference with the stock. I also feel Pro Shots rods are less likely to flex because of the hard stainless.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I use Tipton carbon fiber rods and the size 22 works good for me. If your rifle is really dirty maybe a 20 cal. would be best at first then go to a 22 when you get most of the crude out. If your barrel is really dirty, you have to use a bronze brush first after you have gotten the bore wet with solvent. I tried the 17 cal rod but I found it to be to flexible for me. Might be okay for pushing a wet patch through. Just trim a patch down to a size that will hold solvent and fit down your dirty bore. After scrubbing it out for a while, the regular 22 size patch will fit.

 

[justinp61]

I recently bought a coated Bore Tech 44" rod to clean my 52 Winchesters. These rifles are 46" long and have a high comb. The handles on the rod have a cushioned grip that is 1.080", I removed it and the hard inner handle is .810" and it clears the comb fine. The handle only has to go a couple inches on the buttstock but I didn't want to be bending the rod to clear it.

The only thing I use a rod for is to push a brush through the bore. I use a piece of 40# monofilament fishing line to pull patches with.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

The Bore-tech rimfire rods, and their jags, with 3/4" patches works like a charm.

 

[garandman]

Which I guarantee you will flex right into the lands of the bore with regularity.

In one sense, you woudn't want that, but ... does it really hurt anything? Can the CF damage the rifling or leave deposits?

I bent a Dewey 0.20 quick as a wink. I've also used a tipton 0.22 which is large, but fits. When I use my Tiptn 0.17s, I push pretty close in to the action to minimize flex.

 

[Tim s]

In one sense, you woudn't want that, but ... does it really hurt anything? Can the CF damage the rifling or leave deposits?

I bent a Dewey 0.20 quick as a wink. I've also used a tipton 0.22 which is large, but fits. When I use my Tiptn 0.17s, I push pretty close in to the action to minimize flex.

The single, repeat single most harmful thing you can do with a rod not up to the task, is run it down the bore flexed into the lands.
Extra bonus points for doing it quickly.
The Tiptons are fairly stiff but all of this is moot without a quality boreguide that fits tight to the rod, usually meaning one with an insert such as Mwerks or Killoughs, and keeping it centered in the action.
Countless match barrels have been destroyed by bad rods, bad guides, and/or heavy handed tecnique.
Ask any decent BR smith about how many great barrels they’ve seen ruined by rods not shooting.

 

[TrxR]

The single, repeat single most harmful thing you can do with a rod not up to the task, is run it down the bore flexed into the lands.
Extra bonus points for doing it quickly.
The Tiptons are fairly stiff but all of this is moot without a quality boreguide that fits tight to the rod, usually meaning one with an insert such as Mwerks or Killoughs, and keeping it centered in the action.
Countless match barrels have been destroyed by bad rods, bad guides, and/or heavy handed tecnique.
Ask any decent BR smith about how many great barrels they’ve seen ruined by rods not shooting.

Tim : is mwerks still around? Ive tried emailing him a few times as i would like another insert for my bore guide, but havent got any replies.

 

[garandman]

The single, repeat single most harmful thing you can do with a rod not up to the task, is run it down the bore flexed into the lands.
Extra bonus points for doing it quickly.
The Tiptons are fairly stiff but all of this is moot without a quality boreguide that fits tight to the rod, usually meaning one with an insert such as Mwerks or Killoughs, and keeping it centered in the action.
Countless match barrels have been destroyed by bad rods, bad guides, and/or heavy handed tecnique.
Ask any decent BR smith about how many great barrels they’ve seen ruined by rods not shooting.

Im familiar with those viewpoints. My question more addresses HOW the damage occurs... HOW much softer CF damages steel.

Or what is the relative hardness of CF.

I suspect most of that damage happened from 3 pc sectioned rods, not one piece CF.

Thanx.

 

[Tim s]

Tim : is mwerks still around? Ive tried emailing him a few times as i would like another insert for my bore guide, but havent got any replies.

Last I heard he was but it has been a bit, I have switched to the Killoughs guide, primarily since it is longer and supports the rods better.
You might call them and see if their insert fits the Mwerks, they are pretty close.

 

[Tim s]

Im familiar with those viewpoints. My question more addresses HOW the damage occurs... HOW much softer CF damages steel.

Or what is the relative hardness of CF.

I suspect most of that damage happened from 3 pc sectioned rods, not one piece CF.

Thanx.

Friend, those are not viewpoints, those are facts.
The comments are primarily concerning steel rods and SS barrels.
The CF is, in fact,stiffer than most all the non custom rods.

 

[garandman]

Uncoated steel rods on steel... yeah I can easily see thats a problem.

I use CF. They do flex some.