Read last week somewhere about getting plastic soda straws from the fast food joints. Put one on the rod and then the jag. Keep the straw between rod and barrel, mostly on a gun that is cleaned from the muzzle..

Sounds like it could help.

Caution was advised that some solvents may dissolve the straw.

If you have a $350 Krieger barrel that's shooting 1/4" groups, I think you would be certifiable if you used a three piece rod and a cheap, or no bore guide at all.

One the same note, if you are shooting an original 03 Springfield with no telling how many rounds through it, you would be just as certifiable spending over $100 on the tools to clean it with.

When 1/4" groups open up to 3/8" - 1/2" it's very noticable.
When a 2" group opens up to a 2 1/4" group, who's ever going to know it.

I admit, it would give me cold chills to even think about running a three piece rod down the barrel or even a good rod without a good bore guide down the barrel of any of my rifles. However, I've spent a whole lot of money building very accurate rifles. I have an optic bore sight I won't even use because it has a spring on the rod that goes in the barrel and I could never push that thing over a crown and down the rifleing of any of my barrels.

It's got to be a rifle that would noticable if you started losing small amounts of accuracy to be very concerned about how or what you clean it with.

You would have to be very aggressive to do damage

__________________


1965 444
1970 444
1990 444ss
2007 444
2007 450xlr
2001 45/70
1977 1894 44 Mag
1978 1894 44 Mag
2006 1894 SS 44 Mag

If you have to clean from the muzzle, the cheapest bore guide is the barrel of a ball point pen cut back just enough to let the rod pass thru it. Just hold it against the muzzle while you stroke the rod back and forth. I just have to say that the joy of shooting paper patched cast bullets is that the only residue is that left from the last shot fired. Goat

I have a couple of different length Tipton carbon one piece rods that are really smooth. I also have a Hoppe's 3 piece that i still use from time to time. I have to be careful with the jags though, at the base of 2 of my jags they are a little bigger in diameter than the end of the rod and so it's not an even flush fit. When I go out of the muzzle and then try to come back down it's not lined up correctly and bumps the muzzle/crown. I guess I need to get a couple of new jags, but sometimes it sounds like the 3 piece is dragging as it goes down the bore. Thanks for all the input gentlemen, appreciate it.