I have 2 one-piece stainless steel cleaning rods I bought back in the mid-1960's. I believe they may be from Belding & Mull. The rods appear to have a special thread, but I have no clue what it is. It's 32 threads per inch, but smaller than #8 and larger than #6. Does anyone know what thread size Belding & Mull used? Are there any adapters to convert to the standard #8-32 thread common for bore brushes and jags?
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Cleaning Rod Thread
- Thread starter jdoudna
- Start date
Or you could retire the steel rods and avoid wear on your bore from steel on steel contact.
Softer rods such as brass, aluminum, or carbon fiber are a better choice, PROVIDED you ensure there is no abrasive grit embedded in them.
If you're going to use steel rods, at the very least fit them with a bore guide to center the rod in the bore and reduce the potential for steel on steel contact.
Uncle Sam gives the GI's steel rods because A) the rods have to survive GI use, and B) Uncle doesn't care much about wear on an infantryman's rifle bore.
Civilians, who personally pay for their gear usually take a different view.
Softer rods such as brass, aluminum, or carbon fiber are a better choice, PROVIDED you ensure there is no abrasive grit embedded in them.
If you're going to use steel rods, at the very least fit them with a bore guide to center the rod in the bore and reduce the potential for steel on steel contact.
Uncle Sam gives the GI's steel rods because A) the rods have to survive GI use, and B) Uncle doesn't care much about wear on an infantryman's rifle bore.
Civilians, who personally pay for their gear usually take a different view.
Softer rods such as brass, aluminum, (my empahasis) or carbon fiber are a better choice, PROVIDED you ensure there is no abrasive grit embedded in them.
Think back to your high school chemistry class. What happens with you add Oxygen to Aluminum? Hint: You get Al2 O3 known as "Aluminum Oxide". Where have we heard that term before? Maybe you have used Aluminum Oxide sand paper to finish a gun stock? In short, Aluminum Oxide is an abrasive that will rapidly wear away steel, including your gun barrel. Do not use Aluminum cleaning rods in gun barrels.
If you are not convinced, we could ask Danny Bradshaw, former plant manager at Whitehall Industries in Ludington, MI (long retired) about how putting Aluminum copy machine parts into steel fixtures and jigs to be machined resulted in the jigs and fixtures having to be replaced periodically due to wear from the Aluminum parts. Aluminum is softer than steel...aluminum Oxide is way harder than steel and the crystals that rapidly form on it are sharp.
I can understand how striking a steel surface with a piece of hard steel could mar it, and how an abrasive could wear a hard surface. These seem like two separate problems.
I've read some variation of this several times, and I believe I understand the basic principle that Aluminum Oxide is a hard abrasive. Isn't the silica in rimfire residue also an abrasive?
My central question pertains to rimfire rounds: If I am pushing silica down my barrel from the second shot onward, is the abrasive quality of a modest amount of aluminium oxide a relatively significant source of wear on the bore?
I can see two separate ways a rod could damage a barrel. One would be a very soft underlying metal that carries hard bits that could serve as an abrasive. The other would be a hard metal, as in a steel rod, that might be less likely to carry an abrasive, but would be more likely to damage chamber, throat or crown with force applied to the hard steel rod in the wrong direction. In contrast, wouldn't the underlying aluminium of a clean rod yield to the steel of a barrel?
dahermit said:Think back to your high school chemistry class. What happens with you add Oxygen to Aluminum? Hint: You get Al2 O3 known as "Aluminum Oxide". Where have we heard that term before? Maybe you have used Aluminum Oxide sand paper to finish a gun stock? In short, Aluminum Oxide is an abrasive that will rapidly wear away steel, including your gun barrel. Do not use Aluminum cleaning rods in gun barrels.
I've read some variation of this several times, and I believe I understand the basic principle that Aluminum Oxide is a hard abrasive. Isn't the silica in rimfire residue also an abrasive?
My central question pertains to rimfire rounds: If I am pushing silica down my barrel from the second shot onward, is the abrasive quality of a modest amount of aluminium oxide a relatively significant source of wear on the bore?
I can see two separate ways a rod could damage a barrel. One would be a very soft underlying metal that carries hard bits that could serve as an abrasive. The other would be a hard metal, as in a steel rod, that might be less likely to carry an abrasive, but would be more likely to damage chamber, throat or crown with force applied to the hard steel rod in the wrong direction. In contrast, wouldn't the underlying aluminium of a clean rod yield to the steel of a barrel?
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Today's Belding & Mull is a gun shop that bought the name only. Decent store, located on Rt. 322 about a mile south of Phillipsburg, PA. I stop in every month or two. They have a decent web business going.
I knew one of the original owners, and he passed a few years ago. He still had a case or two of the old powder charger castings in his garage, and right up to his last days, was considering re-introducing.
I knew one of the original owners, and he passed a few years ago. He still had a case or two of the old powder charger castings in his garage, and right up to his last days, was considering re-introducing.
reynolds357
New member
There always is abrasive grit embedded in the soft rods. I will take my chance on stainless anyday. I put stainless down my Lilja match barrels and mine last as long as anyone elses barrels.Or you could retire the steel rods and avoid wear on your bore from steel on steel contact.
Softer rods such as brass, aluminum, or carbon fiber are a better choice, PROVIDED you ensure there is no abrasive grit embedded in them.
If you're going to use steel rods, at the very least fit them with a bore guide to center the rod in the bore and reduce the potential for steel on steel contact.
Uncle Sam gives the GI's steel rods because A) the rods have to survive GI use, and B) Uncle doesn't care much about wear on an infantryman's rifle bore.
Civilians, who personally pay for their gear usually take a different view.
I keep a segmented steel cleaning rod in my range bad for clearing stuck cases. It's old but straight and seems strong.
One problem I note with my aluminum rods, which I use for regular cleaning, is that they flex terribly easily. I haven't bent one yet, but it seems a catastrophe a steel rod wouldn't invite.
One problem I note with my aluminum rods, which I use for regular cleaning, is that they flex terribly easily. I haven't bent one yet, but it seems a catastrophe a steel rod wouldn't invite.
You need to befriend top quality 30 caliber match barrel makers and their owners winning matches and setting records who use bare steel cleaning rods. Especially those who used Garands and saw no loss of accuracy cleaning from the muzzle and no loss of accuracy belling the last half inch of the bore across a 3 to 4 thousand round barrel life.Or you could retire the steel rods and avoid wear on your bore from steel on steel contact.
Softer rods such as brass, aluminum, or carbon fiber are a better choice, PROVIDED you ensure there is no abrasive grit embedded in them.
If you're going to use steel rods, at the very least fit them with a bore guide to center the rod in the bore and reduce the potential for steel on steel contact.
Uncle Sam gives the GI's steel rods because A) the rods have to survive GI use, and B) Uncle doesn't care much about wear on an infantryman's rifle bore.
Civilians, who personally pay for their gear usually take a different view.
Then trust what they tell you about using 1 piece are steel rods.
Coated steel rods are best for barrels smaller than 28 caliber.
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