How do I clean my Dragunov?

[goat]

I have a pre-ban Dragunov and I went to clean the bore and ran into some trouble.I cleaned from the muzzle end because cleaning through the breech would actually bend my rod.Does this weapon have to be cleaned through the muzzle?Also I had to push pretty hard to get the patches started and more than once I contacted the muzzle crown.I saw a scrape on the brass end.I am using a Dewey rod that is coated with brass fixtures at the end.I the brass hard enough to damage the crown?Help!

 

[Roadrunner]

Goat,
Do you have the accessories container? The container cover is used as a muzzle protector.

Just in case you're missing the manual, here's a couple of links:

7.62mm SVD Dragunov Sniper Rifle Technical Description & Service Manual

Kalashnikov SVD

Check out page 12 of the first manual to see what the muzzle protector looks like and page 24 for cleaning.

Hope this helps you.