Noob request for clarification - as I go about self-educating, I see information online & in YT vids that lays out the terrible evils of sectional aluminum cleaning rods. Are they really that bad?
Reason for asking is that I'm having trouble reconciling that a few incidental contacts at the crown with an aluminum cleaning rod could make such a difference. Some sources mention it's the lip caused by differences in the diameter between the rod sections and the jag/brush that cause the problem when these junctions are pushed through the barrel or contact the crown if pushed past the barrel end. Like many woodworkers I've milled aluminum on a router table, ripped it on the tablesaw, crosscut it on the compound miter saw - it cuts very easily & safely with no more risk/worry of damage to your tooling than wood. Aluminum is just too soft a material to seem like it would pose any kind of problem to the steel of a rifle barrel. I've crosscut and drilled/tapped brass and and it's even softer than aluminum.
Now, some sites mention the softness of the material as being the root cause of the issue here, as it permits the embedment of abrasive particles. The contention is that it's actually those particles that cause the problem. Coated steel or carbon fibre single-section rods are held as the gold standard as a result. I have a bit of trouble with this one too, as it seems to me that any surface sufficiently soft so as not to cause worry of harm to the barrel would simultaneously allow for the embedment of abrasive particles as well.
Finally, copper is a soft material too. The copper/copper alloy jacketing of a bullet seems every bit as likely to collect abrasive material as aluminum, brass, carbon fiber, plastic coating. That a barrel sees so many more of these passing through them than swipes with a cleaning rod, it seems like bullets hold the greater potential to cause damage.
Are we looking at a tempest in a teapot here, or is this sectional aluminum rod argument a real thing? I'm just getting myself set up here & I have a segmented aluminum rod cleaning kit that got handed down. It's hardly been used and always been stored in its case. Am I OK using this thing, or is using it such a risk that purchasing an alternative is warranted?
Reason for asking is that I'm having trouble reconciling that a few incidental contacts at the crown with an aluminum cleaning rod could make such a difference. Some sources mention it's the lip caused by differences in the diameter between the rod sections and the jag/brush that cause the problem when these junctions are pushed through the barrel or contact the crown if pushed past the barrel end. Like many woodworkers I've milled aluminum on a router table, ripped it on the tablesaw, crosscut it on the compound miter saw - it cuts very easily & safely with no more risk/worry of damage to your tooling than wood. Aluminum is just too soft a material to seem like it would pose any kind of problem to the steel of a rifle barrel. I've crosscut and drilled/tapped brass and and it's even softer than aluminum.
Now, some sites mention the softness of the material as being the root cause of the issue here, as it permits the embedment of abrasive particles. The contention is that it's actually those particles that cause the problem. Coated steel or carbon fibre single-section rods are held as the gold standard as a result. I have a bit of trouble with this one too, as it seems to me that any surface sufficiently soft so as not to cause worry of harm to the barrel would simultaneously allow for the embedment of abrasive particles as well.
Finally, copper is a soft material too. The copper/copper alloy jacketing of a bullet seems every bit as likely to collect abrasive material as aluminum, brass, carbon fiber, plastic coating. That a barrel sees so many more of these passing through them than swipes with a cleaning rod, it seems like bullets hold the greater potential to cause damage.
Are we looking at a tempest in a teapot here, or is this sectional aluminum rod argument a real thing? I'm just getting myself set up here & I have a segmented aluminum rod cleaning kit that got handed down. It's hardly been used and always been stored in its case. Am I OK using this thing, or is using it such a risk that purchasing an alternative is warranted?
