Cleaning Jags

[foesgth]

I know you folks only buy brand new stuff with your Brownell's Edge accounts. I however tend to buy some stuff at garage sales and swap meets. At the gun club swap meet this year I bought a can full of cleaning jags. The silly things aren't marked for size. I've got a bunch of them. Do any of you have a chart of jag sizes by caliber? I have measured the jags I have (45, 30, &22), but there are a bunch I don't have. If I had a list I could measure them and mark them with my engraving pen.

[JimB..]

No, I’d just measure them and add whatever the difference you found when measuring the 45, 30 and 22. It’s not an exact science. Actually I’d make a wooden block with holes and just line them up by size.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Haven't used a jag in years. Either a worn bronze brush of the same caliber or a new one of 2-3 calibers under. Same method as, but works much better.

[Land Owner]

Went to Bore Snakes and never looked back at jags.

[myg30]

Only recently purchased one for a 7mm mag. Like others is use a worn brass bore brush and put heavy flannel cleaning patch over it a swab the bore or a 1 pass job depending on the looks.

Line em up and use what fits.

Mike

[1I-Jack]

I have a set of jags from Midway. Their diameters are as follows: 17= 0.131" / 22= .0186" / 6mm= 0.205" / 25-6.5mm= 0.217" / 270-7mm= 0.228" / 30-32= 0.249" / 8mm-338= 0.275" / 35-9mm= 0.305" / 375= 0.328" / 40-416= 0.361" / 44= 0.380" / 45= 0.400"

Hope that's what you're looking for.

Jack

[facetious]

I quit using jags and now use a nylon brush with a patch.

[jsizemore]

I have a set of jags from Midway. Their diameters are as follows: 17= 0.131" / 22= .0186" / 6mm= 0.205" / 25-6.5mm= 0.217" / 270-7mm= 0.228" / 30-32= 0.249" / 8mm-338= 0.275" / 35-9mm= 0.305" / 375= 0.328" / 40-416= 0.361" / 44= 0.380" / 45= 0.400"

Hope that's what you're looking for.

Jack

My Tipton set the same or a couple thousandths under 11-Jack's list. Pro-Shot runs a couple over and Birchwood Casey can be as much as 7-8 thousandths under. Patch material has some to do with it.

[foesgth]

Thanks for the numbers! I am working on sorting a giant can of jags. Being cheap is sometimes expensive with one's time.

[jsizemore]

You can't have too many jags.

[SSGOldfart]

Thanks for the numbers! I am working on sorting a giant can of jags. Being cheap is sometimes expensive with one's time.

Yes Sir it can be

[Chill Wills]

Size maters!!!
Being a long time cast bullet shooter and competitor, I have watched a lot of rifles being cleaned. I get a chuckle seeing a patch being whisked through a barrel effortlessly, and the operator thinking they are getting the barrel clean. Back behind the line in the "pits" area at cast bullet/BPCR matches (The area safe to work on your rifle) cleaning barrels is a regular and often event. As much as we don't want or like barrel leading, it happens sometimes. That is a long subject and not the one that fits into this thread.
Assuming cleaning a barrel also involves doing a lead check and or getting the lead out, using a tight fitting patch on a jag is part of the deal.

Jag size for a given caliber is not a one size fits all deal. Both patch thickness and jag together need to add up to something that fits tight enough to grab and push out anything that is not barrel steel. That turns out to be a patch that is hard to very hard to push through the barrel. Hey! You do want to get everything out, right?

I really like the Butch's bore shine patch because they are a little thicker and rougher, not to mention tough! Other patch material can be made to work but what ever patch you choose, settling on one patch type and getting a jag to mate it is the way to go.

I have started to make my own jags from Acetal (not Delrin) which is a hard plastic with just the slightest give that helps get the patch into the rifling and rifling corners. I make them so I can have a tight patch without resorting to two patches or folding part of the patch over to create something snugger.

I will add the Acetal with a picture to my Vendor section soon. I can make them in any custom size.