Gun cleaning rod guide for revolver/hanguns?

[ghh3rd]

When I'm cleaining my Ruger SBH .44 I sometimes have to get a bit aggressive in order to remove leading from some of my cast boolit experiments. I'm careful, but cringe when the rod touches the crown/rifling.

I see rod guides available for rifles, but don't see any for handguns. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Any idea if there is such a thing?

Randy

[MtGun44]

Cut off the head of a .308/7mm/.30-06 or similar case, hold it with the neck in
the muzzle.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Just tried a FIRED .35 Whelen case in my S&W 629. The neck is almost bore, not groove diameter. I would cut off the case body about an inch below the shoulder. I used a cut off Mauser 8 X 57 case for cleaning a .358 Winchester Savage 99 long ago.

[44man]

I make my own but you can buy them.

[S.R.Custom]

All my handgun rods are aluminum, making contact with the muzzle a non-issue.

[ghh3rd]

All my handgun rods are aluminum, making contact with the muzzle a non-issue.
That's how I felt too, until I realized that the rod could be picking up abrasives and causing extra wear.

[S.R.Custom]

That's how I felt too, until I realized that the rod could be picking up abrasives and causing extra wear.

That's a myth given legs by the fact that (large chunks of) aluminum oxide is used as an abrasive on sandpaper. In the real world, the antimony in your boolits and the residual trash in your barrel from the previous shot are much rougher on your bore than any little microscopically sized bit of aluminum oxide on your cleaning rod.

In getting lead out of a pistol barrel, few things in this world are as quick & cheap as a dry bronze brush passed vigorously up and down the bore. As you can see from the macro pic of the end of my pistol rod, there is a lot of incidental contact with the muzzle. I'll not bore you with anecdotes of how many millions of times I've cleaned pistols like this with no perceived ill effects, but I will give you the benefit of my education and experience in my work with metals over the years-- the only thing being hurt here is the cleaning rod.

Rifle rods, however, are another story. Aluminum just doesn't have the rigidity to be an effective cleaning rod, so I have to use steel. My steel rods are hard enough to potentially bugger a barrel, so they're coated, and used with a brass guide like 44Man has pictured. And when the coating is gone, the rod gets replaced.

[Changeling]

I make my own but you can buy them.


Cheap and great, this is what I use in my rifles.

[Blazin]

I use a Dewey coated rod (a short one for handguns). While not as ideal as a bore guide it makes me feel a little better.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Cut off brass is free... I like that !

[44man]

Good morning
Cut off brass is free... I like that !
Aluminum and jointed rods are BAD on barrels. So is wood for ramrods.
These are some jags I made for the 12 and 20 gauge shotguns and the 45-70 BPCR. notice the "O" rings that plug into the chambers.
Then other jags that spin on the rod. The steel rod is set up for my .54 muzzle loader.
A rod should never be allowed to touch the bore. Even seating a ball in my muzzle loaders will have a protector on the ramrod.