Cleaning rod hard to push through .270 barrel...

[Davies]

Hey everyone,

I'm reasonably new to shooting and have a new .270 Winchester which I want to care for properly.

I'm pretty across everything, but where I'm coming undone in the rifle cleaning process is with my cleaning rod being *very* hard to push down the barrel.

I'm using a single piece, new Pro-Shot rod which seems good. Can't fault anything with the cleaning rod as far as I can see...

After finishing my first clean I got the job done, but it was real tough to get the cleaning down down the barrel. I see that the rod is supposed to spin while getting pushed down the length of the barrel... This happens in bits and pieces but the spinning stops and stacks as things get more or less stuck in the barrel.

Advice would be appreciated. Thanks all.

[SendIt]

To cover the obvious... Sure you've got the correct size rod?

If I recall those Pro-Shot containers correctly you can take the cap on/off without damaging the packaging? Perhaps someone in-store returned the rods to the wrong pack?

Failing that, try smaller patches. A patch which is too large can get seriously stuck...

[Seik]

A patch which is too large can get seriously stuck...

Tell me about it.

First time I clean my rifle I used a patch which was too large and it got just far enough into the throat/barrel that I couldn't pull it back.

To get it out I had a mate holding one end of the rifle while I had the rod on the other end and we had to play tug-of-war to get it to let go

[Broom]

How does the rod move down the barrel without a patch or brush on it?

Try the rod (gently) by itself first. If this moves well then you've probably got the wrong brush or too large a patch.

[Blackened]

Patch size is sounding like the problem.

Remember, you're not trying to rub the barrel clean with a tight fitting patch. You just need enough patch to distribute your copper/powder solvent thoroughly, and clean out the resulting gunk. Your brass brush will do the hard work.

Patching isn't like scrubbing your bathroom tiles.

[Hercl]

First time I clean my rifle I used a patch which was too large and it got just far enough into the throat/barrel that I couldn't pull it back.

To get it out I had a mate holding one end of the rifle while I had the rod on the other end and we had to play tug-of-war to get it to let go

A mate of mine was telling me he did something similar on his first rifle. Was by himself though, and to pull the rod back he had to put his foot against the rifle butt and pull

[Davies]

A mate of mine was telling me he did something similar on his first rifle. Was by himself though, and to pull the rod back he had to put his foot against the rifle butt and pull

Ha ha! Luckily mine wasn't that bad.

The brush went through well enough but the patching ones where the problem. It didn't seem like I was doing overly large patches, but it sounds like I was wrong.

I'll give smaller ones a go next time round.

[harris]

A mate of mine was telling me he did something similar on his first rifle. Was by himself though, and to pull the rod back he had to put his foot against the rifle butt and pull

Would be good if they shipped a sample patch or something with each rifle to show the size the manufacturer recommends. I did something similar to your friend from the sounds of it, not quite as bad luckily