SmallCaliberCentral

Are you guys using actual 20 cal cleaning rods or 17 cal rods in your 204's? What size patches are you using in your 204's if using the 20 cal .rods. Thank you for all responses

I use a 20 cal jag in my 20's and a 17 cal jag in the 17's. I have both 20 and 17 cal rods. As for patches, I now just about use nothing buy the triangle one's on the market. And they have size to fit your bores, from 17 on up. Bill K

Tipton cleaning rods rule.

Dewey .20 cal cleaning rod with 1-1/8" square Pro-Shot cotton patches on a Pro-Shot spear-point jag. Bore guide is mandatory, I'm using a Delrin guide w/solvent port and o-ring seal from Customreloadingtools.com. Been using this setup since the .204 became popular in 2004; wouldn't change a thing.

I have Dewey rods from .17 cal to .45 cal, pistol rod also for handguns.

My rods are Tipton and Pro-shot.. with the spear-point jag. And like Rick said, use a bore guide, mine is from Brad at Custom Reloading tools, in the Delrin model. The only way to fly and keep good care of your bore and chamber/s. Bill K

There used to be a guy on this forum named Lucas who made custom bore guides. If you have a Lucas 204 Ruger bore guide you are probably a Charter Member here. Great bore guides, custom made.

Dewey rods are on the expensive side. I'm not sure the rubber coating is worth the price. It flakes off pretty quickly, if my memory serves me correctly.

skipper wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 1:19 pm There used to be a guy on this forum named Lucas who made custom bore guides. If you have a Lucas 204 Ruger bore guide you are probably a Charter Member here. Great bore guides, custom made.

Dewey rods are on the expensive side. I'm not sure the rubber coating is worth the price. It flakes off pretty quickly, if my memory serves me correctly.

Come on there Skipper, I've got Dewey rods that are over 30 years old and are in perfect condition. They get wiped off with every pass through a bore like they should anyway. The coating is worth the price to protect that precious rifling. No naked steel is touching my bores.

Mike Lucas is taking it easy now, but can still be reached. Spendy yes, but most likely the best guides out there. There are other available quality alternatives. Brad's guides cannot be discounted, they are of excellent design and quality.

Another vote for the Tipton carbon fiber rod. I always use a possum hollow bore guide. 20 caliber spear point jag and the round 20 caliber patch.

This can happen with Dewey rods. It simply cannot happen with a carbon fiber rod. When I bought this particular rod, carbon fiber wasn't available. You just have to move forward with technology. I yield to Rick's vast experience without question, but have you tried the new rods?

Skipper: My Dewey rod that sits on the wall and not used much anymore, looks just like that one you posted the photo of. I prefer the Tipton or Pro shot anymore. No issued like the dewey showed. But those that want Dewey's, I will not fault them for their choice either. Bill K

Whoa! WTH have you guys been using your Dewey rods for? Drain cleaning?

After over 25 years of use, none of my Dewey rods look anything like that! If they did, I'd also be looking for an alternative too. Looks like the rod pictured was used off-center to cause all that damage. It appears I just take much better care of my equipment, as scraping like the damage shown is not from careful use.

All my Dewey rods rest vertically in a cleaning rod rack from Midway in my gun room, untouched while stored, all look like new. I'm sure the Tipton carbon fiber rods are a very good alternative, but with eight Dewey's residing in my rack, we won't be changing any time soon.

Whatever, good thing we've got lots of choices to make everyone happy, right?

I do have other Dewey rods that show no signs of wear. Like you, my rods stay in a vertical rack (fishing) when not in use. I'm just pointing out that Dewey rod coatings are prone to damage from the bore, solvents, or whatever. Once that coating is damaged they're useless to me. It's not abuse to use them for what and how they're intended to be used. I use bore guides, I don't put a lot of unnecessary strain on my rods, and I wipe them down. I DON"T wipe them down every trip through the bore, that's excessive and if that's what it takes to keep Dewey rods in top condition, you can have them.
Please, let's not going down the path of baseless accusations.

ALL rods should be wiped off after every pass through the bore, coated or bare steel. Grit and micro crap will adhere to anything passed through the bore and pass it directly to the lands/grooves.

The main thing here is to keep that bore clean between outings, whatever rod floats the proverbial boat is the right one to use.