Brass--tube or rod

[Kermit]

Thinking to make a rod for my .25. Needs to be 7/32" diameter. A local metal supplier has both rod and tube that diameter and will cut to the 44" length I need. I was thinking rod, but one of the fellas there asked if tube might work out well and save some weight. 7/32" tube? What do you think?

[Habu]

I suspect you'd be better off with a solid rod.  Less chance of a minor ding resulting in a sharp bend while loading. 

[flehto]

Try both...can't be that expensive. Whatever one is your choice, use the other for cleaning or a spare....Fred

[Kermit]

  You'd be right about that! The both of them would total less than ten bucks. But shipping? On-Line Metals in Seattle has both, so next time I'm headed into the city on a weekday I'll pick them up. Just have to order electronically 2-3 days ahead since thy don't have a sales counter. It'll work.

[Dennis Glazener]

i bought a 12 ft X 1/4" (I believe that was the original length) of air hardening drill rod from a local supplier. I used this to make a cleaning rod for my .29 Cal and now use it for my .32 Cal. I forget the cost but I couldn't believe how cheap it was, $5 to $7 if I remember correctly.

Its pretty hard just as it comes and I am a firm believe that the harder the cleaning rod is the less abrasion you will have on your bore. The crud from the barrel will embed in the brass rods and is less likely to with the harder steel rods. In my center fire benchrest days we found that even with use of a bore guide the cleaning rods would bow in the mid-section and over time would wipe out lands in the bore, usually around 1000-1200 rounds. These were 6MM bores but I suspect .25 and .32 bores are still small enough to have the same problem from cleaning rod abrasion.
Dennis