K98 cleaning rod

I have a probably extremely stupid question.

I took delivery of my first ever Mauser rifle today, it is infact the first ever one I have even handled.

An initial surprise was to unscrew and remove the cleaning rod only to find it is only a few inches long. I had assumed it was a cleaning rod for the bore.

What was this rod used for. It seems handy for removing the magazine floor plate, and I presume could be used for cleaning the chamber, but after that I’m at a bit of a loss?

I promise I did try and Google this before posting what I expect is a very stupid question.

see this post:
Mauser cleaning rod | The High Road

A k98 K cleaning rod is approximately
10.5 inches in length- K98 manufactured 1933 - 1940. others or later war K98K are approximately 12 1/2 inches.

Length 10.5 inches - K98 manufactured 1933 - 1940
Length 12.5 inches - Mauser manufactured 1941 +
Length 14.5 inches - Czech VZ24 or Yugo M48
Length 15.5 inches - Gew 98, M1908, M1909 and M1912
Length 16 3/8 inches - Commission 88 - Bare steel
You may want to review this post:
Original German WWII Era 10 & 12 Inch Cleaning Rods

also see Determining the Proper Cleaning Rod Length for your K98 Mauser - YouTube

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Micheal Doyne

I have a probably extremely stupid question.

I took delivery of my first ever Mauser rifle today, it is infact the first ever one I have even handled.

An initial surprise was to unscrew and remove the cleaning rod only to find it is only a few inches long. I had assumed it was a cleaning rod for the bore.

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When you say a few inches long, do you mean just a couple of inches, or do you mean 10 or 12.5 inches as per the video shown in previous post?

If you really mean just a few, then its either a real rod that for what ever reason has been cut up and just inserted (maybe the rod tube is blocked off for some reason?)

If you have a 10 inch or 12.5 inch rod then there is nothing wrong with what you have.
They were designed to be shared, and in the field troops were meant to share rods and screw 3 of them together to form one rod for through cleaning a rifle.

Cheers for the information, sorry for being very slow in responding. I mislayed my phone which in turn held the password.

I had no idea re the sharing practice, and just assumed it as a full length rod. The rod is a perfectly correct 10.5”