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Advisory Panel
No, that wouldn't last for anything. My troops could destroy that in five minutes.
They are quite durable. Not only did they last through service life, but also another 40 years laying in chests out in the field.
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07-23-2017 07:04 PM
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Contributing Member
Weren't the twisted wire cleaning rods a wartime production method, I seem to recall seeing or reading?
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Advisory Panel
Originally Posted by
stencollector
They are quite durable. Not only did they last through service life, but also another 40 years laying in chests out in the field.
I'll bet they didn't get used and laying out in the chests in the fields isn't very stressful... I'll bet they were used for pullthrough only. No threads for a brush...
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I have an original one that I still use and it is only for the flannelette and not brushes. But I agree with BAR. As soon as the crunchies tried to push a bit of tight 4x2 down through the ever compressing chamber end, the twisted rod would fail. Just my guess never having seen one but based on the fact that 4x2 didn't really mean much when you were up to your ar5e in alligators. When you've seen what some of them interpret as 4" x 2" you'll know what I mean
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Advisory Panel
I wasn't around then, but I can point out that in the 1959 Canadian Bren parts manual, in the accessories section, there is only one cleaning rod shown for the bore. And yes, it was just for either the patch or (shudder) the screen.
Along with the mountain of chests and the handful of cleaning rods (bore and cylinder) I got 50 of the cleaning kits. A portion still had the screen in the little parts tin, but I never saw a used screen amongst them.
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The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to stencollector For This Useful Post:
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SCREEN? Is that what we used to call the GAUZE? We had to use the gauze on the double pull-through.
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Thank You to Peter Laidler For This Useful Post:
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Advisory Panel
I guess the supply term is "wire fabric, 30x35 mesh, 1-7/16x2-1/2 in" but it looks like a fine piece of metallic window screen to me. Used in place of the flannel on a very dirty/carboned bore, and to be used only on the direction of a higher up was my understanding.
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Advisory Panel
Originally Posted by
stencollector
Used in place of the flannel on a very dirty/carboned bore,
Or according to Peter, and not without good reason I'm sure...for scrubbing everything in sight.
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Thank You to browningautorifle For This Useful Post:
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If you have a close look at the gauze you will see that it isn't just guillotined to size but the edges of the gauze piece are discoloured too. The edges have been heat treated and quenched, hardening them. This makes the edges very hard for scraping every last ounce of crud from the bore. Alas, it's also scratching every last ounce of polish from the bore and wearing it out in double quick time. Really only any use for finally finishing off barrels that are already totally shagged* . Have a look at some new ones next time you see them. Maybe someone could put up a good photo
* shagged. = A REME technical phrase indicating a piece of equipment that is at the end of its life. Totally shagged. = Similar but that the item is a year or so past its expiry date
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Advisory Panel
Are the Canadian Vickers cleaning rods I have also correct for the Bren Peter? Hopefully, you'll remember seeing them. They are for the flannelette only and not threaded. All steel with a blued steel loop handle and made by HWC in Canada. The same folks that made Ross rear sights.
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