Cleaning rod and the M96

[bmwguy]

Anyone attempted to clean their M96 with the cleaning rod it came with?

I tried last night and guess what? It's too short and its too think.

This is the first time cleaning the rifle after receiving the rifle 2 weeks ago and the barrel is mirror! so I'm psyched!

First I tried my .30 caliber dewey rod, and it was a really tight fit. I didn't want to further damage the rifling so I took out the cleaning rod from under the barrell. I guess there is more than 1mm difference between 6.5 and 7.62. After slapping a patch on and inserting a patch from the breech end, it was really tight. Therefore I took it out and the jig where you insert the patch looked kinda big. So I tried it from the muzzle end, and it wouldn't even fit. It was too think to even fit in the barrel. Further inspection reveals that the rod is too short to push the patch out completely if you go from either direction of the barrel.

I ended up using my .22 rod. Anyone else experience this problem?

[Procrastinator]

Your rod is the correct length. You need to go to Samco or one of the auction sites and buy an extension for it.
Somewhere I have read the reason for the short rods but cannot remember what it was (senior moment).
The large end is slotted for a patch to clean the chamber.

http://www.samcoglobal.com/

Click on accessories.

[Schuetzenman]

Check the sloted head end and see if it's got threads in the end of it. If so, the 96 Mausers may be like the K98k Mausers. The rods are meant to be screwed together to make one long enough to do the job.

It could be that your patches are just too thick compared to what the Sweds were using. Thy might be using a fabric more like a bed sheet than a thick flannel patch for examples.