I stick to one-piece rods, and ones made of non-imbedding metal like steel instead of brass and aluminum are less prone to damage the bore. Bore guides for the rods will help reduce throat wear, whichreduces accuracy. Those Dewey coated rods have a good rep., but I have nevr used one.

Hoppe's No. 9 smells good, and gives your work area that"gun room" smell, but there are faster-acting solvents for removing copper fouuling. Shooters' Choice, 7.62, and Butch's Bore Shine all seem to work well for me.