Those flimsy rods that come in the cleaning kits are junk. Take it and put it in your day pack. the only reason for one is if something obstructs your bore in the field. For cleaning purposes buy a Dewey or Tipton one piece rod. buy a Jag & bronze brush for your caliber and cotton patches for your caliber. buy each of the following cleaners: Sweet's 7.62, Gunslick foaming bore cleaner, Hoppe's, & Butch's bore shine. You will also need a good penetrating oil. I prefera couple of brands, I like Montana extreme oilfor inside the bore& Rem oil forany exterior metal.You do not want to useRem oil inside the bore because it has teflon in solution. A bore quide is an excellent item... It serves two purposes, One to align the rod to the bore to reduce throat damage & second to eliminate cleaning solutions from running into the magazine and bedding.

Over the years I have developed my own way of cleaning. Everyone is different and I'm sure you'll find your own method. But to begin I'll detail mine:

[ol][*]Dip bronze brush in Hoppe's and stroke bore 10 times in and out. Then repeat for a total of 30 strokes.[*]Replace brush with jag and patches and push 3-4 patches to remove the majority of fouling the brush has loosened.[*]Spray Foaming bore cleaner in bore. Sit Rifle in gun cradle with bore and level as possible. Allow to stand 10 minutes.[*]Patch out foam.[*]Apply Sweet's to patch and stroke bore. Repeat until blue signis eliminated from the patches[*]Patch bore with hoppe's to remove sweet's[*]Patch with Butch's bore shine until no fouling is noticed.[*]Push dry patches until they come through clean[*]apply three drops of oil to patch and pass it through bore.[/ol]