Gunsmithing VFG felts + .20 & .17 cal???? Plus technique q

[carbonbased]

I’m at a bit of a loss here. I would like to try felt pellets for cleaning but cannot seem to find decent solutions for .20 and .17 cal (rimfire/centerfire).

• Nobody in the US seems to carry the 20 caliber felts (VFG makes them, see their catalog, part 86817). I think I sourced some offshore via eBay.
• Some 17 cal felts seem to be for airguns only as some versions do not have holes drilled through them. They are to be shot out of airguns to clean, however: https://www.pyramydair.com/product/...l-match-set-pocket-airgun-cleaning-kit?a=4241
• No one seems to make a 17 or 20 cal jags for the felts anyway (just found this guy, maybe?)
• All .22 jags for felts that are available in the US (proshot, dewey, brownells) don’t have the little screw-on tip that the VFG jag has. Patented? Not sure if it matters, although I read it’s there to squish the pellets slightly to fine tune the pellet’s pressure upon the bore.

Beyond the availability issues, I had a question about technique. I swear I saw a vid in which the dude loaded two felts on the jag like normal, ran it down the bore, and at the muzzle he took the end pellet off and then pulled the rod back.

I remember the rationale was that this reduces the chance of crown damage by rod popping out and slapping around. Then, the clean(ish?) second felt centers the jag in the bore as the rod is retracted.

I can see a counter-argument that says there will be some hard carbon bits in that second felt and you’ll be dragging it back down the bore…but that’s what the felts/patches do in the push phase, anyway. Not to mention when you’re shooting, each subsequent bullet is smashing the carbon/copper/lead debris against the bore at Mach 1-4.

And then there’s the Brownells 3 felt jags, but they don’t fit 17/20 cals anyway.

Help the man that hates to clean…if someone wants to be rich, invent a safe rifle auto-cleaner…

p.s. I labeled this post “gunsmithing” because the pinned post on cleaning was labeled as such. Forgive me if this is stupid.

 

[carbonbased]

Lol crickets

 

[Dogtown]

I've used them for years, but never for tiny calibers like that.

For .30 and .338 cal I tend to use two felts on the jag, add solvent, run to the edge of the muzzle, then mark my cleaning rod so that I know when I'm approaching the muzzle to avoid the felts popping out. It takes a lot of practice but works.

These days I'm mostly using the wire-embedded felts instead. I just find them better at scrubbing the bore than standard brushes in some cases. And generally, as I scrub and they loosen up a bit, I tighten that little nut on the end of the jag, thereby compressing the felts and expanding their diameter slightly for a tighter scrub.

 

[carbonbased]

I've used them for years, but never for tiny calibers like that.

For .30 and .338 cal I tend to use two felts on the jag, add solvent, run to the edge of the muzzle, then mark my cleaning rod so that I know when I'm approaching the muzzle to avoid the felts popping out. It takes a lot of practice but works.

These days I'm mostly using the wire-embedded felts instead. I just find them better at scrubbing the bore than standard brushes in some cases. And generally, as I scrub and they loosen up a bit, I tighten that little nut on the end of the jag, thereby compressing the felts and expanding their diameter slightly for a tighter scrub.

Sound like you have the VFG jag. What rod?

 

[Dogtown]

I've got a mix of Montana X-Treme, Tipton and Dewey rods. Some are 20 years old.