I broke the cheesy nylon .44-.45 cleaning jag I'd been using for too long. Anybody got favorite dimensions for jags, like diameter and land width? Measuring mine shows about .035" under bore diameter, more or less. I already made one, pretty easy out of 1/2" brass. I just drilled and tapped for a #8-32 machine screw, loctited in place, then I'll cut off the head once it sets. That ought to be stronger than the turned brass ones, let alone nylon.
Tipton jags are reduced diameter in steps after the first land, presumably to provide more clearance for the additional material in the outer diameter of the patch. They also make nickel plated ones for use with copper solvent. I'm toying with that idea. Maybe electroless nickel from Brownell's or Caswell. Anybody tried the plated ones? Presumably nickel is soft enough to not damage the bore.
You can tell you're retired when you make something you could buy for $4.
Pete Keillor