I Have This Old Gun...

[Hondo44]

I Have This Old Gun cleaning rod.

It has a Black Magic finish
6 1/4" long overall
Round rod .180" diameter with a bent ~1" ring handle
It has a milled slot 1 3/16" long by 3 3/32" wide 1 1/14" from the tip,
the rod is not flattened where the slot is.

The rod has a slight taper for 1 1/4" from between the front end of the slot
and the 3/32" diameter tip.

The last 5/32" length of the tip is a hollow ground screwdriver 3/32" wide and 1/32" thick.
It fits an S&W grip screw slot perfectly.

Could it be the cleaning rod for the Victory model M&P supplied to the military? Other ideas?

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Jim, I have several WWII cleaning rods that look a lot like yours except they are brass and no screwdriver end. IIRC these were packed as a box of 10. I don't recall the description or military ID...don't have the original packaging. If you have a 1911A1, check the screwdriver on the scale screws. I suspect these rods were used across a range of handguns.

 

[Absalom]

I Have This Old Gun cleaning rod.

It has a Black Magic finish
6 1/4" long overall
Round rod .180" diameter with a bent ~1" ring handle
It has a milled slot 1 3/16" long by 3 3/32" wide 1 1/14" from the tip,
the rod is not flattened where the slot is.

The rod has a slight taper for 1 1/4" from between the front end of the slot
and the 3/32" diameter tip.

The last 5/32" length of the tip is a hollow ground screwdriver 3/32" wide and 1/32" thick.
It fits an S&W grip screw slot perfectly.

Could it be the cleaning rod for the Victory model M&P supplied to the military? Other ideas?

Jim:

I'm hoping Charles Pate will forgive what maybe skirting a copyright issue

The attached snip shows three types of S&W Victory rods on the left; all are longer than yours and are flattened where the slot is. The one that seems to fit your description is the fourth from the left, labeled as for the .45 automatic.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Bingo! I should have looked in my Pate book. The ones I have are like the bottom 3 (or left if you rotate the page). They're not brass but copper plated steel.

 

[Absalom]

. The ones I have are like the bottom 3 (or left if you rotate the page)...

I haven't figured this out yet. I have no problem attaching upright photos from the desktop, but when I attach them directly from the phone, they always get flipped into landscape orientation

 

[Hondo44]

I was thinking the screwdriver tip is just right for the 1911 magazine catch.

Close to the one in Pate's book, but no flattened area and no threaded tip.

 

[Hondo44]

I haven't figured this out yet. I have no problem attaching upright photos from the desktop, but when I attach them directly from the phone, they always get flipped into landscape orientation

Does your phone have the 'auto rotate' option turned on?

 

[Absalom]

Does your phone have the 'auto rotate' option turned on?

Interesting idea. Just tried changing that, but that's apparently not the issue.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

The "problem" is the forum's image processing software doesn't read or incorrectly reads the Exif Image Orientation data. If you are posting directly from your phone, you will have to experiment to find the correct rotation of your phone that allows the site software to display it in its correct orientation. You then must shoot only in that orientation unless you edit the picture. Usually, editing and "saving as" the picture fixes the orientation Exif data so the site displays it correctly.


It appears the site is reading a "portrait" orientation as a "left rotated landscape" picture. Try shooting only with a left rotation to see if that fixes things.