Tipton Cleaning Rod?

[motorsporting]

Ok, I know I'm new to ARs, but not to shooting/cleaning. I just bought the Tipton cleaning kit from Midway. It says it has everything from .22 to 6.8mm and .270 to .45 caliber. With the smallest cleaning rod and slotted tip/patch, why could I not "push" it through the barrel to clean the barrel? I didn't want to ruin anything, so I didn't put too much force on it, but I put enough that it didn't feel right. Did I do something wrong? Does this kit not cover the .223/5.56 barrel? Did they send me the wrong stuff? Thanks for the help!

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=666641

[militarymoron]

what patches are you using? in general, i have to use thinner/smaller patches for .22 cal bores. patches for larger calibers are usually too tight.

[TriumphRat675]

Adding to MM's post above, my experience is that round patches are much less likely to get stuck than square ones when cleaning .22 and .223 caliber bores.

[jacketch]

Wet patches go through easier than dry patches in my experience.

[xfyrfiter]

I have one of their rods, jag, and brush, they are pretty damn tight in comparison to GI kit, have to push pretty hard to get them through even wet. Just my experience.

[motorsporting]

I was using .22 square patches, and they were not really wet. I put a few drops of CLP on them, but that was it. Those of you that have the kit, is it just more force needed? I mean, I pushed twisted way harder then I ever have cleaning my pistols, and this seemed like it still didn't feel like it was supposed to go through. Should I just buy a couple thinner rods/slotted tips to make sure?

[Unforgiven]

Buy the 24", 22 cal. rod, with a 22 cal tip. Use smaller patches, the bore is pretty small in relation to the rod so there isn't much clearance for a big patch.