I have a Dewey's .17 Cal one piece rod and another .20 cal 1 piece rod both are extremely long. I can clean from the breach all of the way out of the muzzle and the handle will still not touch the rear of the action. As for solvent, you're right the "hardest" I use is Hoppe's #9 and I Copper. I have normally used the brush in the cleaning process as I have always had a hunch the bore snakes didn't quite clean deep enough, good for a wipe down but that's about it. This past year I may have shot the rifle a half dozen times and that is when I focused on a quick swipe with the snake. I have looked for a good solvent mostly by internet and sites like this. I have heard pro's and con's for all and was sold on the sweet's 7.62 solvent until I read some argument on some board about something and erosion or blah blah. I realize there are better solvents that what I use I just figured hitting it with a brush and patches till they come out clean and run smooth, other solvents would take longer (and things like copper build up and etc. wouldn't be as easy to remove). I understand what you are saying about "feeling" the patch and feeling rough spots and resistance. Maybe I'll make the purchase of some decent solvent, any recommendations? I saw the brands you all mentioned but what would you recommend.
As for shooting, I would like to break in to the world of shooting competitively. I know next to nothing though however about where and what steps to take. I shot on my units rifle team in the service many moons ago but that is not the same I understand, and when I belonged to my father's gun club I shot in an M1 league that taught me a lot of things ( I was 17 and grouped with three distinguished Vietnam vets who could really shoot) I got schooled hard. As for now I'll keep shooting around here dialing in my dope, working on my loads and getting the consistency I strive for...
Meanwhile, I am still developing or refining the loads for this and will work on getting that barrel scrubbed clean. I know that anything harder than the barrel rubbing the barrel during cleaning is not good, rods rubbing rifling, throat and muzzle (crown) are no go's. I will have some time this weekend to throw some rounds down range. I'll report back. Also, I may post in the reloading section on what I have been doing to develop the load with seating depth to get some input there as well.