If you have an uncoated cleaning rod then you may not know about the real damage they can inflict in rifle barrels (I didn't know about it when I purchased mine). They say that more rifles barrels have been damaged by improper cleaning than by wear out due to shooting. Aluminum rods are soft can be imbedded with grit that can scratch your bore. Steel rods can also bend with a tight patch and could also scratch the bore. From an accuracy standpoint, the crown of a rifle is especially sensitive to damage. It is best to NOT to clean from the muzzle end if possible. It is also preferable to use a bore guide which will keep the rod straighter and will keep cleaning solvent out of the bedding.
There is a relatively inexpensive method to correct these commonly available bore scratchers. At electronics surplus stores and at some electronic supply stores you can find 4 foot or longer lengths of heat-shrinkable tubing for about 25 cents a foot. It comes in a variety of colors but most common is black. I selected the thicker semi-rigid variety over the very flexible variety because I felt it would be more rugged.
Application is easy. For the standard .22-.30 cal rod, the 1/4 diameter heat shrinkable tubing works well. Larger sizes are available for larger diameter cleaning rods. All you have to do is slip it over the rod, trim to proper length, then shrink to fit using a heat gun (or butane lighter). The newly coated .22 cal cleaning rod will no longer fit in .22 cal bores but should work on bores .25 cal or larger. As an additional benefit, the multisegmented rods will now no longer have a tendency to unscrew apart during use.
I was concerned about the long term effect of gun cleaning solvents on heat shrink tubing (polyolefin). As a test, I soaked unshrunk and heat-shrunk tubing in various solvents for 24 hours. The ones I tried were Hoppes, Shooters Choice, Sweets 7.62 (aggressive ammonia content) and Ed's Red (popular homemade concoction containing acetone). After 24 hours, all of the test samples appeared undamaged. With the exception of the Sweet's samples which were completely normal, all were a bit softer (probably due to the absorption of some type of oil or kerosene in the cleaning solvents). After a few days of drying out, these heatshrink samples returned to their original stiffness.
From a wear resistant standpoint, heat shrink tubing is fairly tough but not as tough as the nylon coated rods. However, after several months of use, my cheap coated rods are still going strong. Heatshrink can be nicked and torn by sharp edges. If you use a bore guide, then it should be difficult to damage it during normal use. If you happen to damage it during cleaning then I guess your out a buck but that's nothing compared to a scratched bore.