The coating on my Deweys is getting rough & ratty.  Time for replacement. What's the best replacement?  Coated?  S.S.?  Dewey or other?  What's the good, the bad, etc. ?  Short & Sweet.  Thanks.

I prefer a plain brass or aluminum rod with no coating, but I do use Parker-Hale rods which are coated. I think the important thing is to wipe the rod down before you use it, and to use some sort of a centering device, I like an old 32-40 case.

I use aluminum or steel, but always use a bore guide to keep them centered.

Steel rod. Wipe after every pass and use a bore guide most of the time.

One parameter ............... commercially available.  Please.

For a good solid off the shelf rod I like the Dewey stainless with BB handle. No frills, no gimicks.
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I usually make my own from drill rod but I also have a few of the above that are travelers

I lap a lot of bores and these will stand up to the forces required to drive a loaded lead lap through.
I was told years ago to use a rod that was as hard or harder than the bore steel. Reasoning was that all lapping processes use a softer material to embedd the abrasive particles and wear away steel. Made as much sense to me as any other theory so I have stuck to that.