drilling 304 threaded rod

Alright all you wizards, I'm drill a 1/8" hole thru the O.D. of 1/2-13 threaded rod on a Mazak SQT 200 MSY that is fed by a LNS 555 12' barfeed. I run this lathe lights out 24/7 so broken drills can be costly. I have a collet chuck and with the live tooling I have, the hole is 2" from the headstock so the rod gives a bit while drilling. I know rigidity is key but at $5,000 per live tool I make do with what I have. What input do the gurus have as far as carbide, cobalt or hss and where would ya run the feed?

Thanks for the help!