Clean barrel??

[johnnyjr]

When your shooting your low node ammo,do you clean the barrel after so many shots,or just wait until you get back home.
I shot 20 rounds thru my 223 at 100 yards and then cleaned the barrel before shooting the next 20 rounds of a different load. I think it did improve the second load. Johnny

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I much prefer a fouled barrel for best to prove a load. I call em cooties. Ya gotta have proper barrel cooties present to shoot best groups.

Once a barrel is broke in, I let my guns tell me what they like. To learn ya need keep track of shoots & groups and shoot till major changes clean & repeat.
Most are hundreds od rounds before cleaning is needed.

CW

 

[fiver]

clean?
yeah no..

some lubes do need a refresher shot or two to work the roughness out though.
i've got a couple of lever rifles that haven't even had a patch put down them since like 1996.
and one that'd be pushing like 2004 except for some lube testing i was doing with it like 8-10 years ago.
then it got a patch every so often while i was looking for some specific things that were happening.

 

[Rick]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

My competition revolvers would go at least a year without touching the bore. Depending on the bore, lube and other factors after cleaning the bore it will take 50-100 rounds fired to get your sight settings back to where they should be, you know where it's shooting, why change that. For the revolver I would clean the exterior and the cylinder after each match due to lube build up.

 

[johnnyjr]

Strange but if it works. I guess I'm still in F class mode.. maybe cast is different.. thanks..

 

[todd]

cast boolits....i don't touch the bore unless it needs cleaned. the most i'll do is a patch of Ballistol will go in and out 3 or 4 times when i am in the mood. i have shot around 4000 rounds of 30-40 Krag and around 4000 rounds of 444 Marlin and i still haven't cleaned the bore. Fit is King. you look down the bore of each rifle and you see shiny rifling.

jacketed bullets....which i hardly shoot anymore.....i guess 150 - 200 rounds? the 20 Vartarg is different, 75 - 125 rounds it will need cleaned.

 

[Ian]

I only clean the bores of the guns that use powder coated or jacketed bullets. Since there's no lube to keep the powder fouling from freckling the bore in time, I use one patch dampened with Ed's Red jogged through the bore, flip it over and do it again, do the same with a clean patch and done. The first shot from a cold barrel will be dead center of the group next outing.

 

[JonB]

OK, while I agree with everyone about not "cleaning" a bore, when shooting lubed cast bullet ammo.
If I was shooting a load (low node or what have you), that left kernals (unburnt powder or what have you) in the barrel, and if it's a lot of it, I'd consider running a dry patch or dry snake through the bore inbetween batches of test loads, just to get the kernals out.
that's my 2¢

 

[fiver]

i get that same 'my barrel is dirty' with shot gun shooters.
it's really only as dirty as the ash from the last shot.
unless your gonna stand there pushing a cleaning rod through it after every shot it's gonna be dirty.

 

[JWFilips]

With PC bullets Maybe once ever 500 rounds unless Groups open up constantly!
Now On my Mil surps with bad bores .....never with PC coated bullets! The shoot better every time I go!

 

[todd]

i've found that the unburned kernels go away at shot 7 - 10 when shooting cast boolits and lube. my 444 does this after each different load i try.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

 

[blackthorn]

JWFilips said: “Now On my Mil surps with bad bores .....never with PC coated bullets! The shoot better every time I go!” So, that raised a question in my feeble little mind as to weather (or not) PC fills in any pits over time??​

 

[Rally]

I can’t leave them dirty, it’s a personal flaw, I know. I always wipe the exterior and run a patch with ATF , then a dry patch. High humidity here and dirt collects moisture. Pretty rare I need a brush. I usually strip any used gun I buy and do a thorough bore scrub before shooting cast. I always foul any rifle before hunting with it, first couple shots are usually out of the group.

 

[JWFilips]

I have a 1917 Spanish Mauser. Barrel was trash when I got it ( It was feee because the guy was going to trash it ) It could not shoot worth a crap so I fire lapped it! from 220 grit down too 400 grit ( I used "diamond powders" not because I'm eccentric but because being a Commercial Photographer St Gobain Industries was my client & I photographed their Grinding and Polishing diamond powders. Once out of their containers to Micro Photograph them, I was told to dispose of them!
So I did right into my workshop!) After that The gun actually shot ok for a Mil Surp but the bore had deep pits. After 500 rounds of PC bullets (with no cleaning through it) the Targets improved consistently! So I think that is what took place.
I'm going to look tonight to see If I can find before and after photos of the rifle

OK Before and After photos You can blow these up

 

[Ian]

I have a new gun that's the same way. Only thing it would group with was jacketed or plated bullets but not my beloved PC or any other bullet or any other lube I used, to the tune of 3-400 rounds worth of powder and bullet combinations. Finally I gave up and decided it would just be a 5-moa rock buster and ran several hundred more PC-only bullets through it. Suddenly it started grouping and has ever since. That barrel will rust in two before I ever put a patch through the bore again.

 

[RicinYakima]

I do the same thing, by cleaning with Lee Liquid Alox and never wiping it out.

 

[todd]

my dad (RIP) gave me a Marlin 25(y i think) in 22LR back when i was a kid. i used to clean that rifle religiously...until i was 14ish yo. then i got sick of having clean the rifle every time i shot it. i'd use a oil rag and wipe down the outside, but the bore, never. this was at a time that was .70 - .80 cents for 50 cartridges. but me and my best friend went big, each of us bought 500 cartridges for $8 - 9. we shot the s!@# out of the 22s. every week we go to K-mart and buy a box of 500 cartridges and then we would shoot them till next week or 3. i can't remember but the cheap scope was ruined and i bought a Tasco 4x (another cheap scope) for $20? . it must been a week or two later when the rifle was stovepiped. .i could take the point of my pocketknife and pry out the spent brass. the next shot, stovepiped again. the chamber was in desperate need of cleaning, the rifling also.

i cleaned the chamber and bore out and i took it outside to shoot. at the time, i was first into grouping my shots. so i loaded the flavor of the week (Remington, Winchester, Federal...), went to the bench, sat down and fired a group at 50 yards. it was about 4 1/2". it can't be, i told myself. i'll shoot again....4 1/2" group. well around 50 rounds later, the rifle grouped about 2" i know the rifle is accurate, but it ain't no 2". 50-75 rounds more, the rifle was settled down to 1 1/4"+/- group. (the best group wise is 34gr hp CCI MiniMag, 1/2"+/- at 50 yards, 5 shots/bench). it took 100-125 rounds for the rifle to settle down and group 1 1/4" at 50 yards.

whenever the rifle stovepipes, its about 4000 - 5000 rounds spent. then i will clean it and take 125 rounds+/- to shoot and i will have back to grouping 1 1/4" at 50 yards. the Marlin is sitting there in safe, only to used once or twice each year. i have a Ruger 10/22 and a 3-9x Swift (old one) sitting in corner for vermin and feral cats. i believe that it loaded with 34gr Federal hp that go 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" at 50 yards. i think the last time i shot it was last fall and a crow that was on top of my garbage can. i'm waiting for the Ruger to stovepipe and then i'll clean it.

 

[fiver]

I do the same thing, by cleaning with Lee Liquid Alox and never wiping it out.

well that'll certainly fill in the holes,,, LOL

 

[Rushcreek]

I don’t clean my shotgun barrels except for steel wool in the chamber as needed.
I only clean my centerfire rifles if I got caught in the rain. The bore that is- I keep the outside and actions clean.
I shot my first Nylon 66 without cleaning until it started jamming- it took somewhere around 20 years!
I wash my truck at least once a year…..