Barrel seasoning/ Switching ammo

[King_beardsly]

I’m sure someone has asked this question before, since it seems like an age old question. What’s everyone process when test ammo from different manufacturers, such as going from SK/Lapua to RWS. I’ve heard everything from you need a clean dry patch the bore between brands, to just send 25 or so rounds down the bore before you test the next brand.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I send 5-10 rounds.

 

[littlepod]

When testing ammo, I'd just do 10 groups of 5, and discount the first 2-3 groups if they look bad due to fouling with new lube.

 

[ToddM]

You'll get 100 answers on this all different. My understanding is that the biggest variable is the lube, depending on the type it significantly changes how long a clean bore will take to "settle". Ammo with little to no lube might settle in 5-10 shots, and I've heard guys saying with some wetter softer lubes it takes 50+. I'd imagine the best way to know would be a chrono, clean the barrel and shoot till velocity settles for the ammo you're using.

If I'm range testing lots of ammo types, I normally run a bore snake with some #9 through between ammo brands, and shoot ten, 10 shot groups, reviewing the groups usually tells you when the clean barrel is settling down. Normally for me I see this happen in the first 1-4 groups. Some of the really messy lubes, the stuff that leaves your hands, mags, chamber, and everything else wet/greasy almost always take the most rounds to settle in. I've also noticed that if you don't clean and just switch ammo, it takes longer to settle down.

 

[Rob01]

Yup you will get a ton of answers. If I don't want to waste ammo by shooting a bunch to recoat then I usually pull a bore snake through once or twice and then swap over to the new ammo and usually after 5-10 down the barrel it's ready to go. A buddy of mine has always told me it take 1 round for every inch of barrel length to recoat the barrel when changing ammo. Then I am sure you will get many, many more ways following my post. LOL

 

[King_beardsly]

I feel like this is along the same line as barrel break in debate, I’m going to get a million different answers but will get to see a trend to some extent.
I’m more concerned about throwing off my current match rigs barrel, I’ve got it shooting great but want to try some RWS stuff since I found a bunch locally for a pretty good deal but it’s been feed a steady diet of SK since day one.

 

[MarkCZ]

I’m sure someone has asked this question before, since it seems like an age old question. What’s everyone process when test ammo from different manufacturers, such as going from SK/Lapua to RWS. I’ve heard everything from you need a clean dry patch the bore between brands, to just send 25 or so rounds down the bore before you test the next brand.

I just start shooting. the rounds will move around on target, when you see the rounds cluster together, then you are good. 10 to 15 rounds.

 

[1813Benny]

I’m sure someone has asked this question before, since it seems like an age old question. What’s everyone process when test ammo from different manufacturers, such as going from SK/Lapua to RWS. I’ve heard everything from you need a clean dry patch the bore between brands, to just send 25 or so rounds down the bore before you test the next brand.

Take my comments as you will based on 40 years of competitive smallbore competition, testing and 12 national titles to date….

When testing, if you switch ammo brands clean the damn rifle. Not half assed. Properly as when starting fresh. That leaves no doubt or influence of any residual lube on the results. Remove the lube testing variable entirely by cleaning.

If you need additional motivation, just refresh your memory on the price of a case of match ammo.

 

[King_beardsly]

Take my comments as you will based on 40 years of competitive smallbore competition, testing and 12 national titles to date….

When testing, if you switch ammo brands clean the damn rifle. Not half assed. Properly as when starting fresh. That leaves no doubt or influence of any residual lube on the results. Remove the lube testing variable entirely by cleaning.

If you need additional motivation, just refresh your memory on the price of a case of match ammo.

Luckily PRS22 isn’t that much of a razor edge in terms of precision, but a case of the wrong ammo definitely isn’t something I need laying around with todays prices.

I’ll hold off testing different ammo till the rest of my cleaning supplies arrive and I can do a proper deep cleaning.

 

[chevy_man]

Depends on the ammo and barrel.

I've shot some amazing groups with sk when the barrel was full of Eley lube. Get a few groups in the .2" range, then they'd open up and steady at .4-.5". Eley would only stay at .75" in that rifle.

 

[Fasteddie01]

1813benny's got the right attitude, especially with the rising price and shortage of ammo. Maybe you're shooting PRS with cr-- ammo like Fed A-M but even that's ca $10/100. Shooting 5-10 rounds 'just to blast out' previous lube will get expensive soon. And if you're testing brands you want un-sullied results anyway. As well, if you're shooting a lot of rounds, you should be cleaning every 100 or so. If for 'real' accuracy you should clean even more - competition shooters often clean after each card, ca 30 shots w-sighters.

 

[King_beardsly]

1813benny's got the right attitude, especially with the rising price and shortage of ammo. Maybe you're shooting PRS with cr-- ammo like Fed A-M but even that's ca $10/100. Shooting 5-10 rounds 'just to blast out' previous lube will get expensive soon. And if you're testing brands you want un-sullied results anyway. As well, if you're shooting a lot of rounds, you should be cleaning every 100 or so. If for 'real' accuracy you should clean even more - competition shooters often clean after each card, ca 30 shots w-sighters.

I’m shooting SK Std+ as my baseline stuff, so it’s not the cheapest but definitely not the priciest stuff around. I wanted to test stuff from RWS but won’t have time to do it before a match this weekend, as it’s Wednesday evening already.

I’m going to assume the guy from primal rights lack of cleaning barrels for thousands of rounds or is ever is a thing of nightmares for most rimfire shooter

 

[Rob01]

For OCD Rimfire shooters. Lol

 

[obx22]

You can do it right and trust the results, or do it wrong and wonder, maybe even waste more rounds retesting. Me, I’ve seen enough quality rounds skew the results of lesser ammo to trust any lubricant shooting out fully.
Clean between lube types at least.

 

[King_beardsly]

You can do it right and trust the results, or do it wrong and wonder, maybe even waste more rounds retesting. Me, I’ve seen enough quality rounds skew the results of lesser ammo to trust any lubricant shooting out fully.
Clean between lube types at least.

I’ll just keep shooting the SK for now and maybe by the time I’m down in NC on vacation I’ll have time to test more ammos.