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Before and After Cleaning
- Thread starter Brux
- Start date
I always clean before it stops shooting but 2-300 rds and about 20 to get shooting same as before after thorough cleaning.
I shoot over 500 rounds before cleaning my barrels and then only use BoreTech carbon remover. Within 5-10 shots the stars again align. I do clean my bolt and chamber after every 2-3 range sessions as I use a suppressor and the bolt and chamber get dirty very quickly, but not so with the barrel!
When we were younger we bought Remington Varmint Specials and Senderos. I have had some that shot really well.The cleaning regimen on those was a lot more frequent and it took more shots to settle them back in. This is where custom bbls really shine. You have to clean less and it takes less shots to settle them back in. After you get used to custom hand lapped smooth bbls it would be hard to go back to production factory rough bbls.
I've shot custom barrels for 35+ years and a few I could trust the first shot but with almost all of them the second shot could be trusted.
I'm an old short range and 1K BR shooter. I clean barrels. I think it's the only way to get the maximum accuracy out of a barrel over it's life span. I also, except on rare occasions, never fire a round on a squeaky clean barrel. I always put a light of oil back in to act a lubricant for that first bullet. That changes the impact at a 1000 yds by 12-18" lower than the next round. Happens every time. After that you have powder fouling acting as a lube. The analogy I use is if you were riding a motorcycle and had to lay it down. Would you rather slide on wet pavement or dry. As someone who has taken a slide on dry pavement I would have preferred wet.
Work with your rifle and see what it does then act accordingly.
Work with your rifle and see what it does then act accordingly.
i clean mine about every 500 rounds just for my own sanity. takes about 8-10 rounds for it to tighten right back up.
Good one piece rod, good rod guide, brass brushes, solvent(many good ones out there), A non ammonia based copper remover(Bore Tech has one) for CM barrels, for SS barrels any will work, transfer pipets for dispensing solvents( no dipping allowed), patches( buy in bulk), mild abrasive( Flitz, JB, Iosso) to manage heat checking and carbon fouling and a fixture to hold the rifle in a comfortable position while cleaning. The ground makes it awkward to keep the rod straight, don't swing your arm like a pendulum, bend your elbow. There's times when you can't clean in short intervals but when you can here's what I do, if I'm waiting on the barrel to cool the rifle has the rod in it after 5 or 6 strokes with a solvent soaked brush. Chemicals take time to work, let it soak. Before I go back to shooting I take 5 more strokes then patch out. Light coat( 3-4 drops on a patch) of oil and go back to shooting. As a barrel ages heat checking comes into play as well as carbon build up with long shot strings and/or large capacity cases. That's my basics. Speed is not free, the larger, the faster the more maintenance is required. You can't fool Mother Nature.
I think alot of it will depend on the barrel. I clean my Surgeon only when accuracy falls off 3/4+ MOA, it comes about right about 2000 rnds last time. After cleaning, it shot about 2 MOA, it took about 50 rnd to come back into 1/3 MOA and is still ging strong now at 1500 rnds.
Depends on the Rifle. My 308 will get around 300-400 before i start noticing a difference in accuracy.
My recently acquired custom rigs with Krieger barrels are pretty much dead on after cleaning.
My .223 went to just under 500 rounds recently and did NOT show any signs of needing cleaning but custom gun builder told me to clean her anyway due to shot count. After a good Hoppies cleaning, no brushing, she shot just as she ended prior to cleaning dead on. First Clean cold bore shot hit my bullseye which is a .1" or .2" dot on my home made printed targets. I was ecstatic to say the least. Jamie from Wolfprecision.net builds one assume rig!
My .338 LM is only a few months old so I have less rounds and cleaning down the barrel. Without checking her log book she has been cleaned three of four times thus far and not sure if last CLEAN COLD BORE shot was with my current load she likes. Spent first two plus months in LD. Just recently found a Load she really likes so I will know how she fares after next cleaning which might not be for a while. Her non clean cold bore shots are also spot on so far as even with LD rounds she was still hitting within my target which is a 1" circle with a .1" or .2" black center dot as bullseye.
Hope this helps some...
My .223 went to just under 500 rounds recently and did NOT show any signs of needing cleaning but custom gun builder told me to clean her anyway due to shot count. After a good Hoppies cleaning, no brushing, she shot just as she ended prior to cleaning dead on. First Clean cold bore shot hit my bullseye which is a .1" or .2" dot on my home made printed targets. I was ecstatic to say the least. Jamie from Wolfprecision.net builds one assume rig!
My .338 LM is only a few months old so I have less rounds and cleaning down the barrel. Without checking her log book she has been cleaned three of four times thus far and not sure if last CLEAN COLD BORE shot was with my current load she likes. Spent first two plus months in LD. Just recently found a Load she really likes so I will know how she fares after next cleaning which might not be for a while. Her non clean cold bore shots are also spot on so far as even with LD rounds she was still hitting within my target which is a 1" circle with a .1" or .2" black center dot as bullseye.
Hope this helps some...
I made it to 650 rounds once on my creed more before I lost the nerve and finally cleaned it. I could no longer take the suspense of waiting for the accuracy to drop off. Now I get to around 300 and clean " just because"
I use wipe out foamy cleaner. I foam it up wait anywhere for 3 to 8 hours and run 3 patches through. If the last patch is still dirty I repeat. I've never had to do that more than 3 times. Yes it takes me up to 2 days to clean my barrels but no more than 12 passes with a rod (9 for 3 foam cycles, 1 oil 2 dry).
I use wipe out foamy cleaner. I foam it up wait anywhere for 3 to 8 hours and run 3 patches through. If the last patch is still dirty I repeat. I've never had to do that more than 3 times. Yes it takes me up to 2 days to clean my barrels but no more than 12 passes with a rod (9 for 3 foam cycles, 1 oil 2 dry).
That one is a Brux. But, truth be told, any of the major custom barrel makers out there should yeild the same results. I've had Kreiger and Bartleins as well as a couple of Brux, with similar results.
Have you ever heard anyone say "My _____ after market barrel goes to shit once it hits 250 rounds and I have the clean the crap out of it to get it to shoot straight"?
This question gets asked over and over on the forums. I shoot with 50 guys every month and we all talk barrels, occasionally travel the county and shoot with a 150 random guys, but I don't recall hearing the above sentence said by anyone. You do see plenty of post about guys goin well north of 300 before they clean.
I have no idea how many rounds it takes for my barrels to get too dirty to hold a group. I don't have the time to find out and discover at this trip to the range or match, my rifle opened up.
So I clean a 3 or 400 just so it don't have to find out at the worst possible time.
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Cleaned my creed last night @ 497 rounds. Lost the nerve since there's a match weekend after next. Zero copper fouling. Carbon only. 3 patches with butches and they came out clean. Then went and shot it. First five rounds were about half moa. What I expect from that particular load. No doubt it could have gone much further before needing cleaned. I just got nervous. Oh I'm using a bartlein barrel.
Would that not un-uniformly reduce friction areas causing theoretical inconsistencies down range?
the un-uniformly is applied in uniform while theorethically sound deduction proves unapplied in perpetrated practice so to answer your question: who knows??
cheers.
Thank you for sharing.
Nope. Never heard it before with an after market!
Just went custom for first time - both with Krieger's and I see the difference between them and my factory rigs/barrels for sure. However, my CZ 750 .308 does go 300 - 400 rounds before she shows signs of needing a cleaning. The few people I have met with CZ's have told me similar.
My new rule is no more than 500 max rounds without a cleaning even if barrel does not display signs of needing to be cleaned. Currently waiting to see where my new .338 LM shows signs of needing a cleaning.
Safe shooting...
This is how I clean my factory rigs. I came across this by accident. After shooting first time in rain I was told to clean her as soon as I got home So, I ran a few quick patches through barrel. Noticed following range day it was as if I never cleaned her at all. Just total opposite with a Full Cleaning.
Hence, my factory rigs get half ass cleanings now. No brush and No soak time. What my Mama calls a "Bird Bath".
exactly, no need for a full on sqeeky clean ever, just a quick wipe to remove most of the crap but not all of it.
congrats brother, you get it.
cheers.
Try it for yourself and let us know your results.
Have only gone LR (1000 yards) with this.
I have some Douglas barrels in .243, 6.5x55 and .308. They all do under an inch and usually much better. They fouled like crazy when new and took a lot of cleaning to get out the HEAVY copper- they are not lapped. Now i hit a light lick with some Hoppe's followed by some copper solvent after 100 rounds or so.
My Bartleins.... about twice that interval and then mostly out of habit.
My Bartleins.... about twice that interval and then mostly out of habit.
