How often should I be cleaning?

[the once-ler]

I have been cleaning after every session but I see some guys are going hundreds of rounds before cleaning.

 

[Ledzep]

Shoot until accuracy drops keeping count, then you'll know.

I've noticed mine builds up copper between 50-100 rounds. I'm testing it right now to see how far I can go before accuracy gets worse. 65 and still sub 1/2MOA.

 

[JeffLebowski]

Let me google that for you

 

[blurry6]

I have been cleaning after every session but I see some guys are going hundreds of rounds before cleaning.

I don't clean 'til I see that it's can't hold less than 3/4-MOA at 100-yards or I'm getting unexplained flyers when I know it wasn't me (shooter error) and that's usually between 140-180 rounds it seems. In fact, I would say that my cleanings have more to do with a sense of guilt that any real loss in accuracy I perceive. I could probably go longer. Also, I ONLY clean out the carbon, NOT the copper. I use a carbon cleaner, run three dripping wet patches, then a dripping wet NYLON brush back-n-forth 10-12 times, followed by three more dripping wet patches,... let it sit for 10-15 minutes,... a couple of dripping wet patches to clean out the grime that's left in there, followed by three dry patches to clean it all out. DONE!

If I notice that after cleaning and firing 10 rounds it's still not shooting, I'll review my loads, are they consistent with what I've shot before(?) I'll review my setup, is it consistent with what I've used before(?). If it all adds up to being consistent, only then will I pull out the bottle of COPPER REMOVER, and really clean out the barrel (same basic procedure above, but with the COPPER REMOVER instead of the CARBON REMOVER). Then I'll shoot it at least 15-20 rounds before I re-evaluate its' accuracy. I'm currently shooting a .243 barrel on my go-to rig and have only had to clean the copper out of it once at around 900+ rounds. Other than that, the removal of the carbon every 150+/- rounds seems to work just fine.

Long story short,... there is no hard/fast rules to cleaning. Just stop cleaning and see what it does.

Ry

 

[ptaylortx]

 

[Hollywood 6mm]

Shoot until your groups get too big, then clean it.

Repeat.

My AAC-SD has run over 500 rounds of hand loads without cleaning, and still shoots damn well.

 

[Cascade_Sherpa]

I've met guys that routinely shoot over 1000 rounds between cleaning in their .308's. I will commonly shoot 500 rounds through my AR's before cleaning. But usually only a couple hundred from my custom 6.5 Creedmoor before I clean; the smith's instructions were the same, to clean it when accuracy dropped off or 500 rounds whichever came first.

 

[stockdoc]

What Ptaylortx said!!!

Lmao!!!!!

 

[wrangler5]

Or until you feel guilty. I was raised to clean after every outing, and generally followed that practice until recently (except for the college rifle team's Winchester 52s, which MAY have been cleaned at the end of every season, I disremember.) I'm trying now to let my 223 go uncleaned between sessions, in part because it takes 10-15 foulers to get it back on track from clean - I use junk brass and cheap bullets to get a good coating of Varget dust down the barrel. But I confess that last night I got to feeling guilty and broke out the rod and patches, even though the last group yesterday was ~0.76" CTC at 200 yards.

My excuse to myself was that I ought to see where a clean/cold first shot lands on the reticle of my new Sightron scope - I'll use my best reloads for that test, not my junk foulers. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[the once-ler]

What about using JB bore compound? bad or no? beat the horse OK

 

[mrbig]

I was always told to keep powder fouling cleaned out especially in the faster calibers or barrel life would suffer,,,

 

[meatwaggon]

What about when to use regular vs copper solvent, or is that a dead horse too?

 

[the once-ler]

I have always cleaned every time with powder/carbon cleaner then with an ammonia based copper solvent till there was nothing left at all inside the bore. I have known guys that have never cleaned but they were never proud enough to show targets. I get +or- 1/4" inch groups every session so I must be doing something right.

 

[Birddog11]

I clean before sessions, wife likes it better that way

 

[EasyGravy]

I just shoot the piss outa it.

 

[0311@LAR]

Clean once every Nevuary.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

At least every hour.

 

[MitchAlsup]

I run a single mop of Hoppes #9 and let it sit overnight or a couple of days, or until I shoot it again, then 3 dry patches.

 

[alphadogg56]

I don't even shoot any more I just keep cleaning the freakin thing

 

[backyardsniper]

I used to clean every outing. Now I'm in the shoot it till it needs it club. About 200-whenever I feel like it and I'll be honest. It's much more fun that way. I also quit obsessing over my reloading techniques and load development. Ihave found shooting and reloading to be much more enjoyable now. When I find a load that will consistantly shoot a 5 shot group at 100yd that I can lay a quarter on top of and I can't see any of the holes I have then found the load for thatnrie. A quarter measures .95" in diameter so if I cant see any of the holes I know I can subtract .308 which means the group is at least .687 or smaller. That is good enough for me. I then shoot the piss out of it untill It won't stay under the quarter at 100yds then I clean it. Thats how I measure it

 

[Tristian19]

I clean when bolt actions
1. Groups are no longer consistent (I will also notice more than a usual flyer by this point), or
2. Reach 500 rounds

My new Wolfprecision Custom 223 recently reached just under 500 rounds and still shot .2xx - .3xx consistently. I did clean her even though she still shot. After cleaning she continued right back where she was prior...

 

[JGorski]

I always clean my Creedmoors after testing and competitions, never had to shoot multiple fouling shots to get the rifles to shoot "right" again, never had to do that with any of my rifles, they shoot great right after cleaning or after 40-50 shots. I've been running coated DTACs thru my #1 creedmoor and probably won't clean that rifle all year long, but I don't shoot the rifle all that much, no time to shoot.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

There is enough here in this Home brew trailer to the full video to answer the OPs question. Several have already emphasized the same advice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fvzywQCmyU

 

[John1999]

I have been cleaning after every session but I see some guys are going hundreds of rounds before cleaning.

I clean my .308 after 200 rounds, though after I finish shooting and if I haven't fired 200 rounds I'll just run a few patches with frog lube on them to get rid of the carbon built up. When the patches come out clean I just run a few dry patches then I put an oiled patch through for storing. Don't forget to put a dry patch through when you're going to fire your rifle You don't want to shoot with a barrel filled with oil

 

[John1999]

I have been cleaning after every session but I see some guys are going hundreds of rounds before cleaning.

Oh I forgot to mention, If you over clean your barrel that can do more harm than good. Clean it anywhere between 200-250 rounds and you should be fine.

 

[Dallas4rceMarine]

patches and hoppes #9 every 200, maybe a brush for a pass or 2 after a thousand if your groups open up. i don't personally use a brush tho. I only do it every 200 so that it is consistent. matches usually require you to bring 200 rounds so if you always start with a fresh clean barrel you will always know how your rifle will shoot. my hunting rigs are a different story.

 

[J.J. Kelly]

Clean after every time I shoot the gun. I'm trying not to ever use a brush, letting the
solvent to work. When your done cleaning your gun, last thing is to swab with alcohol.
I don't want any lube in that barrel, makes for a better cold bore shot.

 

[samnev]

I do not clean my rifles until the groups start tom open up. I carry a 23 and 308 with me and use that first. I f groups don't improve then use a copper solvent until there is no more green residue on the patches. Then a coating go Break Free. i always use a bore guide on both calibers.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

I think some of you people are more into the gear itself and maintenance of the gear than you are into actually shooting.

 

[wrangler5]

I think some of you people are more into the gear itself and maintenance of the gear than you are into actually shooting.

There was a fellow at our club this past weekend shooting what looked like a barreled action with scope mounted in some large machine rest (he was about 20 benches away and I didn't go down to look at the details.) He would shoot one round and then break out the cleaning gear. When all was clean he'd shoot another round, and repeat the cleaning cycle. He was shooting at a rate of about 3 shots/hour. I know you don't want to overheat a barrel, and that some components can be hard to find these days so you don't want to shoot too many at a time, but this still struck me as overdoing it. ;-)

 

[JeffLebowski]

I think some of you people are more into the gear itself and maintenance of the gear than you are into actually shooting.

This.

 

[jboyright]

On my 6.5 I only clean the carbon out of it.. couple wet patches till clean the then a dry patch following.. I don't get to caught up on removing the copper out so much, long as she's shooting tight. Remember carbon is what destroys the live of your barrel. I haven't ran a brush threw my Mk12 in months.. other than removing the carbon so often.

 

[4000fps]

I clean my rifle after every 40-50 rounds. Nothing fancy, just a soak with Wipe-out, then run a snake through it. I also wipe my ass everytime I shit too.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

The Hoppes Benchrest 9 (brown bottle/brown label shown in video above) is only different from Hoppes #9 bore cleaner (brown bottle/orange label) in as much it has a little ester and peroxide bleach added to it. It has been around a long time and it is a crappy copper removing solvent but you would need to really go through a ton of that pointless shit to harm stainless steel. At one time it was considered very good but the formula is obsolete. There isn't even enough ammonia hydroxide in that shit to hurt a barrel. Hoppes #9 is basically kerosene with organic fatty oil and about 3% ammonia and is an okay solvent that has been around since before the First World War. But the Hoppes Benchrest solvent was the going thing a long time ago but should probably be avoided and left to people that don't know any better. There are just too many better products out there now for copper fouling. The thing about Hoppes solvents in general is that they can be found on more shelves in more stores than any other type of bore cleaning solvents. The only thing more available would be WD40. Not that there is anything wrong with WD40.

 

[peterh]

I bathe mine with dove soap, I used to use palmolive but found it to be too harsh. After, I cote it with an ample amount of baby powder, I then put it away until next time....that's all the cleaning that is necessary....

 

[M40_A1]

OTOH, Hoppes No.9 is great at cutting carbon and relatively cheap. Many of us who clean the carbon and leave the copper use it for just those reasons, though I have recently switched to CLP which shouldn't touch copper at all (AFAIK). Most of us don't have harming stainless barrels as some kind of odd goal, either.

Plus, Hoppes No.9 just smells so darned GOOD! In fact, I'm tempted to start leaving Hoppes soaked rags hidden around the house to counteract all the perfumey crap my wife has laced the house with and which I can't stand any more!

 

[dmike]

There was a fellow at our club this past weekend shooting what looked like a barreled action with scope mounted in some large machine rest (he was about 20 benches away and I didn't go down to look at the details.) He would shoot one round and then break out the cleaning gear. When all was clean he'd shoot another round, and repeat the cleaning cycle. He was shooting at a rate of about 3 shots/hour. I know you don't want to overheat a barrel, and that some components can be hard to find these days so you don't want to shoot too many at a time, but this still struck me as overdoing it. ;-)

sounds like a break-in routine

 

[EasyGravy]

I clean my .308 after 200 rounds, though after I finish shooting and if I haven't fired 200 rounds I'll just run a few patches with frog lube on them to get rid of the carbon built up. When the patches come out clean I just run a few dry patches then I put an oiled patch through for storing. Don't forget to put a dry patch through when you're going to fire your rifle You don't want to shoot with a barrel filled with oil

Nothing like a 4' flame comin out the barrel

 

[Bill Larson]

heres what you don`t want...... a dirty barrel taking you out of a match or making a long shot..... keep a round count....

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Plus, Hoppes No.9 just smells so darned GOOD! In fact, I'm tempted to start leaving Hoppes soaked rags hidden around the house to counteract all the perfumey crap my wife has laced the house with and which I can't stand any more!

I love the smell of Hoppes #9 in the morning.

No. 9 Air Freshener

The scent that’s carved its way into our sporting psyches through the deer camps, dens and hunting lodges of America for more than 107 years can now go anywhere you do.

• Concentrated scent true to Hoppe's
• No. 9 formula
• Hang it in your home, office, vehicle or camp

 

[armydog]

I clean after every shooting session, around 100 to 150 rounds, just a habit I got into and can't quit. I have wanted to let it go to see how many rounds she will shoot till accuracy drops off but just can't bring myself to do.

 

[Twisted .308]

Bon-Ami and Transmission fluid solution mixed 50-50 , Steel bore brush and scrub the hell out of it ! If you can still see rifling you haven't scrubbed enough !

 

[silentheart]

I run a wet patch of clp throught the barrel every time after shooting because i shoot about 1x a month. Between 3 rifles, each rifle will see action between 3-4 month. Just a rust prevention for me.

 

[MMH]

blurrt6 - your procedure seems easier than anything else I have read - I'll try it!