When do you clean your rifle barrel.

CK_32

CK_32

Saving Ryans Privates
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Jan 22, 2010
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#1
I was sitting around not shooting so obviously I was thinking about shooting...

Ok so here it goes.. After how many shots do you guys clean your rifle barrels?


I've always just gone out and shot and then cleaned my rifle when I got home.. but about after how many shots does it start to effect your accuracy and groupings??
 
#2
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

It depends, I usually clean every 2-300 rounds.

Most go until accuracy drops off. I'd do that too, but my work has me coming and going for various lengths of time, that I'd feel bad leaving a gun for a month or 2, uncleaned...
 
#6
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

You dont see it effect accuracy tho?

Im looking to make a 1000 yard shot. But I just wanna make sure shooting about 30 rounds isnt going to throw the shot off.. I'm having a tough enough time as it is hahah
 
#8
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jasonk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I clean mine half as much as BOLTRIPPER. </div></div>

Be honest... when one of yours gets dirty, you just sell it and build another.
 
#10
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sobrbiker883</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"to clean your rifle's bore before the accuracy wanes is akin to wiping your ass before you shit"
-NOBODY (paraphrased)</div></div>

I laughed.

I dont have a rifle yet, but I enjoy cleaning guns so I assume Ill clean mine quite frequently.
 
#12
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BOLTRIPPER</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i clean mine when they need it..... </div></div>


For my AIAW 308, I believe the round count is somewhere 400 rounds already since its last cleaning. Still shots sub MOA. I find that my gas gun needs more cleaning than the bolt gun to keep things tight.
 
#13
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

that is the nice thing about bolt rifles you don't have to clean it as much. I see those people on the range put in the bore brush and just wear the crap out of their barrel cleaning it like they F%^%& it. Just keep taken all the barrel steel out and they wonder why their accuracy sucks.
 
#14
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CK_32</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was sitting around not shooting so obviously I was thinking about shooting...

Ok so here it goes.. After how many shots do you guys clean your rifle barrels?


I've always just gone out and shot and then cleaned my rifle when I got home.. but about after how many shots does it start to effect your accuracy and groupings??</div></div>

When I saw the subject of this thread, I couldn't wait to read all the funny responses I suspected would be here. I wasn't disappointed!

Bud, what they're sayin' is that a lot of people clean their rifles waaaaaay more than necessary.

Hell, awhile back I shot one of my competition AR's (JP Enterprises) well over 1,000 rounds w/o cleaning it just to see what would happen. I loaded it up with some of my good 55gr V-max hand loads and it still shot a 1/2" group at 100yds.

Since then, I've subscribed to the theory of cleaning my AR either before a big match or whenever it quits running, whichever comes first. Just lube the bolt and drive on.
 
#15
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

I clean almost any time I shoot over 40 rounds. If I only shoot 5-10 rounds, I'll leave it alone. After being ragged on about always cleaning your weapon when you get the chance to, I still like putting them away clean. I never know if the next time I take it out if I'll shoot 5-10, or if I'll shoot 100.

But I use a custom made bore guide that is machined exactly for each different rifle, and hardly ever use a bore brush. I may very rarely use a nylon bore brush, but I find that decent solvent properly applied with a tight fitting patch gets everything out if I give it time to work. I just don't like putting a dirty weapon away.
 
#17
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sobrbiker883</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"to clean your rifle's bore before the accuracy wanes is akin to wiping your ass before you shit"
-NOBODY (paraphrased) </div></div>

LOL good one.
 
#18
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

For a little anecdotal evidence: My son and I shot a F-Class match at Butner 2 weekends ago that we refer to as the Fall 600yd. Weekend, ie: 8 matches each at 22 rds. per at 600. He and I both shot the same rifle all weekend without cleaning. I usually shoot both days by myself without cleaning, but this time the round count was doubled, at 352 rds. total. The last shot was a pinwheel X. During the subsequent cleaning I only had a trace of copper. The barrel is a Broughton in their 1000YD contour at 30".

This was a real eye-opener for me as I had only recently stopped cleaning after each day. I stopped that after shooting my high score at 1000 with a dirty gun on a calm Sunday morning. I am beginning to believe that cleaning wears out more premium barrels than shooting.

AG in NC
 
#20
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

Your rifle is NOT a sports car.

I only clean it when it's at one of the following stages:

1. new from the factory/barrel maker
2. gotten some crud in the barrel from being out in the dirt/mud/snow

There's absolutely no reason to be cleaning it every time you shoot, let alone every 20 rounds. Anyone that tells you otherwise needs to try the "don't clean it and see how it shoots" experiment. That usually switches people over. There are no moving parts or gas chambers or rods or anything in a bolt gun other than the manually cycled bolt - nothing to get crudded up unless you're shooting garbage ammo and then it's still only going to affect the chamber and not the actual barrel.
 
#21
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

no barrel break in process on my 7mm, from the factory to the range. shooting dead center at 100 yards. cleaned it once since I bought it and it was a light field strip cleaning with breakfree clp.
 
#23
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

I don't clean my bore after shooting my rifle only the chamber and action.But say you own a couple fifteen or so precisions rifles and you work at one at a time. So you probably shoot 400-600 or what ever through you rifle and you decide to putt it in storage so you don't neglect your other rifles. Do you clean your bore or leave it alone dirty.
 
#25
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

I have OCD, so i tend to clean my rifle before I go to sleep.

Sometimes I wake up at night and cant recall if i cleaned the rifle before I shut my eyes, so i will often clean it at 3am.

The other day on the way to work I was waiting at the lights and suddenly it dawned on me that I couldnt remember cleaning the rifle before I left the house, so I turned around and went back home to clean.

Im cleaning the rifle as I write this.

I cant remember if I cleaned her last night....
frown.gif


*rips hair out*
 
#28
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

I cleaned mine last night.
The Serbu kicked up all sorts of dust and got the Sako dirty so I had to clean it! Anything less would have been communist!
 
#32
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

I also measure each one with a mic and stack the powder in the case. My charges are within .000001 of a grain.

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#33
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stefan73</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I cleaned mine last night.
The Serbu kicked up all sorts of dust and got the Sako dirty so I had to clean it! Anything less would have been communist! </div></div>

It kicked it up all over my rifle too, remember....my little Savage was downwind of the dust-bowl maker. Got it out of the case to put into the safe since we were leaving, while checking (as always before handling a firearm further) the chamber, I noticed that my bolt body had a coating of fine dust, the action is coated, and I have a really heavy coating down by the trigger sear area. Gonna have to get the rifle out of the stock and clean it up tonight. But all the fun we had yesterday shooting was worth it!

Branden
 
#35
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

Poor shooting factory guns will always shoot poorly if you keep the barrel clean. Bought a factory gun and had about 100 factory loads in it. worked up a good load. Cleaned the gun. It took 25+ plus rounds for it to shoot again. Dont clean anymore
 
#36
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LSU Tiger</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Poor shooting factory guns will always shoot poorly if you keep the barrel clean. Bought a factory gun and had about 100 factory loads in it. worked up a good load. Cleaned the gun. It took 25+ plus rounds for it to shoot again. Dont clean anymore </div></div>
Interesting, has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? I can see not cleaning the bore but annoying things start happening when the chamber gets too dirty.
 
#40
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: scatsob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Interesting. So then what would be the cleaning methodology for leaving the bore "dirty"? Clean only when accuracy degrades?</div></div>

That's what works for me. When accuracy starts to fall that's when I clean.
 
#41
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: scatsob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Interesting. So then what would be the cleaning methodology for leaving the bore "dirty"? Clean only when accuracy degrades? </div></div>

Run a somewhat oily patch (e.g. one patch)through it after shooting and put it away.

I have a rifle I will never do anything other than the above. The last time I used a solvent, it took 40 rounds before it would shoot reasonably well again.
 
#45
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lex Luther</div><div class="ubbcode-body">as i read the thread, I had the same thought about the bore snake. Some of you guys who know, please chime in... </div></div>

I usually snake mine when I am done for the day. It's not a replacement for bore cleaning, but I like knocking out the loose carbon left by the last shot. You get a nifty little "poof" of black powder when you pull it through.

On one of my rifles it has no effect on the cold bore. Another rifle I have has a cold bore deviation that I am trying to figure out, so no snake for it right now.
 
#46
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

holy crap... okay im done cleaning... and i have a SS barrel too!

ive been cleaning after every time i shoot.. usually 80-100 rounds..

i typically just run a oily patch through if its less than 100

wow ill wait to the 300-400 count

thanx
 
#48
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

Cool. I'll stick to the boresnake then. I am not trying to remove copper with the boresnake. I just want to remove the carbon and leave a light coat of lube/protectant in the barrel.

I am also trying to avoid using the cleaning rod often because I don't want to run the risk of having the cleaning rod land on the crown repeatedly.
 
#49
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

For rust prevention, I use Birchwood Casey Barricade. It almost completely dries and is supposed to leave a protective dry film. A little spray of that on your bore snake might protect your bore and still have minimal effect on your cold bore shot. When I clean my bolt guns, all I do on a regular basis is wipe down all the steel with Barricade. I usually don't touch the bore unless I have had the gun out in the rain or snow and moisture got in there.
 
#50
Re: When do you clean your rifle barrel.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LSU Tiger</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you want to clean the carbon out fine. But leave the copper fouling alone until accuracy degrades. </div></div>

I always thought it was the copper that attracts moisture and leads to pitting?

Or is that another barrel makers myth?

 
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