Will gun shoot the same after cleaning?

[hometheaterman]

I have a Browning BAR 30-06 and my Leupold scope started giving me trouble. Since I was going to have to send it off I bought a Tasco like I have on my muzzle loader to put on it while the Leupold was getting fixxed. The Tasco impressed me on the Muzzle loader so I decided to give it a shot on here and then keep it as a spare scope when the Leupold gets back. Here is my question. I realized the barrel hadn't been cleaned in a long time on this as in probably 9 months or so. Maybe not quite that long but probably 100+ shots. It didn't look that dirty but still it hadn't been cleaned. Well when I put the Tasco scope on and sighted it in I got it pretty much dead on at 100 yards and was shooting within a 1/2" group. This is without a vice or anything so I decided I was happy with it. Well, it hadn't been cleaned at this time. I decided to run a wire brush through it today. My question is will it still shoot the same or do I need to go back and make sure that the scope is still dead on? I hate to miss a deer because of something like this but at the same time I don't see why it should shoot much different. I feel dumb for asking this but I'm sure someone on here can tell me.

[James B]

Some will and some won't. I have a Browning A-Bolt whgich keeps all shots in pretty much the same group but I have owned rifles that put the first shot from a clean barrel in a slightly different spot. I always go hunting with the notion that the first shot from a clean barrel will most likely be the one that counts so take it to the range and clean beween shots so that you know for sure what your gun will do. Every gun is different and trying it under those conditions is the only way you will know.

[speyrjb]

A good practice when you are preparing your rifle for hunting is to shoot 1-2 "fouler" shots through the clean barrel. What throws the POI off on a clean barrel is the oil residue left in the barrel after cleaning it, and the fouler shots will get that oil out of there. You can run dry patch after dry patch through the barrel but it seems theres always a little oil left in there.

Just my .02

[RugerMike]

I'd shoot a couple of fowling shoots at the range to be sure and leave it dirty after that before going hunting. my 2 cents

there was a great article on the subject in rifle mag. The editor shot several senerios with several rifles over weeks. His results mimiced what I have found

He found heavy barreled guns shot best from cold bore shots. He found his cooper would shoot same POI no matter cold bore, hot barrel, cleaned, oiled, or bare steel. He found a remeington that shot litterly 4MOA away on first cold bore oiled shot and rest was right in there. They all did this consistently.

So the answer is it depends. Before I go on a hunt where long shots are common, I will take a rifle and shoot it one shot every other day to find its cold bore impact, and sight it in for that.

[Paul L Mohr]

Depends on the gun, the ammo and what you are using it for. If I were looking for the best possible groups and shooting for score or competition I would most likely foul and warm the barrel up before getting serious about my shooting.

However all my hunting guns are sighted in to be on with the first shot out of a cold clean barrel. This takes some time in some cases, but that is the one that counts for me, that first shot. Normally things don't change that much after a few shots anyway. For deer hunting I almost always going to fire one shot, and that is it. And it is after sitting in a stand or blind for hours or days in not the greatest conditions. And my muzzle loader doesn't even go in the house during the season. I load it and it stays outside loaded (with no primer) until I shoot something. I don't much care what it will do after 5 or 6 or shots on a hot August day. What I care about is that first bullet is going to go where I need it to at the ranges I want to use it at out of a cold clean barrel.

I think the only exception would be varmint hunting when precision is needed and you may be taking multiple shots all day long.

You really need to check your gun and see how far off the shots are with the barrel cleaned and after a few rounds have gone through it. Most of my guns don't change much if any.

Paul

[GRIZZLYMAN]

My BIL and I disagree on this. You SHOULD be able to run a dry patch through several times before hunting to get the oil residue out. In my experience, you still won't get all of the residue out, and your first shot may or may not be off. IMHO, you are better off shooting a fouler shot and leaving that way through the hunt or season. I have done that with the same rifles for the last twelve years without any adverse effect. At the end of the season, the rifles get a thorough cleaning before storage.My platoon training officerin Infantry Officer Basic passed that on to me in 1979, the night before a rifle qualification (I always shotExpert)and I never forgot that lesson.

[New York Hunter]

I like to hunt with a gun that has a few shots fired throw it. I'll make sure my rifles and slug guns are shooting good at the range. I'll go home and clean them and then gofire a few shots throw them before I go hunting. My guns seem to shoot better if I do this. One of my shotguns using sabot slugs will be off as much as 3 inches at 50 yards with a clean barrel on the first shot. I was surprised by this, nothing I can do about it though. [/align]