ORIGINAL: Mr. Longbeard
My rifle will not shoot much better than 1.5 with cleaning between shots. But if I dont clean between shots it will shoot .75-1.0... Has anyone else ever had a gun that shot better with a fouled barrel???
Back when they were using the National Match M1 rifles, the members of the Army Marksmanship Unit rarely, if ever, cleaned their rifles...... I don't know if this is still their practice or not.
"Eventually, it will cause really severe pitting."
How long does this take? I have a number of rifles that still have some copper wash visible in the bore which has been there since the 1960's, and one old (pre-1912) J.P. Sauer 8X60RS double that gives me cupronickel stain on the patches every time I clean it. There are no pits in any of these barrels. Of course, they have all been "cleaned", but rarely is there no remaining copper wash visible if you look into the muzzle from an angel with plenty of light.