cleaning your rifle?
#11
RE: cleaning your rifle?
If a barrel shoots better slightly fouled then thats how I hunt with it. If it doesn't matter then I start out on a clean bore. All that is required to figure this out is clean the bore completely after final sight inand head back to the range to test. Should mentionprior to firing make sure to run a couple dry patches to remove an excess oil. Will find a POI shift with oil in the bore as it causes increase in pressure, so a good habit to get into removing it for safety and repeatable reasons. Assuming your hold and shot are true you can compare if the gun hits where you left it after sight in. The only shot I worry about is the first out of cold barrel so be it clean or slightly fouled this is where I do my hunting trial and error. I then run my normal 3 shot group after the barrel has come back to ambient temeprature to see how it shoots.
In most cases I start on a clean bore then don't touch it till after my hunt, besides light gun oil for maint. reasons during the hunt.
In most cases I start on a clean bore then don't touch it till after my hunt, besides light gun oil for maint. reasons during the hunt.
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location:
Posts: 321
RE: cleaning your rifle?
i swab my barrel after each string... when shooting... and letting it cool... just a bit of #9 and a patch to get the powder out followed by a dry patch or two.... then it gets a good cleaning and i'll put 5 more through it to make sure it is still "there" and hunt with it that way... then it gets a thorough scrubbing of the tube before it goes back in the gun safe for any extended period... i don't get much copper fouling so my method is a bit different.... if you get a lot of copper fouling your cleaning time and procedure is going to change some but i'd still foul it before hunting after one final "sight-in" session of 3 - 5 rounds... if the first round is a flyer don't be discouraged... keep on going and if the rest group you are good to go... personally... i;ve found that a squeaky clean barrel will toss a flyer more than a cold vs warm barrel... though if i get one of my tubes "really" hot groups will open up some... but as always... guns are like people... no two are alike....
#13
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location:
Posts: 4,553
RE: cleaning your rifle?
To clean or not to clean should not be a big deal either way, unless you know that the particular rifle shoots better one way or the other, or if you shot in foul weather and may be better to clean to avoid rusting or such.
#14
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location:
Posts: 22
RE: cleaning your rifle?
guys, thanks for all your advice, the bore was perfectly clean before a sited it in, then after getting it sighted in i had only fired 8 shots through it. and it is right where i want it 1/2 inch high at 100 yards. so i think i will wait till rifle season is over here in pa. thanks again.
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Olive Branch MS USA
Posts: 1,032
RE: cleaning your rifle?
ORIGINAL: Jackson Bowner
My father used to say about car engine maintenance that you can never do too many oil changes. The analogy here is that a clean barrel will out live and out performa dirty barrelover time.Copper fouling from the bullet does more to affect accuracy than most people realize. Sub MOA rifle barrels would loose their accuracy if the copper and foulingwas not removed frequently after just a few shots (around 10 shots), and so these barrels are frequently cleaned with solvents down to a bare metal. It takes several shots to first heat then "foul" a cold clean barrel so velocities stabilize and optimum accuracy can be achieved. This is because initial shots through a clean barrel produces different frictional energy until lube is blown out and the bore is coated with powder residue and/or copper so bullet friction begins to stabilize. Soft metals gall and stick to similar metal. Each round fired through the barrel will deposit a little more copper until eventually accuracy deteriorates. Once a barrel is fouled successive shots will not remove the copper.Copper fouling is usually deposited in patches and lumps resulting in a rough bore which promotes the tearing of the tail portion of the bullet jacket as it passes through the bore. This adds air turbulence at the base of the bullet so it does not fly as true. All barrels foul. It is simply a matter of how many shots are needed to first stabilize velocity then how quickly it fouls so severely the gun starts "tossing flyers". Obviously, if it takes nearly 10 shots for velocities to stabilize and at that point the barrel is fouled so severely accuracy is impossible, you have a problem. The barrel is called a "fouler". So, "to clean or not to clean, that is the question". I'll leave the answer to you, but for me, the ole adage and analogy that my father gave me about oil changes when I was a kid still rings true today!
My father used to say about car engine maintenance that you can never do too many oil changes. The analogy here is that a clean barrel will out live and out performa dirty barrelover time.Copper fouling from the bullet does more to affect accuracy than most people realize. Sub MOA rifle barrels would loose their accuracy if the copper and foulingwas not removed frequently after just a few shots (around 10 shots), and so these barrels are frequently cleaned with solvents down to a bare metal. It takes several shots to first heat then "foul" a cold clean barrel so velocities stabilize and optimum accuracy can be achieved. This is because initial shots through a clean barrel produces different frictional energy until lube is blown out and the bore is coated with powder residue and/or copper so bullet friction begins to stabilize. Soft metals gall and stick to similar metal. Each round fired through the barrel will deposit a little more copper until eventually accuracy deteriorates. Once a barrel is fouled successive shots will not remove the copper.Copper fouling is usually deposited in patches and lumps resulting in a rough bore which promotes the tearing of the tail portion of the bullet jacket as it passes through the bore. This adds air turbulence at the base of the bullet so it does not fly as true. All barrels foul. It is simply a matter of how many shots are needed to first stabilize velocity then how quickly it fouls so severely the gun starts "tossing flyers". Obviously, if it takes nearly 10 shots for velocities to stabilize and at that point the barrel is fouled so severely accuracy is impossible, you have a problem. The barrel is called a "fouler". So, "to clean or not to clean, that is the question". I'll leave the answer to you, but for me, the ole adage and analogy that my father gave me about oil changes when I was a kid still rings true today!