Bad day at the range
 

Read an article about removing copper fouling and thought I should do it. I normally just clean the gun with a powder solvent with patches and brush. Nothing special. So I went and bought a bore scrubber copper solvent and cleaned with that. I got a lot of stuff out of that barrel. So I went and cleaned my other rifles the same way. These rifles normally shoot pretty well. Usually around an inch or so if I do my part. I was hopefully expecting a little better after the cleaning. Well at the range the 06 and the .243 shot terrible. My 06 will shoot any round I put in it. The groups were around 3" and not consistant. Both boxes of shells are new remington express which may be the problem. But i've never had problems before. I need to get into handloading. Anyone have any idea what could be the problem?

RE: Bad day at the range
 

could be that you got your bore down right spotless....

not uncommon for guns to shoot better, dirty.

but also not uncommon for guns to like a spotless bore.

i read somewhere that removing ALL the fouling and copper from a barrel messes with the friction or something to that extent and can lead to worse accuracy. i dont know...somehere can explain it better im sure:)

RE: Bad day at the range
 

1) Are you shooting a different ammo. than what you usually shoot?

2) You could've gotten the bore too clean. Give it up to 20 rounds before passing judgement.

3) Was your cleaner ammonia-based? If so, did you leave it in longer than 10 min.? If so, there could be damage to the bore.

Just a few thoughts,

FC

RE: Bad day at the range
 

Thanks for the replies. I shot about 15 rounds through each gun and it didnt get any better. I think the cleaner is ammonia based but I didn't leave it in there for over 10 min. The ammo isthe same ammo I always use. The 06' usually doesn't not shoot well with anything. The 180gr was what I was shooting but it will shoot 150-220gr without a problem. I really likes the 220gr though. Maybe I'll try them and see how they shoot with the "clean" bore.

RE: Bad day at the range
 

This story sounds familiar. Several years ago I read too many articles about how most guns are not thoroughly cleaned and wouldshoot better if cleaned completely. So I bought one of those electric bore cleaning outfits that completely clean the bore through an electrostatic process. Bad move. I had been regularly shooting 1.5" or under groups at 100 yards, with the occasional cloverleaf 3 shot group. After the cleaning I was lucky to get a 2" group, with 3" more frequent. The only good thing is that I only used it ontwo guns before checking the results.

The way I got back to 1.5inch groups was to shoot a round, runa cleaning cloth through it, repeat for 10 rounds then clean at every other round for another 10.Now my motto is if itain't broke don't fix it.Also, take magazine articles with a grain of salt.

RE: Bad day at the range
 

Good news. Went to the range yesturday and burnt up some ammo. The groups shrunk back down to about an inch after a box and a half of shells. I was telling and old timer at the range about the issue and he told me that hes had the same issue. He only really cleans the bore when his accuracy becomes a problem. Thanks for all of the imput and good shootin'.

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RE: Bad day at the range
 

Signs of a rough bore. I myself clean out all the copper pretty regularly. Copper left in barrels can cause pits over time. Copper oxidizes before steel remember.

RE: Bad day at the range
 

The complete removal of all fouling could indeed be the problem. Don't clean it that way again and see if the buildup of a little fouling might improve things. (About 2 years ago, I bought some Remington .22 Hornet ammo - I needed cases to reload. The stuff shot so poorly I might as well have been throwing rocks!)

Years ago, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit people I used to shoot with from time to time NEVER cleaned their National Match M1's!

RE: Bad day at the range
 

just a thought, but was there any crosswind that day at the range?