Cleaning question

[cohunt]

I was taught at a young age to clean my forearm after each time I use it....yet I see guys saying they don't clean for hundreds to possibly thousands of rounds down the barrel.

It's a mental thing for me, I can't not clean a firearm after I shoot it....I try to convince myself but can't seem to get over it.

Is there a quick "patch through" technique you all use to mentally trick yourself into believing you are at least cleaning soot out of the barrel?

Maybe one shot cleaner then a dry patch?

What is the most common point at which to clean so accuracy doesn't suffer?

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I clean after every shooting/testing session. Fouling is accumulative and often builds in layers. Baked on carbon that has been sitting in the bore during repeated shooting session is very difficult to remove. I know some guys claim to shoot hundreds of rounds with magnum cartridges and see no ill effect. I just don't buy that. I sure wouldn't want to be the guy who finally cleans those rifles back to a clean bore.

I will say that after a good cleaning it normally takes 3-6 rounds to stabilize my groups again.

I sent a Weatherby Mark V back to Weatherby for accuracy issues. The tech told me on the phone that 95% of the rifles that are returned for accuracy issues had badly fouled bores despite the owners swearing that they clean them. After a thorough cleaning at Weatherby, the rifles accuracy usually returns.

 

[Koda_]

What is the most common point at which to clean so accuracy doesn't suffer?

I dont think the science is settled on this but my theory is if you keep a new barrel clean it wont get to a condition it needs to run fouled.

 

[tribb]

I dont think the science is settled on this but my theory is if you keep a new barrel clean it wont get to a condition it needs to run fouled.

Makes sense if the barrel has the correct internal finish

 

[Northkill]

It's a variable based on case, powder, and unique barrel conditions, etc. It can be different for each rifle. Your barrel will tell you when it needs cleaned. A barrel that needs cleaned will affect things like velocity and point of impact. We cleaned rifles after hundreds of rounds at shooting school once and noticed a remarkable decrease in velocity. Had to adjust our ballistic profiles as a result in order to engage at long range.

 

[Brathany]

Barrels can shoot a high shot count before the copper and carbon build to diminished returns in precision. I clean seasonal shot hunting guns after the season and lay a thick coat of oil, and even better, grease through the bores. They get a tag saying "OIL" on them so I know to clean it out before firing. Years back I didn't do this and found if I didn't shoot a gun for a while, pitting can start. Especially couple inches into the barrel from the muzzle end.

Range guns I shoot often get cleaned every 100-150rnds. Thorroclean seems to be the best cleaner I've used. 20-25 passes per instructed use and the bores are mint. I apply graphite to the bore after cleaning via saturated patch, yes it's messy, but POI of the first round out the clean and graphited bore doesn't change with subsequent shots. The graphite acts like a "fouled" bore. No more wasting 5-6 shots for the group to settle in. If I foresee my range guns are going to sit unfired for more than a month or so, I will clean and oil them too. I won't coat the bore with graphite in these instances.

Moral of the story, a gun that isn't cleaned and allowed to sit long periods can attract rust/pitting.

 

[mtbullet1]

i use a bore snake after shooting session, then clean when bore scope shows it's needed