Will a deep clean affect accuracy?

[VinceMule]

as barrels get long in the leade, going to a semi point bullet will often keep accuracy within acceptable hunting limits. So, I keep the 55g Sierra semi point and the Sierra 63g sierra semi point on hand for my older barrels like yours that still shoot accurately. Rem 700's love both of these bullets, and IMR 4350 with the 63's is magic when the barrel will look much worse than yours.

In my experience, worn barrels need cleaning more often, and they shoot their best right after being cleaned.

Use good bronze bristle brushes and throw them away after 100 strokes. Jb is a lifesaver for barrels with some wear. Please do not be afraid to use JB.

Best wishes to you, and when you re- barrel, go to a 22/250 AI or 22 Creed.

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

I'd say yes and probably for the better. I had a Rem 700 in 270 Win that was a great shooter. I got it back in about '72. I used that rifle for everything and kept if clean. Or so I thought. Along about the early 90s groups started opening up and I was thinking of getting rid of it. I didn't have a bore scope but I thought I had nothing to loose so I took some 0000 steel wool and wrapped it around a bronze brush and oiled it and started working it thru the bore. Adding a little steel wool and oil occasionally. I followed that with a series of passes with J-B Compound. That rifle was back to shooting 1/2" groups. For some stupid reason I sold that rifle and regret it to this day.

 

[VinceMule]

Clem, the Fine Bronze wool will never scratch your bore, even the finest super smooth barrels.

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The Homax Products Fine Bronze Wool Pads (3-Pack) can be used to polish smooth, sand and strip wood and metal surfaces. The wool resists corrosion, rust and shedding. The Bronze Wool Pads are great for marine and industrial use.

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This bronze wool wrapped in a worn brush, filled with JB will clean the dickens out of barrels with some hard carbon deposits. I save my old brushes in each caliber for this use.

Thurro Clean is a new product on the market that cleans extremely well if you use it as the directions describe and is well worth the money, unlike a lot of other products.

Another method of a deep clean is to use an Iosso or Montana Extreme plastic brush, loaded with JB, Iosso and scrub back and forth in the area where the carbon is the heaviest. Some people use a patch wrapped around a worn brush for the same purpose but the brush has to be much smaller than the original dimension to get it down the bore when wrapped around a bronze bristle brush. I usually do not use my bronze bristle brushes to get to this extremely small dia.

 

[Teri Anne]

I have a 22-250 that my dad bought in the mid 90's used at a gun show. I think he paid 5-600 for it. It's a C prefix 700 BDL Varmint. The gun looked like it was well cared for, but back then we didn't have a borescope or know the round count of the barrel. Since he bought it, I dont think we put more than 200 rounds through it and it always shot bugholes with 50gr vmax factory ammo. We never gave it a proper cleaning, since it shot so well.
I went back home for the holidays and brought it back with me to shoot. It had not been shot in close to 10yrs. I put the bore scope through the barrel and saw heavy carbon build up, lots of fire cracking and pitting on the lands. I'm thinking this rifle is going to need a rebarrel. Which would be a shame since it is such a beautiful rifle. I should have take before pics of the barrel but I didn't think about it till after I cleaned it. I did the best I could and figured I would shoot it after to see how it shoots. Here are some pics of it clean.View attachment 629903View attachment 629904View attachment 629905View attachment 629906
Despite how rough this barrel looks, it shot amazingly well. I was shooting .25-.50 inch groups with most touching each other at 100 yds and about 3 shots almost touching at 300yds. The accuracy it produced really surprised me. So my question is, if I used a paste to thoroughly clean it, would I lose the accuracy? Or should I just continue with my normal cleaning regimen? Sorry for the long post. Any advice is appreciated.

Personally, I would continue with your normal cleaning procedure. As long as it keeps shooting sub moa I don't think that you need to mess with it. As it is said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If and when your groups open up then take it down to bare metal, but I have not found that once cleaned to bare metal it doesn't take more that 2 to 5 fouling shots to return to previous accuracy. I have seen some god awful barrels that shot better than a pristine barrel. Don't fight success.

 

[Huntaddict]

Clem, the Fine Bronze wool will never scratch your bore, even the finest super smooth barrels.

Fine Grade Bronze Wool Pads 3 Pack 3 steel wool pads per pack 3 Pack | eBay

The Homax Products Fine Bronze Wool Pads (3-Pack) can be used to polish smooth, sand and strip wood and metal surfaces. The wool resists corrosion, rust and shedding. The Bronze Wool Pads are great for marine and industrial use.

www.ebay.com

This bronze wool wrapped in a worn brush, filled with JB will clean the dickens out of barrels with some hard carbon deposits. I save my old brushes in each caliber for this use.

Thurro Clean is a new product on the market that cleans extremely well if you use it as the directions describe and is well worth the money, unlike a lot of other products.

Another method of a deep clean is to use an Iosso or Montana Extreme plastic brush, loaded with JB, Iosso and scrub back and forth in the area where the carbon is the heaviest. Some people use a patch wrapped around a worn brush for the same purpose but the brush has to be much smaller than the original dimension to get it down the bore when wrapped around a bronze bristle brush. I usually do not use my bronze bristle brushes to get to this extremely small dia.

These are all fine and great recommendations. Again, gotta be a bit careful when using abrasives on their barrel without some guidance - is a great way to take an iffy barrel and ruin it.

One method that I have used is cleaning a hot barrel - using a high quality cleaner like Montana Extreme and cleaning it while any latent material is hot...hot copper or lead is very easy to evacuate from the lands and grooves with normal cleaning equipment without having any affect on the lands and grooves

 

[Treeslug]

If you were happy with the accuracy before borescoping it, I wouldn't change anything as far as cleaning it. If you get too aggressive with a deep cleaning, you might cause some damage. I agree with K.E.C. Darkside "Borescopes don't always tell the truth", and I would like to add "The target tells more of the truth than the borescope". How did we ever get a gun to shoot good groups before we discovered the borescope??

Most of the tech talk on this forum is too tall for me to reach. I've been mounting scopes and barreled-actions for 60 years and I still don't have an inch-pound screwdriver. I never seem to have all these problems. I too think the target tells more than the borescope. Then again, I have never shot targets at 1,000 yards. Tech up against experience, I guess!!!

 

[2buffalo]

I am of the school of it ain't broke, don't fix it.

^This is your answer.

I was just thinking if I ran an abrasive it would smooth out the cracks and pits and extend the barrel life a little.

It will not.

 

[Laelkhunter]

.... it would smooth out the cracks and pits . .

If that is your goal, look into getting some colloidal graphite from Greg Tannel. His product is extremely fine graphite in a liquid carrier that "fills the cracks" in the chamber/leade/barrel so that it eliminates the need to fire fouling shots (or so it is written). The concept is that when you deep clean, you remove all of the fouling from the cracks,etc in the chamber/leade and barrel which requires you to fire a few fouling shots to refill these voids and get back to your tighter groups. It also supposedly makes your first round fired from a clean barrel hit your aim point and be in the group of subsequent shots instead of the first shot or two being a "flyer".

 

[Huntaddict]

If that is your goal, look into getting some colloidal graphite from Greg Tannel. His product is extremely fine graphite in a liquid carrier that "fills the cracks" in the chamber/leade/barrel so that it eliminates the need to fire fouling shots (or so it is written). The concept is that when you deep clean, you remove all of the fouling from the cracks,etc in the chamber/leade and barrel which requires you to fire a few fouling shots to refill these voids and get back to your tighter groups. It also supposedly makes your first round fired from a clean barrel hit your aim point and be in the group of subsequent shots instead of the first shot or two being a "flyer".

I can see colloidal graphite working in theory but it cannot work alone. it needs a binder and has to stay under 400 degrees to maintain its effectiveness. It also had to be applied very evenly and uniformly.

Magnums under high rated of fire can exceed that temp i the chamber.

 

[Rflshootr]

Thanks for all the advice. I am of the school of it ain't broke, don't fix it. I was just thinking if I ran an abrasive it would smooth out the cracks and pits and extend the barrel life a little. Probably just going to do my normal cleaning until accuracy really falls off.

Polishing won't get rid of the marks. It won't extend barrel life in that barrel. If you shoot it a lot, put a new barrel on order, put it on the shelf when it comes in, and continue to shoot until the current barrel stops shooting. Then re-barrel. If you only shoot it occasionally, then just shoot it.