Cleaning barrel

[Forkieslayer]

I’m not sure if I’m asking a question or just telling everyone something that is somewhat hard for me to believe. I have a weatherby vanguard 300 win that I have had for about a year. I have shot probably 6-7 boxes through it. In the beginning I was shooting 1 moa consistently. I swapped scopes to a zeiss v4 and at the same time still trying to find the best ammo the gun liked. I have cleaned the barrel 2-3 times during that 6-7 boxes but kept noticing decreased accuracy. The rail and rings on the scope seemed fine. I recently went to a gun club and first shot was 6 inches off at 100 yards. The second shot was 2 FEET off. I shot 3 different factory rounds with nothing being consistent. Luckily there was a range officer that started to help me. I had him watch my shot sequence and he stated he did not see any major problems. He asked about how I’ve cleaned the barrel which has just been with regular hoppes barrel cleaner. He suggested i use a copper solvent. Long story short he had a copper solvent with him that he used while I was there. Next thing I know I’m shooting 1.5 inch groups at 200 yards. I didn’t change anything else. It’s hard for me to believe that was the issue since i have only had around 120 rounds through the gun. I would love some feedback because I was starting to convince myself it was the scope.

 

[HighUintas]

I'd still be convinced it was the scope. 2 feet off is not copper fouling

 

[Formidilosus]

I’m not sure if I’m asking a question or just telling everyone something that is somewhat hard for me to believe. I have a weatherby vanguard 300 win that I have had for about a year. I have shot probably 6-7 boxes through it. In the beginning I was shooting 1 moa consistently. I swapped scopes to a zeiss v4 and at the same time still trying to find the best ammo the gun liked. I have cleaned the barrel 2-3 times during that 6-7 boxes but kept noticing decreased accuracy. The rail and rings on the scope seemed fine. I recently went to a gun club and first shot was 6 inches off at 100 yards. The second shot was 2 FEET off. I shot 3 different factory rounds with nothing being consistent. Luckily there was a range officer that started to help me. I had him watch my shot sequence and he stated he did not see any major problems. He asked about how I’ve cleaned the barrel which has just been with regular hoppes barrel cleaner. He suggested i use a copper solvent. Long story short he had a copper solvent with him that he used while I was there. Next thing I know I’m shooting 1.5 inch groups at 200 yards. I didn’t change anything else. It’s hard for me to believe that was the issue since i have only had around 120 rounds through the gun. I would love some feedback because I was starting to convince myself it was the scope.

It wasn’t caused by a dirty barrel.

 

[leclairk]

Too far off to be copper

 

[MattB]

My guess is either the scope is bad, rings/rail are loose, or action screw torque is too low/backing off.

 

[Forkieslayer]

Thanks for the help. I will be taking a look at the scope more. What kind of inaccuracy would you expect out of a dirty barrel? Would a 3 MOA group be extreme? It very confusing to me since I had probably 10 shots before it was cleaned and 5-6 afterwards and it was night and day difference.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Long story short he had a copper solvent with him that he used while I was there. Next thing I know I’m shooting 1.5 inch groups at 200 yards. I didn’t change anything else.

Seems I skimmed over this part of the post.

I dunno what to tell you. Been several years since I cleaned a barrel.

 

[gabenzeke]

Thanks for the help. I will be taking a look at the scope more. What kind of inaccuracy would you expect out of a dirty barrel? Would a 3 MOA group be extreme? It very confusing to me since I had probably 10 shots before it was cleaned and 5-6 afterwards and it was night and day difference.

A lot of people don't clean guns and shoot better groups than I can.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Thanks for the help. I will be taking a look at the scope more. What kind of inaccuracy would you expect out of a dirty barrel? Would a 3 MOA group be extreme? It very confusing to me since I had probably 10 shots before it was cleaned and 5-6 afterwards and it was night and day difference.

I stopped cleaning my barrel, a few hundred rounds ago. The gun shoots 10 rounds under an inch at 100 yards....

 

[BucksNDucks]

Clean your barrel!!
Carbon Ring No Bueno!!

 

[Wrench]

Thanks for the help. I will be taking a look at the scope more. What kind of inaccuracy would you expect out of a dirty barrel? Would a 3 MOA group be extreme? It very confusing to me since I had probably 10 shots before it was cleaned and 5-6 afterwards and it was night and day difference.

I would say that groups opening by 1-1.5 times the typical group size would indicate that you need to investigate the bore condition.

When you see a shift in accuracy that's more than 3-4moa with known accurate ammo.....something mechanical is wrong.

Scope, mounts, action screws touching the bolt, bound up....something you can touch is wrong.