how often?

[littlebuf]

do you guys clean your barrel? i don't clean mine very often. unless hunting in wet conditions then ill clean and oil it to prevent rust. im currently working up a new load and that's what got me thinking about it. im somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 rounds since last cleaning. i know Ive read some bench rest reports of going several hundred between cleanings/competitions. so one, how often do you clean your barrel and two during load development how much do you find you need to tweak your load (after landing on one) going from a fouled barrel to clean? i haven't seen a great difference in my experience. after a clean bore shot i go about fouling the barrel again in preparation for hunting season any way but i though it would be an interesting discussion.

 

[doverpack12]

I'm interested in the responses. Not sure I have enough expertise or experience to share what I currently do. I searched for alot of information on this topic about a year ago.

 

[Shrek]

Once the barrel is broken in then it depends on the barrel. If you are shooting for groups and keep track of the rounds fired you will see when the groups start getting bigger. The shots you need to clean at is less than that number. I have a hmr 17 that fouls out at around 15 shots and with my 7mm-08 I've never reached the point it opens up before I clean it. I always clean my rifles before I put them up so it doesn't matter to me. When I hunt I foul the barrel and check the zero and then leave it for the duration of the hunt. I clean everything before it's stored.

 

[Sam Millard]

My precision rifle barrel logs show an average of 225 rounds between cleanings overall. I clean the chamber, bolt lug recess, and bolt raceways every chance I get.

All of these barrels shoot .25-.50 MOA. Clean or fouled, they shoot equally as well and to the same point of aim. The only difference has been in velocity. One 338 barrel would run 35-40 fps slower with a cold, clean barrel. After 4-5 shots, it would stabilize and run at normal velocity. It was repeatable, but I always foul my barrels with at least 5 shots before hunting with them.

I did have a Sendero with a factory 300RUM tube that would drop off from .75 moa to over 1.5 after 100 rounds or so. Clean it up and it would shoot for another 100 rounds! It has been my experience that a good, hand lapped barrel requires much less cleaning than mass produced factory barrels...if you're worried about it. I used to clean my "normal" rifles after every time out, because I thought I had to. The barrel in my Ruger 338WM is so rough though, the copper fouling never comes out. That rifle will still shoot sub-moa consistently, but I never put as many rounds downrange with any of them like I do with the long range rigs.

I think everybody should collect as much "data" on their rifles as possible. The key to a long range cold bore hit is knowing what your rifle will do under all conditions. If it shoots differently clean or fouled, it has to accounted for.

My rifles aren't stored for very long between shooting sessions, so they stay dirty in the safe. If I get bored, I might pull one and give it a good cleaning, but I only do it if I can step out back and confirm zero or something to foul the barrel.

 

[JP100]

I always clean my guns after use(except the .22 which might clean after 500-1000 rounds). whether I fire 1 shot or 50. still clean it when I get home or to the hut if possible.
Thats just the way I have been taught.
I try to never leave a fouled gun in the safe. All my guns are just "factory" with a few mods and all shoot 1/2 MOA with the right handloads.
we live in high humidity area next to the sea and I have seen guns rust up in 1-2 days if not oiled and clean.

 

[Cascade_Sherpa]

The gunsmith who built my complete custom 6.5 Creedmoor told me to shoot the rifle until the accuracy dropped off....or if I was bored I could clean every 500 rounds. Just like Sam mentioned above this is not a the case with my factory rifles....I also have a Ruger in 300 win mag that I can clean forever and still show copper on my patches. Where my Broughton barrels usually clean up in a couple patches max.

 

[Broz]

I also have a Ruger in 300 win mag that I can clean forever and still show copper on my patches.

If you want to get that copper out of there get a bottle of BoreTech Eliminator and a proof positive jag. Then go by the instructions. Don't be in a hurry and have lots of patches but once it is clean it will clean easier next time. If you are using solid copper bullets you will need to clean it more often.

Jeff