How to clean your rifle without impacting zero

[skywalkr]

This is another reason why I am glad I found this place, I just always assumed you needed to clean your rifle on a regular basis because that’s what I had always been told. Guess I won’t be wasting my time with that anymore.

 

[Formidilosus]

Question for you non-cleaners, do you guys follow barrel break in procedures THEN not clean or just don’t clean at all even during the barrel “break in”?

Load bullets, shoot bullets.



“Break in” is the biggest nonsense pushed about rifles.

 

[mt100gr.]

Form, out of curiosity, and since it was mentioned once before in the thread - what say you about the "carbon ring" and hard carbon vs fouling carbon and the carbon deposits from certain powders causing enough resistance to increase chamber pressures?

I have never experienced a carbon ring or been concerned about.

 

[Formidilosus]

Form, out of curiosity, and since it was mentioned once before in the thread - what say you about the "carbon ring" and hard carbon vs fouling carbon and the carbon deposits from certain powders causing enough resistance to increase chamber pressures?

I have never experienced a carbon ring or been concerned about.

Not saying doesn’t happen, but I’ve never seen the ring, and haven’t seen any pressure issues.

Most of of what I see is 5.56, 6.5 Creed, 260Rem, 7.62, 300WM, a bit of 300 Norma and now PRC, and 338L and Norma, but we see enough rounds shot and enough barrels that I feel pretty confident saying if there was an issue- at least with normal rounds- we would see it.

 

[mt100gr.]

Thanks. The cartridges you list are the ones I shoot (swap the 260 for 30-06 on my end) so that all fits well.

I handload for them but nothing crazy. Most of what I have read about it is longer string shooting match guys with dashers and very custom chambers.

Anyone else?

 

[Wrench]

Thanks. The cartridges you list are the ones I shoot (swap the 260 for 30-06 on my end) so that all fits well.

I handload for them but nothing crazy. Most of what I have read about it is longer string shooting match guys with dashers and very custom chambers.

Anyone else?

I have several of each. The only ones I clean regularly after use is my classic winchesters. I just can't stomach the idea of getting any rust in it. There's a piece of me that worries about possibly having a corrosive primer with a deposit layered in the fouling. I doubt it's even possible, but for the little bit I shoot it, it's piece of mind.

I can't recall cleaning some of these rifles (50+).