For those who NEVER clean their bore, or almost never

[keithcandler]

Ignorance is bliss.

Lyman bore scope is a good tool for anyone that takes accuracy serious. Teslong is coming on strong as far as a bore scope is concerned.

 

[Recon$$]

I didn't read past page two.

Hunting rifle - I'll clean it well before the season and or after load development then foul it. Stays that way till the end of the year. I'll just wipe it down until it serves it's purpose.

Comp gun - I shoot it till accuracy starts to go down and clean the crap out of it, repeat. Just wipe it down after shooting sessions during the in-between.

 

[ButterBean]

Ignorance is bliss.

Lyman bore scope is a good tool for anyone that takes accuracy serious. Teslong is coming on strong as far as a bore scope is concerned.

I take accuracy very serious and I don't have a bore scope so I'm ignorant? IMO if you need a bore scope to tell you what's wrong.......... Oh Well, A good jig and a tight patch will tell you a bunch if you pay attention, I'm sure a bore scope is a useful tool but is not necessary to be serious about accuracy

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Even an AK47 comes with a cleaning rod.

I dont see the allure to not cleaning your barrel. The carbon will build up and cause problems. Depending on the cartridge and powder type it can happen very soon or take a long time to build up to the point of causing problems. The problem with that is now we have to get very aggressive with abrasives to get it clean, which is hard on the barrel. Much wiser to keep it from getting to that point.

 

[Wolf76]

I think it all comes down to accuracy. Nearly all my factory guns shoot like crap until I put 6-20 rounds thru the tube after cleaning. Aftermarket barrels show much less sensitivity to cleaning.
I have zero issue with cleaning barrels and would gladly clean them more often if it didn't make them shoot worse. My factory guns shoot 200-300 rounds before cleaning the bore. Of course, getting the carbon out doesn't hurt accuracy much and is probably the only thing hoppes #9 is good for.

I'm a dirty barrel guy only because of the results I've seen repeatedly.

 

[dxlbaile]

I always think of it like this: You could drive your truck and never change the oil.. It would go a long time and probably never have a issue.. At some point it will have a problem.. Why not just change the oil and enjoy that truck for a long long time.. Don't ever try not cleaning your 28 Nosler.. You will have a carbon ring and get high pressure eventually.. I'm sure there are some calibers that you could clean less than others but, Why drink that kool aid.. Never had a gun let me down when I cleaned it.. Might have to send a few fowlers down range but it will always performed when cleaned.. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FEENIX]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

"IF" that is the case "WE" will "NOT" have all the innovations that we have and enjoy today.

Just imagine all your wonderful evening pig hunts without the luxury of a tripod that stabilizes your rifle, night vision scopes, or recording equipment.

Sorry Ed but I am a big fan of continuous process improvement.

Cheers!

Ed

 

[ButterBean]

I'm gonna change my thinking on this as I got feeling guilty after this thread started and decided to clean my 270 that I cant remember when it was cleaned last ( I'm talking years ), keep in mind that it was still shooting as good as it ever has but I started last night and still don't have all the carbon out of it so I may go to a 200 round or once a year regiment so i don't go through a bag of patches at a time, The first couple of patches with KG 12 looked like Crude Oil

 

[wbm]

Still working on a vintage Savage 7mm Magnum that was cleaned once...maybe.

 

[Tac-O]

All great replies with some great insight. I'm at about the 175 round mark without putting a single patch through the bore. I'm about to start load development with the bullet I want to hunt with.... now I'm getting worried and thinking maybe I should clean it to start over or not. I may just do a workup with chrono to find the "fouled node", clean it, then see how long it takes to get the "fouled node" charge working consistently again.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

So many things in rifles are about consistency. I want a fouled bore with a hunting rifle and I want to know how its going to shoot. The only way to do it consistently is to tune the rifle like you will use it. Foul the bore with 5 shots, then start tuning. Shoot 20-30 rounds and clean it. Do that every time. They when its time to hunt, foul with 5 shots and go hunting. Your now duplicating the condition the rifle was tuned in. If you never clean, you can never have consistency because the bore is always getting more and more fouled. Hard carbon builds up and solvents or brushes will not remove it.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Cleaning my rifles offers solid data to form consistent repeatable results.

I've yet to see any real world results that depict cleaning is detrimental to bore finish/wear. On the contrary - NOT cleaning has proven to be very detrimental in many different calibers - with that said - I like to control every variable possible to maintain top hunting accuracy. Cleaning the bores have given me consistent and repeatable results that I can count on to make reliable hits at distance - I just cannot trust a gun that hasn't been thoroughly cleaned/tested.


To each his own I suppose.

 

[Tac-O]

So many things in rifles are about consistency. I want a fouled bore with a hunting rifle and I want to know how its going to shoot. The only way to do it consistently is to tune the rifle like you will use it. Foul the bore with 5 shots, then start tuning. Shoot 20-30 rounds and clean it. Do that every time. They when its time to hunt, foul with 5 shots and go hunting. Your now duplicating the condition the rifle was tuned in. If you never clean, you can never have consistency because the bore is always getting more and more fouled. Hard carbon builds up and solvents or brushes will not remove it.

I think the same thing can be said about having a bore fouled with 5 or 10 or 20 shots. The fouling in the bore will ALWAYS be changing. When does it start to change the least from shot to shot? Maybe you have one of those bores that doesn't get consistent velocities until you've fouled it with 50-75 rounds and then it stays consistent through 2000 rounds. So why not let it go 500 then clean?

I just got a chrono, so I don't actually know how long it takes my barrel to really become consistent in velocity.

 

[J E Custom]

Interesting thread. I do not shoot a lot over my season, so I clean at the end of that season. I do run a bore snake or patch through before I shoot to make sure no critters or other lose gunk , but normally they are clean.

That's a good practice even if you don't remove the copper often by cleaning. I carry a bore snake with me when hunting that is caliber specific to sweep the bore after each shot to remove abrasive carbon and powder residue. before the next hunt. If left in the barrel it will embed in the bullet and abrade the bore on it's way out.

If you don't clean a barrel this abrasive material is left in the barrel and every time you fire it it will increase the wear on the bore. Sweeping the bore after every shot is not always possible but doing it when you can can only help. Some say it doesn't matter because it is not that much, But if you clean a barrel and fire one shot, then push a dry patch through it, you will see just how much fouling from this material there is.

Dirty barrels wear out faster than clean barrels because there are abrasives left from the previous shot. and a clean barrel only has to deal with the copper that is softer than the barrel.

I believe in keeping a firearm in its best condition for longevity and performance. Yes It does require a little more time and maintenance, But in the long run it will last for many years and not let me down.

Just my opinion (Everyone has one).

J E CUSTOM