Cold bore shooting/ Clean barrel

[jrg_80]

I'm new to the site but have been a lurker for some time. I have recently been reading and looking at getting more and more into the LR stuff but my question is more on the hunting side. I've read post on how people 1st couple of shots are flyers but once dirty the barrels performs like it should and sometimes a clean barrel is to blame..... My question is is I go to the range and shoot and make sure I'm all dialed in for the upcoming season, then I go home and clean my gun, put it in the safe, repeat steps 1&2. Now what happens when opening morning I go out to my stand and the buck I want steps out and I fire? Should I have complete confidence in my equipment or should i just cross my fingers that it's as on as it was when I left the range(prior to cleaning)?

Guess thru all this what I'm getting at is what needs to be cleaned and what doesn't to still protect you investment(gun/barrel) but still have consistancy each and every time you go out w/o hesitation or question?

jrg

 

[lamiglas]

I keep track of each rifle and how it shoots cold bore after a cleaning. however, my cleaning process ends with two fouling shots, I document them (just because, for future reference or whatever) and then i put the gun away.

 

[moombaskier]

+1. It's called cold bore mapping. I go out and shoot the same target 10 times at my 200yrd. zero with at least one day inbetween shots to see if there is any point of impact change. All of my guns that I use for longer ranges will shoot MOA with a "clean bore shot", but much better after a fouler or two. If for some reason I must clean the bore during season I always send a few down the tube after cleaning. That's just my .02 and it works for me.

 

[jrg_80]

So it's not harmful in anyway to leave your barrel in a safe for a period of time with a few rounds down the pipe vs spotless and clean? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but I'm sure I'm like many that has always been told to clean your barrel til your patch is clean, but now I'm reading the opposite. I'm just trying to educate myself and I'm always open to learn, hell just cause I've been doing one thing one way for 20yrs could very well mean I've been doing it wrong for 20yrs too.

jrg

 

[WildRose]

I'm new to the site but have been a lurker for some time. I have recently been reading and looking at getting more and more into the LR stuff but my question is more on the hunting side. I've read post on how people 1st couple of shots are flyers but once dirty the barrels performs like it should and sometimes a clean barrel is to blame..... My question is is I go to the range and shoot and make sure I'm all dialed in for the upcoming season, then I go home and clean my gun, put it in the safe, repeat steps 1&2. Now what happens when opening morning I go out to my stand and the buck I want steps out and I fire? Should I have complete confidence in my equipment or should i just cross my fingers that it's as on as it was when I left the range(prior to cleaning)?

Guess thru all this what I'm getting at is what needs to be cleaned and what doesn't to still protect you investment(gun/barrel) but still have consistancy each and every time you go out w/o hesitation or question?

jrg

I never go into the field with a clean gun. After I do clean one I'll always foul it back up with at least three shots, then check zero/sight in.

At most I'll then blow it out with some carbureto cleaner, let it dry, and then lube it and patch it and put it away.

Since you can't gurantee a clean bore for follow up shots and you won't be cleaning between shots while sighting in/checking zero the barrel isn't going to be consistent after cleaning.

Remember you want your bore in the same condition it was in when you fired your last round zeroing/checking zero otherwise your POI may move significantly.

 

[WildRose]

So it's not harmful in anyway to leave your barrel in a safe for a period of time with a few rounds down the pipe vs spotless and clean?

Nope

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but I'm sure I'm like many that has always been told to clean your barrel til your patch is clean, but now I'm reading the opposite. I'm just trying to educate myself and I'm always open to learn, hell just cause I've been doing one thing one way for 20yrs could very well mean I've been doing it wrong for 20yrs too.

jrg

Unless you are shooting cheap ammo imported from the former Eastern Block countries you don't need to. That mindset comes from the days of corrosive powders that would harm your bore.

 

[WildRose]

+1. It's called cold bore mapping. I go out and shoot the same target 10 times at my 200yrd. zero with at least one day inbetween shots to see if there is any point of impact change. All of my guns that I use for longer ranges will shoot MOA with a "clean bore shot", but much better after a fouler or two. If for some reason I must clean the bore during season I always send a few down the tube after cleaning. That's just my .02 and it works for me.

Yessir.

 

[Long Trang]

jrg,
Here's something you can try. Get a hold of the most concentrated isopropyl alcohol (meaning the highest percentage...I can't find anything higher than 91%) and the next time you clean your gun, leave it that way and take it to the range for a test shoot. Prior to firing with your perfectly clean and oiled barrel, clean the bore of whatever you use for storage with your solvent. Dry patch the solvent out then run a couple of patches of the alcohol followed by dry patches. Then test your zero from a clean cold bore.
A gunsmith told me what the real issue with 'fouling shots' is not that the rifle prefers to be dirty, but even after dry patching out the preservative in a bore, there remains a residue that will affect the internal ballistics until it is all burned out. Coincidently, the barrel is now fouled.
I've tested this with a few different percentage levels and the purer the alcohol, the tighter my cold bore zero was. The other 9% is additives which would likely interfere like any other type of oil based preservative.
I've heard nearly everyone claim that a dirty barrel won't harm your rifle, but I've spent too much coin on my custom made system and I have a difficult time accepting leaving my barrel fouled is 'good' for my weapon.
Good luck.

 

[jrg_80]

Thanks LT
I'm like you in the sense that I ask and wonder alot when it come to leaving my guns dirty "fouled" There are plenty of people out there that have more and more expensive guns than I do, but I have alot of work built up to afford the ones I do have and leaving anything to chance just makes me nervous about how much longer I'd have to work to replace that one that I took a chance on.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

jrg,
Here's something you can try. Get a hold of the most concentrated isopropyl alcohol (meaning the highest percentage...I can't find anything higher than 91%) and the next time you clean your gun, leave it that way and take it to the range for a test shoot. Prior to firing with your perfectly clean and oiled barrel, clean the bore of whatever you use for storage with your solvent. Dry patch the solvent out then run a couple of patches of the alcohol followed by dry patches. Then test your zero from a clean cold bore.
A gunsmith told me what the real issue with 'fouling shots' is not that the rifle prefers to be dirty, but even after dry patching out the preservative in a bore, there remains a residue that will affect the internal ballistics until it is all burned out. Coincidently, the barrel is now fouled.
I've tested this with a few different percentage levels and the purer the alcohol, the tighter my cold bore zero was. The other 9% is additives which would likely interfere like any other type of oil based preservative.
I've heard nearly everyone claim that a dirty barrel won't harm your rifle, but I've spent too much coin on my custom made system and I have a difficult time accepting leaving my barrel fouled is 'good' for my weapon.
Good luck.

There are some shooters who highly recommend against shooting jacketed bullets in a bone dry, alcohol stripped barrel. That leaves bare metal riding on bare metal until there is enough fouling to separate the two on follow up shots.

There isn't any legitimate reason why 2-3 fouling shots can't be left in the bore. I do it all the time in both factory barrels and on my full custom rifles with SS match barrels.

I'm open to hearing any opposing opinions on this.

 

[WildRose]

There are some shooters who highly recommend against shooting jacketed bullets in a bone dry, alcohol stripped barrel. That leaves bare metal riding on bare metal until there is enough fouling to separate the two on follow up shots.

There isn't any legitimate reason why 2-3 fouling shots can't be left in the bore. I do it all the time in both factory barrels and on my full custom rifles with SS match barrels.

I'm open to hearing any opposing opinions on this.

Bare metal riding on bare metal under intense heat and pressure never produces good results.

 

[Buffalobob]

There are some shooters who highly recommend against shooting jacketed bullets in a bone dry, alcohol stripped barrel.

Do they kill anything? Or do they just wander around the internet making recommendations.

I use alcohol in my barrels.

 

[WildRose]

Do they kill anything? Or do they just wander around the internet making recommendations.

I use alcohol in my barrels.

They don't make a living looking for suckers who will soon be in need of new barrels.

 

[Buffalobob]

Hunting season is coming up and we will see how my methods works out when there are animals to shoot. Or the curious can go back to past hunting seasons and see how it worked out for me in the past.

My normal hunting rifles are so over bore that if I get 500 rounds of accurate barrel life I will count it a good thing and if I get more then that is just extra gravy. My issues are carbon ring and throat erosion. Copper running over stainless steel at high speed is the least of my issues.