Cold bore vs clean bore...same thing?

[Deleted member 107666]

After a good cleaning, my rifle takes 10 or so rounds to get good and fouled and shoot. Is that a cold bore or clean bore issue?

I didnt clean at all between my last trip and still threw 1st shot high.

Shooting where I want it at 800 yards with a warm barrel and about 40 rounds since last cleaning. This is my last range trip before a hunt in 2 weeks.

Do I run a wet patch or two through it? Or just leave it? Hate to have a question in my mind about a clean vs fouled poi shift.

Any reason to not just put it in the safe fouled?

 

[Canhunter35]

Leave it fouled if it's more consistent. Smokeless powder doesn't hurt barrels. My 22-250 gets fired periodically throughout the year at varmints and I only clean it every couple years and it shoots with wicked accuracy.

Some barrels need fouling to level out inconsistency's before shooting well

 

[Remmy700]

That's pretty common brother. Some rifles will foul out with 2 rounds some will take 10 or more. All barrels have their own personality and the same goes for cold bore shot. I clean my hunting sticks after each season. When I pull them out I always take them out and check my zero and what not but always make sure to shoot some rounds out to dirty them up for the upcoming season and don't touch them again unless there is some specific reason I need to.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Clean bore and cold bore are not the same thing.

Foul it, and Zero for cold bore, because we all know only the 1st shot counts when hunting.

 

[Andrew Massi]

Leave it fouled

 

[the blur]

Cleaning is over rated.

 

[BrentM]

How long did it sit? Example i notice carbon changes over a few days to a week and looks and feels more chalky. I run a dry bore snake and remove that when I hit the field.

Also, did you test the 1st shot high after letting the barrel cool and repeating the process, or was it after it sat for a week plus?

 

[jrock]

Leave it alone. I would be making another range trip or two to confirm cold/fouled bore POI. I always do that testing and I keep the targets for future reference.

 

[Rick Richard]

Just pay attention to what your barrel prefers. Most all my barrels shoot the best when fouled, however I have one that shots best when cleaned...go figure.

 

[memtb]

I try to clean our hunting rifles every few years.....however, they do not get shot a lot. Maybe we're just "**** poor" hunters! I actually cleaned ours last week....now I need to "foul" them and reverify the zeros for our upcoming hunts! memtb

 

[jrock]

How is your rifle bedded? I've run into a few guns that weren't bedded properly and had funny POI shift on the first few shots regardless of cleanliness.

 

[Tiny Tim]

If possible, make a couple more visits to the range. Leave the barrel fouled and pay particular attention to the poi of the first shot. I've gone to shoot a few rounds day after day, watching where the first shot hits compared to the others. It's a pain, but you will know without a doubt what your rifle does. If it's inconsistent, you likely have a problem that needs to be resolved. Worst I ever had was first shot 3" high at 100 yds. When it did this, it was time to clean, but it would change to this after a very specific and consistent number of rounds.

 

[BKM]

Ten rds seems pretty excessive to me. Jrock touched on a bedding issue possibly and I agree their could be an issue. Take these guys advice. Make a couple more trips to the range and know for sure where ur first rd hits out of a fouled, cold bore. We owe it to the animal and ourselves.

 

[Andrew Cowling]

Sounds like you have a poor quality barrel. All of mine are great quality and wether it is clean cold, dirty cold or hot cold the first and last shot are at the same point of aim regardless.

If yours take a few shots to settle down then there is discrepancies in thay bore. However, more commonly the issue is a bedding problem that settles down after a few shots.

It has been my belief that clean well maintained and properly run in barrels stay clean for longer and maintain that accuracy for longer.