For those who NEVER clean their bore, or almost never

You need a bore scope.




this is how fake news gets shared all over the net. You read or heard about this or that.

I started shooting competitively in 1968, and stated shooting p. dogs in the late 70's, rock chucks, jack rabbits, and ground squirrels. I went through many, many thousands of rounds a year. I have had access to a bore scope since the late 80's. My p. dog hunting partner and I used to order 10 Hart barrels at a time.

I have looked down the bore of a few tikka's and they can not hold a candle to the quality of a Brux, Lilja, Krieger, Hart, Shilen, Bartline, etc.

If you are serious about your accuracy, buy a bore scope, clean your barrel, measure the over all length of the bullet to the lands, frequently and maintain that distance as the leade grows. Chronograph the most accurate load tested, and over time when the bore wears, you will have to add a few tenths more powder to bring up the pressure to where it once was.


I didn't mean they have smooth bores in a universal sense, but it's generally said they're really smooth for a factory barrel. Of course they won't hold a candle to a quality aftermarket barrel. It's not much different than the fake news that was spread verbally at the local hangout 30 years ago before this forum existed ;)
 
Ryan, you are correct. In most cases the Tika barrels are very nice. Barrel quality on a lot of factory rifles have come a long ways in the past 10 years, Ruger Mark II Stainless are extremely nice compared to when Bill Ruger was living.

For many of us on this site, 1.5 MOA at 600 yards is Recurve Bow Accuracy. Thus the discussion on Bore scope used in conjunction with cleaning techniques, which goes hand in hand with Cartridge OAL to the lands. Start at the Start.
 
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I cleaned my bore really well after 275 rounds. I first used hoppes 9 to remove the powder to see how much copper fouling there was near the muzzle and I only saw a few very small streaks in the grooves. After doing an intensive clean, I shot 20 rounds at the range, then cleaned after those 20 rounds. I did the same thing, using hoppes 9 first to remove the powder. After doing this, I could see two large long copper fouling streaks on two of the lands. This is different than all the other times I've cleaned the bore. When I was in the habit of cleaning after every range trip of 20-25 rounds, there wouldn't be much, if any copper fouling near the muzzle that I could see.

So, I'm wondering if I did something during the intensive clean to cause this, or if it's due to leaving the bore untouched for 275 rounds, or if it's due to a slightly hotter powder charge.

With my cleaning after the 275 rounds, I did a few rounds of using sharp shootr acclerator and tactical advantage, some bronze brushing (very gently), a few rounds of foaming wipe out and accelerator, and I also used CLR a couple of times. Yes, the CLR that you use for removing hard water scale. I've used it before for removing hard carbon and it does seem to remove some carbon that other solvents won't. I didn't leave it in the bore more than 5 minutes and only used it a couple of times. All the reports I've seen of using CLR in a stainless bore note that there is no damage to the bore (verified by other's use of a bore scope). Also, I've got a quality bore guide and a coated rod that I wipe every time I remove it from the bore. So, I'm pretty sure that I didn't damage the bore in any way when cleaning. One thing I had been doing while not cleaning the bore, was spinning a .338 caliber bronze brush with a patch wrapped around it to clean the neck part of my chamber. I know I got a little too far in some times, hitting the lands, but I was doing it by hand gently, so I don't think I would have caused any damage there.

So in seeing the large copper fouling streaks after only 20 rounds, is it more likely:

The near max load I was shooting through those 20 rounds causing more copper deposition down the bore?
Scratching of the bore from shooting down a dirty bore for 275 rounds?
Damage to the lands from when I was cleaning the chamber neck area causing more copper deposition down the bore?

I guess it's all just guesswork without having a bore scope. But when putting a solvent or oil patch down the bore, it feels very smooth all the way.
 
Ryan, you really need a Teslong bore scope. I would not know where to start in some of the assumptions you are making. For about $80, you can become your own expert with each particular barrel you own, each one will have it's own quirks.
 
I started to get flyers that I didn't normally have.
The carbon ring was giving me a false CBTO measurement. Once I cleaned the carbon ring out, I found that my true CBTO measurement showed me that I had lost .025" of my lands.
Once I readjusted to my original .024" off the lands, the flyers went away and started shooting tight groups again.


I had a similar experience when I first started handloading. My cbto changed 0.037" from what I initially measured.
 
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