Pre-Hunt cleaning/shooting ritual?

I have several pre-hunting rituals..........Night before opening day we have a big poker game and set up a big buck contest and rules for our hunting group...........Once the season starts my morning pre-hunting ritual is to make a big ol cup of coffee (other wise I never touch the stuff) Afternoon pre-hunting rituals always start out with a long talk with a man about a dog.
 
I live in Virginia so humidity is a thing. I tried the "put it away dirty" thing for a test ONCE. Never again. Punched the barrel after a few months with a dry patch and it came out orange. Was it the steel, maybe. Rifle was a Remington 5R 300WM. Still shot fine.

Depending on the cartridge, most get cleaned at about 20-40 rounds. I try to pay attention to the throat as well to help keep it happy. I will leave them dirty for a week or so if I know I am doing load development or will shoot again soon, but not for extended periods of time.

Once I develop a load for a hunting rifle, I map the cold/clean bore and the cold/dirty bore. I will figure out where the rifle likes to shoot with one shot and a follow up. Some can be squeaky clean and have one holers, others need a few down the tube. I try to keep it to where I know it was when I mapped the cold bores. Most go afield with about 10 or so cold bore shots on them but not much more.

I watched some videos where they don't clean for quite a few rounds, but the guy is in Texas and probably shoots a few times a week. If going in the safe for a bit, mine go away clean... Hunting will be fouled but not excessively.
 
For my whitetail hunts with my Weatherby Ultralight , in 270 Win. S/S Krieger Factory barrel. I will go to the range between 5 and 6 times prior to the hunt. I will shoot between 20 and 25 rounds each time I go, then come home and Clean the rifle after each range session !! Then, on the last range session just prior to the hunt, I will shoot 10 or 12 rounds and take 10 rounds from that batch with me on that hunt , but this time I leave the rifle as is. I do not clean it after the last range session.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2569Weathwrby Ultralight Pic 1 Dec 24th  2019.JPG
    IMG_2569Weathwrby Ultralight Pic 1 Dec 24th 2019.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 35
Just as a matter of interest my custom APRS rifle put the first clean shot right where it puts the 50th, now my Savage 10 needs a bit more attention, 2 fouling shots then 8 shots will group tight then repeat otherwise it will open up, I only pull a bore snake through for that process, both of these rifles are in .308 for comparison.

It pays to put range time in mapping how your particular platform behaves in the conditions you are likely to encounter.
 

Recent Posts

Top