Clean Barrel Syndrome

[Bowhntr]

Anyone ever heard of "clean barrel syndrome". I am serious...LOL I had a buddy tell me that the next time we go to the range to not bring my cleaning kit. He said that the more you shoot a rifle barrel without cleaning it the tighter groups it will shoot. To me that goes against everything that I have been taught and want. I want my first bullet out of the barrel to be the most accurate then fall off until the next cleaning. I just can't see leaving a rifle barrrel dirty to make it more accurate.

[LifeNRA]

Ill clean my rifle after the season is over. Don't shoot it that much during the summer. Once the season approaches. Ill fire a few rounds, if happy with the groupings. I again wait till the season is over, before cleaning it. 3 to 5 rounds a year will not make THAT bad that you need to clean it after every session of shooting! Now if your shooting every week, thats a different story. Yes, I would be cleaning it after every session! Rifling gets fouled and bullet accuracy will be drastically reduced! But for me, I only fire a few rounds before the season to check zero.

[wtnhunt]

With my deer rifle I prefer to hunt with the rifle with the barrel not freshly cleaned and not unfired since the last cleaning. My best accuracy is usually after the first round has been fired from the rifle cleaned. Usually after a good cleaning, the first shot will not be as tight in the groupings, so I will usually clean about a month or so before season opens, then fire the rifle a couple times and put it up and it is then ready to go.

[Strut10]

He said that the more you shoot a rifle barrel without cleaning it the tighter groups it will shoot.

And the longer you go between oil changes the better your car will run, too.

Some guns really do need a "fouling shot" to settle them into the groove. But to shoot a rifle 'til it's dirty then keep shooting it and expecting tighter groups?? No. Some guns foul faster and worse than others. But they all foul and it affects accuracy........both in the short-run and the long.

Clean your bore.

[David_218]

Ill clean my rifle after the season is over. Don't shoot it that much during the summer. Once the season approaches. Ill fire a few rounds, if happy with the groupings. I again wait till the season is over, before cleaning it. 3 to 5 rounds a year will not make THAT bad that you need to clean it after every session of shooting! Now if your shooting every week, thats a different story. Yes, I would be cleaning it after every session! Rifling gets fouled and bullet accuracy will be drastically reduced! But for me, I only fire a few rounds before the season to check zero.

I also fire a few rounds before the season to check zero. Then just wipe the barrel with cleaning patch. NO OIL on patch.

[Leo]

I've found certain bore solvents do indeed change your zero slightly. It takes a couple "fouling" shots to get that effect to go away. Then the rifle is usually consistent then for quite a few shots before zero changes again indicating it needs cleaning. It is particular to the weapon and load you are using how many "true" shots you will get between cleaning.

After trying many bore solvents, the stuff I've found that changes zero the least is "Shooter's Choice". You do need to FOLLOW THE CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS on the bottle exactly for desired results.

Regardless, you should always run dry patches through the bore after cleaning to insure you are leaving no wet residue in the bore. That means you run clean dry patches through until they go in clean and dry and come out clean and dry.

Wet oil or solvent left in the bore before shooting can damage the rifling.

I know some folks who are sold on "Wipe Out" but I haven't trying it yet.

[spyderpancake]

It all depends on the gun..I have a 6.5x55 that will only shoot 20-25 shots until those long bullets start feeling the fouling and begin opening up my groups. However, my brothers Rem 700 PSS doesn't start shooting it's best until it has had several rounds thru it-he shoots long-range competitions and regularly goes 100-150 shots without cleaning it. Just spend time with your rifle to find out! Most rifles will experience a shift in point-of-impact if there is oil in the bore though...I never hunt without at least one fouling shot after cleaning.

[PA_RIDGE_RUNNER]

After a thorough bore cleaning I always oil it for storage. This goes for my muzzleloaders and my modern guns. Something I always do before I shoot my muzzleloaders is I run a 91% isoprople alcohol soaked patch through the bore followed by two dry ones. I also do the same thing between shots and get great accuracy. I usually take a fouling shot with my modern rifles but plan on trying the alcohol procedure to see if the first shot is in the group of those that follow. I wonder if the fouling shot is really an oil cleanout shot and that is the reason for it not to hit with the rest.