18 rounds: would you clean it?

[Steve51]

I usually just run a dry bore snake through my revolver cylinders and barrel until the round count get higher. When round count nears 100 or more, I would clean it.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I am not looking for an argument

Sure you are. Comparing benchrest rifle to plinking with a revolver? Not only were you looking for an argument you just lost any chance of being taken seriously in one.
It’s like all these guys who associate their butts to their guns. Literally being anal. Do they shower every time they pass gas, too?

 

[CraigC]

Benchrest is a different ballgame. They’re chasing thousandths of an inch. Do you think the minute things top fuel drag racers do to get fractions of a second applies to your average passenger car? I’ve also heard no one shows up at a rimfire bechrest match with a clean bore so context matters.

 

[BillTell]

I find myself using bore snake type cleaners more and more, especially when breaking in a new barrel. Great for a quick "clean" at the range in between shot strings, and taking out the loose crud and/or burrs. It also passes one way only, protecting the crown, and can easily be used with a semi auto or other action a rod can't do without removing the barrel and/or bolt. Then after a day at the range, if the guns are going to be put away for a while, a thorough cleaning. Shooting 18rds, and then going back for more shooting a couple days later? I'm snaking it a couple times and calling it good until the second range day, and then a thorough cleaning. Every gun in my safe is cleaned, lubed, and ready to rock.

 

[JTQ]

So maybe someone could enlighten me. When practicing these guys fire 3 to 5 shots and run a wet patch followed by a bore brush followed by more clean patches on a jag. Most are shooting a 6 PPC cartridge in some of the best barrel names out there. The rifles are far from inexpensive. So the question begs why do these people clean a barrel every 3 to 5 rounds on the bench?

Ron

How many rounds do they get through those barrels before they need to be replaced? Is the number measured in hundreds of rounds or is it measured in the 10's of thousands of rounds?

 

[Reloadron]

How many rounds do they get through those barrels before they need to be replaced? Is the number measured in hundreds of rounds or is it measured in the 10's of thousands of rounds?

Listening to them, I hear numbers like 2,000 but really don't know. Their rifles average $5,000 and up from there.

Look, granted this is a revolver question and in my earlier response I gave an answer where I clearly mentioned I would not bother cleaning after 18 rounds if I was planning to shoot in a day or two. My question was why these bench rest shooters are cleaning every 3 to 5 rounds, even in just practice. They apparently have their reasons. No, I was not looking for an argument I was looking for a reason. Lighten up and if we have a bench rest type here I hoped to hear from them.

Ron

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Listening to them, I hear numbers like 2,000 but really don't know. Their rifles average $5,000 and up from there.

Look, granted this is a revolver question and in my earlier response I gave an answer where I clearly mentioned I would not bother cleaning after 18 rounds if I was planning to shoot in a day or two. My question was why these bench rest shooters are cleaning every 3 to 5 rounds, even in just practice. They apparently have their reasons. No, I was not looking for an argument I was looking for a reason. Lighten up and if we have a bench rest type here I hoped to hear from them.

Ron

@Walkalong is one of those 6mm Dasher shooters so maybe he can help with modern practice but when I was (way WAY back in "The Day") briefly toying with long-range accuracy competition (we're talking early 80's with my first Remington 40X action and my first 275 Rigby - 7x57mm - outfitted for my first and last benchrest-built rifle) the reasons for that swab had nothing to do with "cleaning" in the sense discussed here: a thorough cleaning involving disassembly of major components and solvent prior to being put-away in the safe. Those swabs served four primary functions: clear copper fouling, cool the barrel, lubricate the bore, and maintain a "first shot from a cool barrel" POI. All barrels heat with firing; long-distance accuracy rifle barrels overheat in two or three rounds. The friction is that great as the long bearing surface of the bullet is pushed down the bore at considerable acceleration. NB: I said "acceleration" NOT "velocity." Note that and don't confuse the two, please. Acceleration is what increases frictional heating. You see, I had to be different and use a traditional "Continental" British-themed rifle because I thought it would spook the other shooters. Benchrest competitors are very superstitious people - no offense to our BR cuz's but y'all are a little "different". I quit after finding this out. I asked one of my fellow competitors who I knew well outside the range why all the shooters were wearing prone-style jackets when they really didn't need that fifth patch? His response was shocking. The previous year's National Champ had worn that jacket. He won so there must be something to it. Sure enough, the guys wearing the heavier jackets with leather patches on the off-hand elbow shot better than last season. I asked him if this year's champ wore three-day-old skid-marked tighty-whiteys... before I could finish he nodded and confirmed every guy on the line next year would be wearing three-days-unwashed tighty-whiteys and they'd make darn sure they were skid-marked. Now, maybe it's not like that anymore and the superstitious types have all fled the sport - or been replaced with more pragmatic folks - but you can bet your bottom dollar if the next couple of national champs run a oil-soaked swab down their bores after four shots instead of two, in no time at all every BR shooter will be running an oil-soaked swab after four shots and NEVER two or three.

Bottom line: there is zero, nada, not one iota of relationship between "cleaning your gun" and swabbing a benchrest rifle barrel between shot rounds. It ain't the same ball game, same park or even the same state of mind. I hope that's clear without being rude. I don't ever mean to be rude but sometimes come off that way when I get a little exasperation.

 

[Reloadron]

@Walkalong is one of those 6mm Dasher shooters so maybe he can help with modern practice but when I was (way WAY back in "The Day") briefly toying with long-range accuracy competition (we're talking early 80's with my first Remington 40X action and my first 275 Rigby - 7x57mm - outfitted for my first and last benchrest-built rifle) the reasons for that swab had nothing to do with "cleaning" in the sense discussed here: a thorough cleaning involving disassembly of major components and solvent prior to being put-away in the safe. Those swabs served four primary functions: clear copper fouling, cool the barrel, lubricate the bore, and maintain a "first shot from a cool barrel" POI. All barrels heat with firing; long-distance accuracy rifle barrels overheat in two or three rounds. The friction is that great as the long bearing surface of the bullet is pushed down the bore at considerable acceleration. NB: I said "acceleration" NOT "velocity." Note that and don't confuse the two, please. Acceleration is what increases frictional heating. You see, I had to be different and use a traditional "Continental" British-themed rifle because I thought it would spook the other shooters. Benchrest competitors are very superstitious people - no offense to our BR cuz's but y'all are a little "different". I quit after finding this out. I asked one of my fellow competitors who I knew well outside the range why all the shooters were wearing prone-style jackets when they really didn't need that fifth patch? His response was shocking. The previous year's National Champ had worn that jacket. He won so there must be something to it. Sure enough, the guys wearing the heavier jackets with leather patches on the off-hand elbow shot better than last season. I asked him if this year's champ wore three-day-old skid-marked tighty-whiteys... before I could finish he nodded and confirmed every guy on the line next year would be wearing three-days-unwashed tighty-whiteys and they'd make darn sure they were skid-marked. Now, maybe it's not like that anymore and the superstitious types have all fled the sport - or been replaced with more pragmatic folks - but you can bet your bottom dollar if the next couple of national champs run a oil-soaked swab down their bores after four shots instead of two, in no time at all every BR shooter will be running an oil-soaked swab after four shots and NEVER two or three.

Bottom line: there is zero, nada, not one iota of relationship between "cleaning your gun" and swabbing a benchrest rifle barrel between shot rounds. It ain't the same ball game, same park or even the same state of mind. I hope that's clear without being rude. I don't ever mean to be rude but sometimes come off that way when I get a little exasperation.

Thank you and that's what I was looking for. Reading this it was what they were doing. I never paid close enough attention and yes, I have noticed they can be superstitious. They swabbed the barrels, some may have run a bronze brush and then several patches on a jag. Now it all makes sense.

Thanks
Ron

I may have it wrong but I "think" (operative word) Walkalong also was shooting the 6 PPC at one point.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Thank you and that's what I was looking for. Reading this it was what they were doing. I never paid close enough attention and yes, I have noticed they can be superstitious. They swabbed the barrels, some may have run a bronze brush and then several patches on a jag. Now it all makes sense.

Thanks
Ron

I may have it wrong but I "think" (operative word) Walkalong also was shooting the 6 PPC at one point.

Yup, think you're right about 6 PPC. FWIW I still haven't cleaned those two .45's from Saturday. Probably won't now since I'm going back out Saturday with them and the new DS for a little informal load testing IF it's not raining cats-n-dogs. I'm going to try out True Blue (7.3gr-8.8gr in .5gr increments) with 200gr. X-Treme PRN for the first time and compare it to some known-good loads, a little lite and a little on the heavier side of AA#5 (8.0gr./9.6gr.) and my usual Red Dot (4.5gr) 200gr. LRN load. My bestest most favorite powder for 200gr. lead .45ACP is 4.5gr. of WST but I'm a little low on it and don't see any sense burning it up shooting cow pies and tin cans.

 

[Reloadron]

Yup, think you're right about 6 PPC. FWIW I still haven't cleaned those two .45's from Saturday. Probably won't now since I'm going back out Saturday with them and the new DS for a little informal load testing IF it's not raining cats-n-dogs. I'm going to try out True Blue (7.3gr-8.8gr in .5gr increments) with 200gr. X-Treme PRN for the first time and compare it to some known-good loads, a little lite and a little on the heavier side of AA#5 (8.0gr./9.6gr.) and my usual Red Dot (4.5gr) 200gr. LRN load. My bestest most favorite powder for 200gr. lead .45ACP is 5.0gr. of WST but I'm a little low on it and don't see any sense burning it up shooting cow pies and tin cans.

Hell, just enjoy! Looking at a few days of rain here but still have plenty of nice days before things are a frozen tundra. I like being retired as I finally have more time on the open rifle range. Winters drive me to the indoor ranges and I just found a really nice one.

Ron

 

[BillTell]

I know the Kimber line of rifles, Adirondack, Hunter, etc. which are sub 6lb. rifles, explicitly state that after 3 rounds, they want you to rest, because the barrel heats up and changes poi. These are thin barrels for weight reduction. Also, like I said on breaking in a barrel, I will clean progressively after groups of shots, starting with cleaning after 1 shot, then 2, then 3, etc. up to 10 shot groups, and then after every 10 shot group until 100 shots have gone through the barrel. That is to clear out any manufacturing burrs or "Micro-burrs" that may be left inside a brand new barrel. After that it's as I stated above. Just what I do, and that's as individual as wearing 3 day old tighty whitey's, with or without skid marks.

 

[tactikel]

My Dad started shooting in the 1920’s. Corrosive ammo abounded. He always stressed cleaning every time you fired even a single round. He was ex-Navy, every bit of gear had to be cleaned to “ship shape” prior to storage. It stuck. cleaning a weapon forces you to understand how it functions, inspect it for damage, and showing you respect it’s function may be lifesaving.

 

[pecosbill1950]

maybe someday they will make a gun that cleans itself.

 

[chicharrones]

I missed this thread until it got resurrected.

Non carry guns don’t get cleaned every outing.

Carry guns get cleaned any time they were fired so there is no question whether I fired it or not if those carry guns were to be inspected by LEOs at a later date.

 

[hdbiker]

Prolly not, but I would wipe it down and put it away

 

[spraay]

I don't normally clean a gun after a few magazines of ammo (50-ish rds), unless it's going to be put away for a while. I took my new P229 to the range to break it in a little, shooting about 150 rds, and I did strip it and clean it after that.

 

[Bazoo]

I’d have done the norm for me, which is wipe the soot off with a rag. Sometimes I’ll actually clean a gun, but mostly it’s only a time or two a year for an actual cleaning, the other times it’s a wipe down and relube.

 

[roval]

not if i am sure i would shoot it that soon. i may just wipe down the exterior. i normally shoot 100 rds or more ( prepandemic) whenever i take out a revolver. 18 rds is just the start of a range session.

 

[JTQ]

Just a data point "After 6000 rounds I cleaned my gun with a paper towel" http://www.slip2000.com/blog/after-6000-rounds-i-cleaned-my-gun-with-a-paper-towel/

I happened to notice SLIP2000 shuffled their website and the above link is bad. Here is the new link

https://slip2000.com/blogs/news/after-6000-rounds-i-cleaned-my-gun-with-a-paper-towel

 

[Carl N. Brown]

^^^OK. The gun was cleaned and lubed, then fired about a 1000 rounds a day over the period of a week, with a little lube between each day's sessions. At the end of 6000 rounds and the week, he wiped the gun clean with a paper towel.

I can see that happening.

On the other hand, I have seen guns that were thoroughly fouled, not cleaned, that set up solid after a period of time.

If I am shooting black powder or black powder substitute or military cartridges with corrosive primers, I clean thoroughly less than seven hours after shooting.

If I am shooting smokeless powder non corrosive primers, planning on shooting that gun again in a week, I'll wipe all rustable external surfaces with a paper towel and oil. Bore cleaning if the gun will be idle for a month or more. Thorough cleaning if the gun is going into storage.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

If I am shooting black powder or black powder substitute or military cartridges with corrosive primers, I clean thoroughly less than seven hours after shooting.

Careful, Carl. You're going to get yourself scolded by The Cowboys. Cleaning a black powder revolver or rifle is totally unnecessary if you "prepare" it the "right way." Done been told so by the experts.

I think sticking with the old adage, "Do what works for you" applies here*. If armory-stripping and cleaning with a Q-Tip after handling is your thing, do it. If leaving it in the holster hanging on the bed post after every shooting session and you only clean once a year - with a Kleenex - fine. What ever works for you.

* if that's not an old adage, it should be.

 

[Elkins45]

I missed this thread until it got resurrected.

Non carry guns don’t get cleaned every outing.

Carry guns get cleaned any time they were fired so there is no question whether I fired it or not if those carry guns were to be inspected by LEOs at a later date.

Same here.