Barrel cleaning

[ThePunisher'sArmory]

How often should you clean your centerfire rifle's barrel? I've heard 20 rounds, 50 rounds, 100 round........What do you guys and gals think?

 

[Al Thompson]

Which one?

Bolt guns, ARs, levers, calibers, uses....

 

[HOLY DIVER]

Agree with Al we need more detail

 

[Motega]

When you are done shooting it. If I'm going back to the range the next day I might leave it or just blast it out with some bore blaster or G96 and swab it.
Cleaning your weapons breeds familiarity which is just as/more important than actually cleaning... in fact unless you use good stuff like Bore Tech's line I would say many folks do much, much more harm than good cleaning often.

 

[jhansman]

Mine get cleaned before they go back out. That may be more than necessary, but it makes me feel good.

 

[Art Eatman]

Having a bench rest on my front porch, I generally don't shoot many rounds at any one session. So, I usually just spray some WD40 on a patch and run it through the bore. I'll spray some gun oil on another patch and run it through if the rifle is going to be set away for a while. Every 50 or 200 rounds, I'll likely run some copper-cleaning #9 through the bore.

Never had much problem with degradation of group size that wasn't the fault of the idiot on the trigger...

 

[madcratebuilder]

The type of ammo has an effect on how often cleaning is required. I scrub for copper/lead fouling every 200-300 rds on center fires.

 

[saltydog452]

Just curious.

Solvents that claim to be the best ever at removing build-up in the barrels, do, or do not, play nice with brass/bronze brushes?

Do these same solvents melt plastic bristles?

For packing around, is the Otis cable 'pull-through' worth hauling around?

Thanks,

salty

 

[Byrd666]

The way I was brought up, you clean the weapon after it has been fired. Whether that was one round or a thousand rounds.

I've found that the "bore snake" makes that so much simpler.

 

[gdesloge]

"For packing around, is the Otis cable 'pull-through' worth hauling around?"

http://patchworm.com/patchworm.html

gd

 

[briansmithwins]

My guns get cleaned before and after I shoot them.

The before cleaning consists of running a pull-thru thru the bore to get any dust of dirt out of the barrel (I grew up in New Mexico and scratched several barrels by neglecting to patch them) and checking the lube or reoiling.

If I shoot one round or a case, the gun will at least get the bore wiped with a oily patch and the action oiled before I leave the range. I like to get oil on the gun while it's still warm from firing.

I don't get too wrapped up around getting the bore spotless. A few runs with a tight fitting brush and some patches and it's probably going to be good. Every few months I do a better cleaning using Breakfree bore cleaning foam, which is a decent copper solvent and very good powder fouling remover. It's also safe for gas actions.

BSW

 

[taliv]

Most of my ar15s get cleaned about every 3000-5000 rounds or so whether they need it or not

My 260AI hasn't been cleaned in about 1000 rnds and it's still shooting well enough to win matches. To be honest I was thinking about cleaning it though.

 

[FlyinBryan]

i usually clean mine every trip, which can be anywhere from just a couple hundred rounds up to 1k rounds.

 

[Afy]

Depends on the rifle. Milsurp when I am done shooting. BR between relays or every 20 shots, and a through scrub when I get home.

 

[Sky]

I know of rifles that have been shot thousands of rounds a month for over two years that have never (NEVER) been cleaned. A couple of squirts of Breakfree CLP and they are back on the line as a rental gun at the range. I truly do believe if the weapon is going into storage and not being shot then give it a good cleaning and oiling. If you are shooting every few days add some oil and get after it. Myself, do to a miss spent childhood (?) and the infrequent use of a particular rifle, I tend shoot and clean when I get home.

 

[Dark Skies]

I always run a patch through the bore before shooting - to remove any oil film.
Rifles always get cleaned the same day they were shot in varying degrees of urgency.

If I've been shooting my Mosin using milsurp it gets the whole boiling water, dry, clean, and lube treatment as soon as I get home.
Anything else gets a thorough clean with an Otis kit (I have one for each calibre) the same evening whilst watching telly.

I don't trust boresnakes - they're a sod to get out of a barrel if they snap. That isn't going to happen with an Otis cable.

I no longer use rods other than as poking sticks in an emergency as they can be a bit hard going on the breech / crown.