Cold bore shot vs. rest of group

[sniper725]

cold bore zero

I see alot of guys talking about their cold shots being off. Many think that fouling their barrels and leaving them dirty will cure their cold bore shot. In my experience,...it will help very little. Shooter have to understand why the cold shot is going to be off from their hot bore zero. As many know, when steel is heated, it expands and contorts. A rifle barrel does the same thing and this effects the bullet strike from the cold bore shot to the following shots as the barrel heats up.

Police snipers run strictly on a cold bore zero. They do not have the oportunity to take "fouling shots" and their first shot has to surgical. Peoples lives depend on it! They also keep their rifle in tip-top ( clean bore ) shape for the aforementioned reason. Hunters often only one shot at their game also ( a cold bore shot ) and not knowing their cold bore zero is confusing to me.

Below I have listed some exercises that may be of use to a shooter that might be interested in running a cold bore zero and actually knowing where his first shot is going to be.

First, if you are not already doing it, clean your bore only with a lead and copper cleaner, never any kind of oil and never with a steel brush. After cleaning, you can use a patch soaked with rubbing alcohol to clean any residual cleaning solution that is left in the bore. Do not introduce oil into the barrel unless the rifle is going into storage for an EXTENDED length of time.

Maintain a COLD BORE ONLY target. This target will recieve only recieve the first shot of the day. The only exception is when the rifle has been shot, then cleaned and allowed to completely cool...at least one hour in the shade. This shooter should take great care and make sure the shot is the best that he or she is capable of. SAVE THIS TARGET! Use it on your next range session for the first cold shot ( with your clean,happy rifle ) and then for the the first shot of the next range session etc. Soon you will see where your true cold bore shot is going to be and can adjust for it.

Things to remember when building your cold bore only target. CONSISTANCY! Everything you do on this target should be the same. Range, ammo, clean barrel, and cold barrel. I hear alot of you out there say that their cold shots are going in the same holes as the previous cold shot. Yes,...this should be happening. Make your dope change off of this cold bore target. You will then be running off a cold bore zero. Always keep a cold bore zero target to prove your zero to yourself at each range session but remember, it is strictly reserved for the cold shot.

 

[streetstang67]

What lead/copper cleaner do you suggest?...Currently all I really use to clean my rifle is Rem oil and a bore snake.

 

[skinnyguy]

Streetstang, It's a wood stock, made in '95. I really don't want a synthetic stock on it, it's a beautiful piece of work as it is.

 

[atomchaser]

Sniper725 has the best advice I've seen yet in this thread. I've been wrestling with to 6.5x55 rifles over the past couple months to get them were I think they should be, and I think I'm going to try his approach. Welcome to the THR, Sniper725!

 

[sniper725]

cleaners

Thanks for the nice comments ATOMCHASER. The best bore cleaner I have used is Shooters Choice. Keep the Rem-Oil away from your bore ( it has Teflon in it) and will kill accuracy. I have never used a bore snake but I personally would not use one. If you would like a simple and effective cleaning habit, here it is

1. On a warm bore ( not hot ) run a soaked patch of Shooters Choice through the bore and let soak for 15 minutes.

2. with a coated or carbon rod, with brush attatched, stroke the bore one
pass for each shot taken.

3. Take a soaked patch and run it through the bore

4. take clean dry patches and run them until you get absolutely clean
patches coming out

5. soak a patch in rubbing alcohol and run this patch

6. with a last clean patch, run the bore one last time

Do not introduce any oil in the bore !!....Leave it dry


Like I said earlier , I have not used a Bore Snake but it sounds like alot of guys have them. I know that in the sniper community they are not used. I think the aforementioned system would work better for a bolt gun.

 

[ctdonath]

Many think that fouling their barrels and leaving them dirty will cure their cold bore shot.

Who? There may be two conversations at crossing purposes (clean/dirty, cold/hot), but I don't see anyone saying a dirty bore will "cure" a cold bore shot.

Both a cold and a clean bore can throw a round off; can't do much about the first in a pinch, but you can prevent the latter easily. It's not that one is a "cure", it's that reducing the variables reduces error.

 

[sniper725]

The bore should be absolutely clean. Bottom Line

You can leave yours as coppered and fouled as you want. Its your rifle and your accuracy. I am not going to get lured into the bore cleaning agrument.

Just understand, the more the coppering and fouling accumulate in the bore, the more the condition of the bore changes which equals less consistancy.

 

[R.W.Dale]

The bore should be absolutely clean. Bottom Line

WHY?

Some of us fire more than one shot per trip to the range.

 

[wanderinwalker]

I know I'm not a majority, but I am pretty lazy about cleaning the bore on my AR-15 match gun. Sometimes I'll gladly let it run a couple of practices and matches between cleanings. Doesn't bother me at all. So far I have noticed no detectable accuracy advantage to having it clean, and sometimes I swear it shoots better fouled! Last week I shot most of a 20-shot prone string into a sub-2 MOA group from 300 yards, and the last time I had cleaned the rifle period was 300+ rounds before. While not a super-tight example, it's enough to prove to me I'm not going to worry about it, WITH THIS RIFLE.

I keep the chamber swabbed and just run run run. Oh, and lube the bolt and carrier.

As for other rifles, try and see what works best for you. So far I'm mostly at shoot half a box after cleaning and then leave it for a while with just about every rifle I've had. Yours may be different. My next one may want to be spotlessly clean. Just keep a good log and see what you need to do.

Oh, and I'm convinced that having a free-floating barrel helps alleviate cold-to-hot stringing. But that's just my $.02, others may have found different.

 

[ctdonath]

Eh...what?

sniper725, you've only got 3 post here. That's a little early to take on that tone.

 

[sniper725]

having a clean bore and a rifle with a cold bore zero does not mean that you cannot fire more than your cold bore when you go to the range. It simply means that your rifle is zeroed for the first shot. If you know that after shot numbers 3-5 , your group settles 1 MOA high and 1 MOA left, simply throw that dope into the scope and run with it.

After the dust settles and you are done, clean that thing and reset to your cold bore zero.

 

[sniper725]

IMO

more posts do not = more knowledge

I am sorry that you do not agree with me on cleaning your bore.
Are you sure the head instructor at "storm mountain" had 30,000 rounds through his .308 ? that could be just a hair over the life of the barrel, I wonder if it looked like a smooth shotgun bore in there?..........


I

 

[USSR]

The bore should be absolutely clean. Bottom Line

You can leave yours as coppered and fouled as you want. Its your rifle and your accuracy. I am not going to get lured into the bore cleaning agrument.

Just understand, the more the coppering and fouling accumulate in the bore, the more the condition of the bore changes which equals less consistancy.

Hmmm. I would say that it depends alot on the quality of the barrel. In the 1,000 yard F Class matches that I shoot (about 50 rounds), my Krieger barrel at the end of a match shows near zero copper fouling when I run Montana Extreme .50BMG solvent thru it. Many factory barrels, on the other hand, will copper up in just a handful of shots, and accuracy will fall off. Also, I'd just like to add, there is a reason why tactical rifles have heavy contour barrels. Here is a 5 shot group fired from my FN SPR, which INCLUDES a cold bore shot.

Don

 

[ctdonath]

more posts do not = more knowledge

Wasn't my point.

When you join a group for conversation, 'tis best to establish a friendly and tactful rapport before degrading & demeaning the regulars.

 

[sniper725]

I absolutely agree with USSR. Size and quality does matter. I have seen many custom tatical rifle's cold bore shot catch the rest of the group right on top of it. The straying of the cold shot will vary from out to a couple MOA to absolutely nothing at all. Nice group on that SPR Don.

Oh...ctdonath....if you feel like you are being degraded and demeaned, please tuck that string in and go get a hug from someone. You will be fine,....scout's honor.