How many rounds before cleaning barrel?

[BluegrassDan]

I'm just curious how many rounds you will put through a rifle before cleaning.

I'm shooting a Kimber 84M, in .308 Win. It's a deer rifle for sure, and it can group .5 moa off of bags. How many rounds would you put through a hunting rifle before cleaning the barrel with either a powder solvent OR copper solvent?

 

[R.W.Dale]

I don't clean such rifles till the accuracy starts to fall off

Sometimes this may be a few hundred rounds later some guns just a couple boxes of ammo

But as a hunting rifle if it gets wet or damp it gets cleaned

 

[rduckwor]

I agree with krochus. Sometimes cleaning is more harmful than fouling.

RMD

 

[thisisoriginal]

Unless you're using surplus rifles with corrosive ammo honestly I wouldn't touch the bore too often. My brother just used brown bear 7.26x54r in his mosin and we looked at the bore after 40 rounds, clean as a whistle...now my mauser using corrosive ammo for some reason the bore looked like I just shoved dirt in it. BTW, his mosin was shooting awesome. 50yrds, standing up, iron sights, top left corner of a 2 inch orange dot..about 3 rounds in the same spot. not bad

 

[brettrow]

Maybe cleaning with bronze brushes would be harmful over time, but nylon brushes are pretty gentle as nylon should, theoretically, not harm a bore. I clean after 15 shots or so with gunslick foam and hoppes elite especially if Im using all copper ammo. Then prolix and dry patch it. Then I put two fouling shots through it. If Im using hornady GMX or other all copper bullets it fouls more then if I use hornady interlocks. I use nylon brush maybe every 40 shots and since I use my rifles for hunting, takes me a year or two. And its a gentle one or two strokes. I recommend a bore guide.

 

[kaferhaus]

you can't just look down the bore (without a proper borescope) and tell if it's dirty or not... carbon deposits get laid into the barrel along with copper that is invisible without a scope.

The longer it sits there the harder it is to get out.... most guys never get it all out because they don't know how to clean a barrel properly anyway.

Having said that, most rifles shoot best with a few fouling shots down the bore. All of my benchrest rifles need 3-4 fouling shots after cleaning to get them "settled" in before shooting for record. But these rifles get cleaned between every string because accuracy DOES start to fall off at about 20rds. Not enough for a hunter to worry about but death for a benchrest shooter.

I clean my hunting rifles at the range with the bore still warm at least every 20rds. After I'm done practicing, working up loads etc IF that rifle is going to be headed to the hunting grounds I put 3-4 shots through it at the end of the session and put it back in the case.

I've cleaned plenty of "clean" rifles that a customer or buddy is complaining about accuracy falling off on only to find them filthy with burn/caked on carbon and copper deposits. Some have been so fouled that it took the better part of a day to get them clean. And these guys "clean" their rifles regularly. Just not correctly.

You may think that accuracy hasn't fallen off after 50 or so shots but your thinking is mis-guided unless you're shooting a very worn out bore to begin with.... in that case the fouling may be tightening it up a bit..... I've seen some old surplus rifles that shot buck shot patterns until they were well fouled. Then they were only bad groups....LOL

 

[thisisoriginal]

Cleaning after every 20 rounds is such overkill IMO.

 

[jmr40]

After hunting season unless it gets wet.

During the Spring and Summer I tend to spend a lot of time at the range practicing and playing around with different loads. During this time I'll clean it once a month or so since it is being shot a lot

Once I get everything set where I want it, I clean it up real good then make 1 more range trip to make sure something has not changed before hunting season begins. I won't clean it unless it gets wet again until after the season ends. Which is pretty long here in GA. about 3 1/2 months. If I have to remove the action from the stock I'll not hunt with that rifle until I've re-checked the zero at the range. I'll use another rifle until then.

 

[CHEVELLE427]

ill use a bore snake after a day at the range and give the gun a good cleaning after a few hundred rounds,

my carry gun i clean it after every range day or once a month give it a good looking over,
trap gun (bore snake) after a day of trap and a wipe down

a 22 might clean it good after a few thousand rounds
(that could be days to months just depends)

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I clean the bore after every range trip regardless of number of rounds fired.

 

[brettrow]

How can it be overkill if your not using a harsh bore brush every time? A "liquid" cleaning with just solvents is not going to degrade the bore in my opinion, and a dry patch wont hurt the bore. And assuming it does not harm the bore, and the gun shoots better when its pretty clean with 2-3 shots through it rather than after 30 shots have been through it uncleaned, then I think I owe it to the animal to make sure my rifle is shooting as good as possible. Depending on the ammo you use, the diameter of the bore does begin to change as it gets fouled up and accuracy will suffer in my opinion. Now if you mean over kill in the sense of it takes time out of your day to clean the rifle then I would say I have no life, lol, and so taking 30 minutes to clean my rifle every 20 shots or so is ok. To each his own.

 

[Slamfire]

I am worried about rust. So I will always use a solvent to dissolve the powder particles when I come back from the range.

I run a copper bristle brush down the tube, it saturated in GI bore cleaner. GI bore cleaner is not a copper solvent so it does not eat up the bristles. When I run out of GI bore cleaner I will mix up Ed's Red.

I wipe all the solvent out and push an oily patch and the barrel is good for storage for months.

As long as I use a bore guide, I am not going to add any wear to the throat or muzzle.

I am not going to use JB again until the barrel starts losing accuracy. That stuff is an abrasive and should only be used sparingly.

A fellow shooter was telling me he used JB ever 1000 rounds. He has 5000 rounds on his M1a match barrel and it will still hold the ten ring at 600 yards.

 

[kaferhaus]

A fellow shooter was telling me he used JB ever 1000 rounds. He has 5000 rounds on his M1a match barrel and it will still hold the ten ring at 600 yards.

Go to a bench rest match sometime.... JB is used by most shooters between relays.... you could likely start patching JB down your bore today and not stop until the die you died and not affect the bore...... it'd be really clean though. Obviously I'm kidding..

It's a very, very mild abrasive that I've used for many years. Every time I clean bore it gets JB pushed through it.

 

[CraigC]

Rarely. If you ain't using corrosive primers or blackpowder, there is simply no reason (other than old habits and brainwashing) to clean any sporting gun every time you shoot it.

 

[CoRoMo]

Rarely.

Agreed. I can't even remember the last time, if ever, that I ran patches of solvent down the barrels of my .270 rifles, or screwed the brush onto my cleaning rod. Sure, I'll slip a dry BoreSnake through them once or twice a year, just to make sure there ain't anything in there, but that's about it.

 

[bhk]

How do you guys who rarely clean your bores prevent rust? Just sheer humidity combined with powder resider can cause this to happen if you live in a damp climate. It doesn't require rain or snow. When examining bores in gun shops and gun shows, it is absolutey amazing how many have pitted bores.

I clean mine after each shooting session and then run an oily patch down the bore followed by a dry one. Enough oil remains this way to prevent rust but not seriously effect the next shot. Many times this is not an involved, detailed process involving harsh solvents and brushes, but just a quick procedure to prevent that dreaded rust. Now, if you live in dry Arizona or Wyoming, this may be an unnecessary worry.

 

[CraigC]

How do you guys who rarely clean your bores prevent rust?

I've never worried about rust, nor has it ever been an issue. Especially with guns that see mostly cast bullets. I lived in Florida for 32yrs and never had an issue with rust.

Pitted bores are usually from blackpowder or corrosive primers.

 

[sansone]

at the very least, I pull a boresnake through after each day of shooting. I avoid rod-cleaning because the muzzle entry has me concerned about crown damage. After 100rds I like to use a mild polish like JB. After polishing the groups are tighter

 

[kaferhaus]

Probably the same guys that when selling a rifle advertise it as "well maintained"....

Also why I never buy a used rifle without running a bore scope down the tube... you'd be amazed at the BS coming out of sellers mouths.... "yeah it's had less than a box shot through it" and there's enough copper in the bore to set up a small mining operation...

years ago before I knew any better I'd just put a bore light in one end and take a peek.... you really can see much and if a guy ran a oily patch down the bore it'll look all nice and shiny... only to get them home and after a good cleaning find all the pits and fire cracked throat....

If you've never gotten it clean you have no idea whether it's pitted or not. but then again if you don't care it really doesn't matter.

I care too much about my equipment than to abuse it.

 

[Ronsch]

Clean them as soon as I come off of the range, or from the field after hunting...Regardless of whether I fired a round or not.

I also have a PM schedule that I use at home to wipe down everything in storage, and check the bores in between range sessions.

I do not want any nasty surprises...

 

[CraigC]

I care too much about my equipment than to abuse it.

As do I and what is normal "maintenance" to one is abuse to another.

 

[jmr40]

Reference post #8 above. I have rifles I've owned 35 years that have been cleaned the same way since new. Still 1/2 MOA and no rust. If you enjoy cleaning your rifles then have at it. As long as it is done carefully it won't hurt. But I've seen more rifles ruined by improper cleaning than neglect.

 

[BrocLuno]

Clean and light oil once a year for storage. Dry patch before shooting at the range. Clean again after a longish range session(s) - say 50 round or so. KG-12 if there is any copper. Bronze brush on all "new" to me guns. Lots of light shining and looking. Not enough money for a bore scope (yet)

We cleaned in the Army. Not sure if it was something to do, or a way to keep us all familiar with our Mattel rifles? Our 16's had chrome bores, and we still cleaned them?

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Im with Ronsch here. If my weapon left the house, it gets cleaned when it comes back in the house. Call it brainwashing, waste of time, whatever. I have never had a pitted bore or rust issue from any of my weapons so that tells me I am doing something right. Before I take one on a hunt, I will generally fire a couple of fouling shots on a couple of them (old .303 and an old K98 Mauser 8mm) because they are the original barrels and while still in really good shape rifling wise, they shoot better after 2 fouling shots.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I never clean until accuracy starts to fall off. I just depends on the rifle. Rust has never been a problem even with our humidity in fl.