Never Clean your Barrel?????

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Turftech1

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Hi all,

I was watching a video on how to maintain a semi-auto rifle. The purported expert cleaned the bolt, bolt face the receiver area, but he didn't clean the barrel, and said he never cleaned ANY of his barrels, even the ones that shot corrosive ammo, and he claimed that his rifles just became more and more accurate the more they were shot without cleaning the barrel.

Anyone ever encountered this school of thought?

I clean my barrels regularly. On my mil-surps that shoot corrosive ammo, I clean them after every outing.

Anyone here never clean their barrels?
 
I clean my barrels regularly. On my mil-surps that shoot corrosive ammo, I clean them after every outing.
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For starters, no I do not clean my barrels regularly. I usually clean them about once a year except for .22, which I very rarely clean. I've had my Marlin model 60 for about 10 years now and I can count on one hand the number of times the barrel has been cleaned. It groups very well. When accuracy starts to degrade, I clean the barrel.

Most of the time a fouled bore will be more accurate than a spotlessly clean bore.

However for corrosive ammo and BP I would certainly clean after every outing.

So I don't clean often, but to NEVER clean them is silly.
 
The best way to ruin a barrel is to let it rust. Corrosive ammo corrodes, which oughta tell somebody something.

Even after a short session of relatively few rounds, I'll spray some WD40 on a patch and run it through the bore for a couple of passes, and then spray some gun oil on a patch and run it through. My sub-MOA rifles stay sub-MOA.

I rarely do any serious scrubbing. I've only had to do a serious copper-clean one time on my pet '06, and that was after several thousand rounds through it.
 
I have never before run into this "school of thought".
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Ive seen it across a number of gun boards, and it always amazes me.

The corrosive comment is even more amazing, and obviously, they have never dealt with a barrel that was neglected in that manner. They dont get better, in any way.

Then again, maybe 12"-15" at 100 yards, is good in his mind. :)
 
I never clean a .22 rimfire barrel and only clean the rest when they need it. Which is not very often.
 
I don't have any match-grade barrels on the guns I shoot regularly, so I almost never clean their barrels.

I definitely clean anything that shoots corrosive ammo though. Frequently I'll wash out the barrel and run a couple patches thru to dry and oil before I even get in the car to go home, so I don't forget.
 
Corrosive ammo aside (I don't shoot crap through my guns) unless it gets wet or the accuracy drops off I have no reason to clean the bore.

More barrels have been worn out as a result of overzealous cleaning than from not.
 
I have a Remington 700 BDL started out shooting 1.5"-2" groups at 100 yard; after 10 years and 100 or so rounds it was shooting 3.5"-4" groups. I used some Wipe-Out cleaner to remove all the Copper fouling. It was back to shooting 1.5"-2" groups.

That pretty much proved to me that some rifles need to be thoroughly cleaned every once in a while.
 
I have noticed that after cleaning a rifle barrel,it takes a few rounds for the groups to tighten up . hdbiker
 
no, they don't get more and more accurate haha!


i will go >1000 rounds between cleaning on my match rifles because if i clean them, they won't shoot the same until it's fouled back in, and it's not possible for me to clean every 10 rounds in the type of matches i shoot. they stay plenty accurate, but don't get more accurate

and a lot of times i will go a few thousand rounds without cleaning my AR15s because i'm lazy and they run just fine dirty. but i am shooting 8" plates and ipsc cardboard targets, so i honestly don't know and don't care if the accuracy changes a bit after 2000 rounds. they are still hitting the targets fine. :)

i never shoot corrosive ammo, but i'd sure clean afterwards if i did
 
I'm a believer in doing more damage with obsessive cleaning than not. Corrosive, moisture is a different situation though and must be addressed before permanent damage is done but I bet you never get to see the total potential out of the frequently cleaned gun.
When you see accuracy drop off clean the bore and foul it, I bet it takes at least a few hundred shots before you see degradation.
 
Wow, this is good stuff.

I think I have been cleaning my barrels too often.

Obviously I need to clean after I shoot any corrosive mil-surp. But other than that, I think I clean way too often, and way to vigorously.


Real quick:

I was told at a gun store which sells lots of Mosins and Com-block 7.62x54r, that if I didn't want to do a full cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo, I could just run a patch or 2 soaked with ammonia, through it, and that the ammonia would clean out and neutralize the corrosion.

Is that true?
 
For Corrosive ammo clean after every shooting session.

Otherwise let your barrel tell you what it likes...I have several match grade barrels and I clean them when accuracy falls off... for a factory barrel I have one that shoots sub-MOA clean or dirty doesn't matter. I have other factory barrels that like them fouled. If I clean them it takes 10-15 shots to get accuracy back.

I have one particular factory barreled rifle that shoots AMAZING for rounds 4-25 ish before and after that it's like a shotgun pattern.

In short let the BARREL tell you what it wants
 
Speak softly to thy barrel, listen ye hence unto its sweet whisperings...
Denis
 
Turftech1 said:
Wow, this is good stuff.

I think I have been cleaning my barrels too often.

Obviously I need to clean after I shoot any corrosive mil-surp. But other than that, I think I clean way too often, and way to vigorously.


Real quick:

I was told at a gun store which sells lots of Mosins and Com-block 7.62x54r, that if I didn't want to do a full cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo, I could just run a patch or 2 soaked with ammonia, through it, and that the ammonia would clean out and neutralize the corrosion.

Is that true?
Click to expand...
I'd use plain water (and dry/oil afterward) or windex ammonia free, personally. You just need something that will dissolve and rinse away the corrosive primer salts.

Actually I'd probably use Ballistol+water mix. Starting to really like that stuff.
 
Turftech1 said:
... Real quick:

I was told at a gun store which sells lots of Mosins and Com-block 7.62x54r, that if I didn't want to do a full cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo, I could just run a patch or 2 soaked with ammonia, through it, and that the ammonia would clean out and neutralize the corrosion.

Is that true?
Click to expand...
Not exactly ...

The "corrosive" component is potassium chloride, a salt akin to table salt (sodium chloride).

By itself it is not harmful to the bore steel ... but, being quite hygroscopic, it attacts moisture and the rust begins.

A good (pre-)cleaner is something water-based. The water pulls the potassium chloride into solution so that it is easily removed (not neutralized).

Enjoy!
 
For those of you saying you can't hurt a barrel by cleaning it. Go look at mosin nagants. Notice how many are counter bored at the muzzle? That was to fix damage done by a cleaning rod.
 
Yeah improper cleaning is far more destructive to a barrel than cleaning or not cleaning it. If you aren't gonna take the time to be sure you are properly cleaning it then you would be better off not cleaning and just shooting it.
 
jerkface11 said:
For those of you saying you can't hurt a barrel by cleaning it. Go look at mosin nagants. Notice how many are counter bored at the muzzle? That was to fix damage done by a cleaning rod.
Click to expand...


I think the quote was more like "as long as the material is softer than the barrel or non-abrasive you wont't her the barrel." Old Mosin Nagant cleaning rods are steel and not really a good example of modern cleaning tools..

The fact is if you clean properly, you won't hurt the barrel or finish. You don't need to constantly scour everything with steel dental picks, bronze brush, and metal cleaning rod. Use a soft brush, patches and the appropriate cleaning solutions to clean your gun. Occasionally if you have stubborn fouling perhaps crack out the bronze brush. The more often you clean, the less likely you'll need to use harsh brushes and dental picks. One of the most susceptible areas to damage is the crown of the barrel. If you use a cleaning rod guide from the chamber end, also using a softer than steel seamless cleaning rod and nylon brush for regular cleanings you will avoid damage.
 
One of the most susceptible areas to damage is the crown of the barrel. If you use a cleaning rod guide from the chamber end
Click to expand...

Good advice.
Also, on the rare occasion that I clean a barrel, I go through from the chamber and I don't pull the copper brush back through the barrel. I push it through and unscrew it.
 
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