Shoot gun just after cleaning?

[TNboy]

A friend that I worked with told me something today that I've never heard before. He claimed that it is necessary to fire a few rounds immediately after cleaning your weapon or that it would not be accurate. Supposedly someone told him and he didn't believe it so he cleaned his Kimber, fired, hit low, to the left, then not as low and to the left, then dead center. I've heard of excessive oil in the barrel affecting accuracy, but he said something about carbon buildup in the barrel, I've never heard this before. Anyone care to comment?

 

[HoosierQ]

Nonsense. Maybe a "perversion" (in the literal sense) of some comment on breaking in a barrel or something. And yes, too much oil down the bore (as in runny drops) is not good but shooting it out is not going to help that.

Nonsense.

 

[TurtlePhish]

Doesn't sound likely.

Edit: I interpreted the OP to mean that the friend said that if the shots were not taken immediately after cleaning, the gun would lose accuracy. I do personally believe that a gun needs a fouling shot or two to get to it's potential after it has been cleaned, but that can be done at any point in the future.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

If you search for "fouling shot", you'll find lots of threads about that here. Opinions vary about them.

 

[xmanpike]

I've had rifles that did that and others that did not. Obviously a fouled barrel has different characteristics than a perfectly clean one. I've seen this make POI up to 2 inches different. I usually have my rifle clean. Shoot one shot to foul. Then leave it that way for deer season.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Handguns don't have enough accuracy potential, nor are they used at long enough ranges, for a fouling shot to matter.

 

[TNboy]

I'm not so concerned about handguns 1) In a carry weapon it's most likely not going to matter and 2) in a target gun who cares if the first couple of shots are off.
I make a practice of shooting my hunting rifles at the beginning of the season to ensure that they are on, but the hunting rifles are my main concern.

 

[EddieNFL]

Handguns, no. Match rifles, you bet.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep.

A clean oiled rifle barrel, capable of precision accuracy, will not shoot the first few shots to the same POI.

Handguns?
It is just wasting ammo and making the gun dirty.
All it does for handguns is, they will need cleaning again.

rc

 

[Elkins45]

If you search for "fouling shot", you'll find lots of threads about that here. Opinions vary about them.

I'm surprised there's any debate about the need for fouling shots in rifles. I can understand questioning them for handguns because all they would do is make the gun dirty again, but the tendency for a clean rifle to shoot to a different POI is well established.

 

[Glen]

If you are going to put your gun away for awhile, you don't want it dirty. You want it cleaned and oiled. Then when you are going to use it again, you swab the oil out of the bore before shooting it. I would not worry one bit about fouling shots for a self defense handgun. For a rifle, fouling shots are a good idea.
And really, shooting any gun while there is still oil in the bore sounds like a bad idea. I think of things like high pressure, inaccuracy, laziness, etc. LOL.

 

[Ramone]

Guys?

Kimber sells rifles, too.

http://www.kimberamerica.com/rifles

In fact, IIRC, they started out with rifles, before becoming known for their 1911s.

 

[gym]

No, another rediculous exercise in futility.I would have been arrested every time I cleaned my guns.

 

[rajb123]

A cleaned rifle does not have the same point of impact that a fouled rifle has. ...that is why many hunters put a few rounds down the barrel before they hunt in the field...

 

[Ryanxia]

Just run a dry patch or two down your barrel after cleaning if you're worried about excess oil. I like my guns spotless after I clean them so putting even 2 or 3 rounds through them after cleaning means I'd clean em all over again.

 

[spclpatrolgroup]

I allways shoot 1 round through a clean rifle bore before I need the next shot to count. I store my guns clean, but before I go hunting I will fire a round at the range, POI wont change dramatically at 100 yards with a clean bore shot, but at 200 or more the POI can be several inches.

 

[45_auto]

I was told by a friend in a Delta unit that they test-fire all of their guns after cleaning them. Supposedly they figure it's better to find that you've put the cotter pin on the wrong side of your AR firing pin BEFORE you really need it!

 

[Owen Sparks]

The first shot in a group fired from a bench is often "lonely" because it is fired from a cold barrel. All follow up shots come from a warm barrel and that can be enough to change the point of impact, especially on a cold day.