To clean or not to clean ?

[rodkayak]

During the winter I tend to shoot a fox every four days from the Velux in the attic. I have an alarm set up over a chicken carcass which gives me a proximity alarm and I go up to the attic and pop off the fox (I do miss sometimes however). I used to exhaustively clean the rifle after every night's shot but I wonder if I maybe eroding the bore or causing some harm by excessive cleaning. What harm would I be doing to just leave it and clean once a month after 4 or 5 shots? The attic is very dry. The rifle is a stainless steel Tikka and is v accurate but takes 3 shots before it starts to group with 5 shots under 1/2 inch at 100 meters with reloads.

 

[8x57]

While I am a bit of a stickler for cleaning my rifles I would say that you are probably doing more harm than good. If it were me in your situation I would only clean the rifle when necessary, say after 10-15 shots but that is only my opinion.

 

[ChrisWill184]

From those more in the know than I - can you really cause that much damage to the rifling from cleaning with a brush? Fair enough if grit gets caught on it but it would surely take an awful lot of scrubbing before any damage was done. Also surely the brush would erode faster than the bore as its made of softer material? I only properly scrub out a bore after maybe every 30 shots or so which could be over the year (gets a patch through every couple of shots just to remove the majority of black fouling).

Has anyone actually scrubbed a rifle barrel to death?

 

[norma 308]

Once a year if they need it or not or on the odd sat in the winter when it's ****ing it down and I'm not out on a shoot somewhere .
given a good wipe down after each use and allowed to dry if soaked but Xmas and birthdays is fine in my experience .
Ps it would take a while to do my expanding collection too !

 

[Erik Hamburger]

During the winter I tend to shoot a fox every four days from the Velux in the attic. I have an alarm set up over a chicken carcass which gives me a proximity alarm and I go up to the attic and pop off the fox (I do miss sometimes however). I used to exhaustively clean the rifle after every night's shot but I wonder if I maybe eroding the bore or causing some harm by excessive cleaning. What harm would I be doing to just leave it and clean once a month after 4 or 5 shots? The attic is very dry. The rifle is a stainless steel Tikka and is v accurate but takes 3 shots before it starts to group with 5 shots under 1/2 inch at 100 meters with reloads.

Don't forget that the marketing men would like you to buy all the peripheral products as it guarantees them a long-term sustainable income stream. All this advice to use gun-oil X and gunbore-clean-Y is, of course, partly so you part with your money and line their pockets, long after you have purchased the main product, a rifle. A Stainless Steel barrel needs very little maintenance and cleaning - that is the 'selling point' when you buy it, and that benefit doesn't suddenly disappear after you have bought it. A bore-snake pull-through ever so now and than is all it will ever need. (unless you shoot dozens of rounds each week on a range)

 

[greeny_2]

once every month or so

 

[Bob]

watch this guy's video, he gives, in detail, the how, why and when, he also has other video's which have a lot of good info. Enjoy!

 

[bewsher500]

v accurate but takes 3 shots before it starts to group

answered your own question there if you ask me
3 shots is not a dirty barrel

I don't clean mine other than a pull through to remove residue and/or a light oil after removing water/drying, until it has at least 20 or so shots through it

 

[geordieh]

Centrefire every 10 years
Rimfire every 20 years
Shotgun every time I use it

 

[Muir]

Centrefire every 10 years
Rimfire every 20 years
Shotgun every time I use it

That's about my schedule, too! ~Muir

 

[Ieazo]

.22lr never needed to clean it

.17hmr only clean the barrel when accuracy goes off, bolt and pin stripped and cleaned every 500 rounds

Shotguns cleaned every outing unless I'm using them the following day, semi auto bolt cleaned and re dri lubed as required (around every 1,000 carts IIRC)

Airguns inc FAC air never needed to so far

Don't own cf yet so can't comment

 

[Heym SR20]

I don't like leaving powder residue in the barrel, so if I have shot the rifle I just run a patch down with a couple of drops of Hoppes, followed by a clean dry one, and then put it away after wiping over with an oily cloth. After 20 or 30 shots it gets a good clean with hoppes bench rest and a bit of a scrub.

 

[paul o']

i know some ph stalkers that have never cleaned their rifle and the crown shows that when they have to heat it up to get the mod off!! if the mod comes off , i clean mine after each event outing more so in the winter misty trips wet and claggy and then put 3 round to test zero before i got out again ,most stalkers that i book with wish to see if you can shoot anyway. if not i just get to my bit and shoot the same before the days outing. i only deep clean after a range day or after 50 rds or more i never leave a mod on , think of it this way you feel crap if you have't had a scrub with a yard broom so do's you kit look after it and it prob will never let you down .i don't know the cost of your setup but my rifles are around 4k inc glass mod etc plus time spent on getting it just right for the role so why would i neglect it. as an ex green and weapons instructor shat kit tells me a lot about the how the man thinks .
This is my choice and not everyone has the same thoughts on how and when to clean.

 

[Muir]

From those more in the know than I - can you really cause that much damage to the rifling from cleaning with a brush? Fair enough if grit gets caught on it but it would surely take an awful lot of scrubbing before any damage was done. Also surely the brush would erode faster than the bore as its made of softer material? I only properly scrub out a bore after maybe every 30 shots or so which could be over the year (gets a patch through every couple of shots just to remove the majority of black fouling).

Has anyone actually scrubbed a rifle barrel to death?

It's generally not the brush, it's the rod. I say "generally" because back in the 80's Hoppes marketed stiff stainless steel brushes that they touted quite highly.... and quickly stopped promoting when shooters were scoring the bores of their rifles. I saw an antique Steven's 44 1/2 centerfire schuetzen rifle that a man had destroyed by using a stainless steel brush to clean lead from the soft carbon steel bore.

So not really. A bronze brush will not in itself damage a rifle bore. The steel spindle the strands are mounted on can, as can the rod, but not the bristles. An instructor I once had, in the midst of the same argument, tossed a block of steel and a bronze bore brush at a guy and said "Come back when you rub off a ten-thousandth of an inch!"

I personally avoid brushes in my rifle bores. A damp patch followed by a couple of dry ones does me fine. This "Deep Cleaning" thing baffles me. It's like washing a seasoned iron frying pan with hot soapy water.~Muir

 

[devon deer stalker]

Shotgun, every time, inside and out.
.22 about once a year, the sub sonic is a dirty little round.
.243/30-06 rarely, i have found (especially with the Browning 30-06) that it causes a slight loss of zero, so it means back to the range, chasing zero with rounds i can ill afford to use with the current shortages, so i know at the moment my guns may be a little 'dirty' but they are very accurate.
Cheers
Richard

 

[tackb]

Centrefire every 10 years
Rimfire every 20 years
Shotgun every time I use it

So you furiously clean the least precise tool and neglect the precision tools , makes sense

 

[Klenchblaize]

If I owned a dog I'd see to its welfare first after a day in the woods. As I don't the rifle comes first and before I even think of cooking breakfast of supper.

As already mentioned the way someone looks after their kit (or not) says at lot about someone. Old school, out of fashion values?

Hornet ammo is as dirty as rimfire and the crud is a moisture magnet.

I only use patches and store rifle with a coating of so-called bore conditioner of the gell-like variety.

K

 

[Offroad Gary]

I'd bet my left nut that its your cleaning ability thats causing the first 3 shots not to group. Learn how to clean it properly any your dirty and ccb shots will be same poi.

your taking 3 shots to clear the residue of cleaning products, or, taking 3 shots to even out any fouling you have left.

Ive got pitted and firecracked barrels that shoot the same clean or dirty, or very dirty.

Butches bore shine, meths and patches, never a brush...

 

[Cut+Squirt]

I never use a brush of any sort now. . .
A quick squirt of Wipeout, and patch till clean. . . . It gets cleaned after every outing if a shot is taken.
Probably needless but I'm a stickler. . . Same POI clean or dirty.

 

[.243Ady]

Centrefire every 10 years
Rimfire every 20 years
Shotgun every time I use it

Do the same but always remove mod and clean the crown and thread if I fire a round.