well damn - cleaned my rifle now it's Minute Of Barn

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mchaley

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As the title says. I had some odd results the other day so I decided to clean my rifle. Hit the range today and put about 100 rounds through it. It's... bad. I did bump the scope when I was cleaning it but I don't think that has much to do with it. It was also maybe 5mph wind down range in gusts which could have been a factor but I'm not convinced it was. I was shooting at 100 yards and the groups were just aweful.

Oh well, I'll get back to the range and see how things go.
 
I have lots of guns that shoot better alittle dirty, hows the crown look?ammo? Or maybe you did just bump your scope enough to throw it off.
 
100 rounds is more than enough to settle a perfectly clean barrel. what was your cleaning method? is there a chance rod has damaged crown or chamber/throat? A good check I make after my barrel is dirty is if the rifle is bedded properly the powder residue will be laying in a straight line in the bore. If it is spiraled or "choppy" as in there's residue some spots and not in others the bedding of the rifle is off. Loose action/barrel, loose hardware, etc.
 
unstableryan said:
I would check for loose things.. scope mounts, action bolts etc. It's usually a simple answer. Unless you used a crazy rough steel cleaning rod and wrecked some ####. Probably not.
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I agree with this post and would like to add ... do not forget to mop out your chamber. Some people just use a shotgun mop and swirl it around inside the chamber and... good. I personally wrap a small piece of paper towel around a large plastic case neck brush so im not continuing to re contaminate the chamber.

The first time I actually put a bit of windex to cut the cleaners a grease ... then I put a fresh piece on to make sure the windex is out. I do not expect everyone to agree with the windex, but I have used it in custom barrels for years and it works great for me. If your chamber has lubricants left in it you could get higher pressure or even excessive movement of your brass which will do amazingly bad things to your accuracy.

However the conclusion is ... cleaning your chamber is critical. It will destroy your accuracy and you will pull your hair out for many trips to the range over a simple little chore that was over looked.

Ive seen this many times before ... Check that chamber !!!

Best of luck !
 
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I agree with the comments about the chamber. Also some guns are VERY picky about the action torque settings, i had a savage once that went from deadly to couldn't hit diddly with one quarter turn of the action screw.

After making sure the chamber is dry and action torque is set correct see how it shoots, the next place i'd look is the scope. I've had several reticles come loose over the years with a bump or fall, all those scopes were under $200
 
mikeystew said:
I agree with the comments about the chamber. Also some guns are VERY picky about the action torque settings, i had a savage once that went from deadly to couldn't hit diddly with one quarter turn of the action screw.

After making sure the chamber is dry and action torque is set correct see how it shoots, the next place i'd look is the scope. I've had several reticles come loose over the years with a bump or fall, all those scopes were under $200
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I've had the same thing. I called Savage and they gave me torque settings that weren't in the manual.
 
dead meat said:
You also state that you had some odd results and decided to clean your rifle. What was odd that made you decide to clean the rifle.
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Good point. Some more info would help like type of rifle, type(s) of ammo used, how you cleaned it and with what (rod? Snake? Muzzle or breech? Hoppes or eds red?), what problems were you having? How many rounds through the gun since last cleaning... That's a great place to start.

Generally speaking, barrels "most of the time" prefer to settle in on their favorite bullet over thousands of rounds. Most of my rimfires only get a chamber/crown cleanup. I only clean the bore if accuracy takes a dive, but that's typically not until after several thousand rounds.
The aspect to get right with rimfire is getting the action torque right and getting the chamber spotless and dry. Most bolt guns don't need to be taken down for cleaning, eliminating one variable. But otherwise I treat them similarly. Centerfire is a different animal.

Bottom line, routine rimfire cleaning emphasis should always be more about cleaning the bolt, action, chamber, crown etc... and less about the bore unless accuracy has gone down or it's being stored away. But even then, if I lose accuracy I'd probably check a half dozen other thing first before cleaning the bore.
 
10 X said:
100 rounds is more than enough to settle a perfectly clean barrel. what was your cleaning method? is there a chance rod has damaged crown or chamber/throat? A good check I make after my barrel is dirty is if the rifle is bedded properly the powder residue will be laying in a straight line in the bore. If it is spiraled or "choppy" as in there's residue some spots and not in others the bedding of the rifle is off. Loose action/barrel, loose hardware, etc.
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In the hurricane blast of the gasses as they travel down the bore, there is no predicting how ignition residue is going to lay in the barrel. It is likely to lay at the 6o/c position relative to the attitude of the barrel when the shot is fired. If there is a spiral pattern to the residue , it's likely caused by the rifling not by bedding imperfections.
 
My rifle is a savage mk2 bv with bull barrel. I cleaned with a rod. First used a brass brush to go down the barrel, then used solvent on a patch, ran dry patches through till white then oil followed up by a few dry patches. I also cleaned the end of the bolt as there was some buildup on the face. Always from the breech.

I cleaned because it was inconsistent. I'd shoot 10 rounds of 10 and 2 of the 10 were 2" or under at 100 yards. The others were a bit wider. I bought the gun used and it showed up with a used barrel. I don't know how many rounds went down it but I put about 500 through it before I cleaned.
 
mikeystew said:
I agree with the comments about the chamber. Also some guns are VERY picky about the action torque settings, i had a savage once that went from deadly to couldn't hit diddly with one quarter turn of the action screw.

After making sure the chamber is dry and action torque is set correct see how it shoots, the next place i'd look is the scope. I've had several reticles come loose over the years with a bump or fall, all those scopes were under $200
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This is another very good point that I over looked ... for example Remingtons quite often like the front action screw to torque specs and the rear screw tightened just until it stops. Same thing ... rear screw just snug and deadly accurate , torqued right down and flyers all over
 
mchaley said:
My rifle is a savage mk2 bv with bull barrel. I cleaned with a rod. First used a brass brush to go down the barrel, then used solvent on a patch, ran dry patches through till white then oil followed up by a few dry patches. I also cleaned the end of the bolt as there was some buildup on the face. Always from the breech.

I cleaned because it was inconsistent. I'd shoot 10 rounds of 10 and 2 of the 10 were 2" or under at 100 yards. The others were a bit wider. I bought the gun used and it showed up with a used barrel. I don't know how many rounds went down it but I put about 500 through it before I cleaned.
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Being a MKII, Im going with action screw torque is the issue. That, or it's your ammo, or possibly the scope, not necessarily in that order.
 
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