Cleaning precision rifles - How often ?

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S1nnerman

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I'm confused !

I see a lot of people cleaning the barrel of their bolt action rifle 4-5 time during a session at the range and after reading on the web it seems that we should only clean our rifle after a few hundred shots

wasssssup with that ?

Thanks for your input guys
 
This is a very individule question depending very much on the shooter and the rifle. You can't hurt your rifle by cleaning it (as long as you are doing it properly), but it also doesn't hurt to not clean it as long as you are not loosing accuracy.

The rule of thumb is, clean when your groups are starting to open up, or when the point of impact changes from where it should be. Or, clean it after every range trip. It's up to you. If you clean after every range trip, expect the first few shots to be all over the place until the barrel gets a bit of fouling back into it.
 
There are really only two reasons to clean a bolt gun, for preservation and/or accuracy. If you don't need these then don't clean. I try to clean my summer guns by Christmas, comming soon.
 
There is a lot of variation in opinion, because there is a lot of variation in competence. If you are looking for the fuller picture and are willing to sift through the details,( you are after all posting in precision rifles, so. OCD level details shouldn't scare you) my suggestion is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV9QvEm1nFc
 
Ian Robertson said:
There are really only two reasons to clean a bolt gun, for preservation and/or accuracy. If you don't need these then don't clean. I try to clean my summer guns by Christmas, comming soon.
Click to expand...

This is a very good point also. Preservation of the gun is a very good reason to clean as well. I have a few (ok more than a few) safe queens that come out maybe once a year. These guns are cleaned EXTREAMLY well after every range trip and well oiled and then put away with gloves on as to not get any oil from my hand on the metal. They also sit in their own safe with a dehumidifier in it... For a gun that you are going to put away for a while, I personally would never leave any fouling in the barrel.
 
For my Nemesis, in 600+ rounds, it never saw a metallic brush, one small oily patch after a session, one little dry patch at the beginning of another session, accuracy never been so good, i will give the same treatment to my Sig SSG 3000, unless accuracy go south... JP.
 
Maybe I am just lazy but I prefer to shoot more and clean less.
I go with one pull through of a bore snake after each range session and a full clean when accuracy suffers , so around 500 to 600 rounds. My thought is that if it functions well and groups well then why mess with it?

Now this is for a for my remington 700s so it may be prudent to clean a semi or custom bolt action (they have tight tolerances) more often to keep them functioning properly.

Also fwiw I was religious with a full clean every range trip with my first rifle until I realized I was spending a lot of time cleaning just to have to make it dirty before it would shoot right.

As always ymmv
 
S1nnerman said:
I'm confused !

I see a lot of people cleaning the barrel of their bolt action rifle 4-5 time during a session at the range and after reading on the web it seems that we should only clean our rifle after a few hundred shots

wasssssup with that ?

Thanks for your input guys
Click to expand...

Those guys cleaning their barrel every 5 shots or so are subscribers to the "breaking-in" the barrel method. Personally I don't believe in breaking-in a rifle barrel voodoo but to each their own.
 
Trinimon said:
Those guys cleaning their barrel every 5 shots or so are subscribers to the "breaking-in" the barrel method. Personally I don't believe in breaking-in a rifle barrel voodoo but to each their own.
Click to expand...

Same here, 500 or 5000 dollars rifles get the first 50 shots no to fast but no more than that... JP
 
Personally, I run a bore snake through and give the action/surfaces a light cleaning and oiling after a trip to the range. I'll do a proper cleaning maybe every 3 to 4 trips, depending on how many groups I shoot each trip. As the video on the previous page says, that cold bore shot is usually the result of a whistle clean barrel, so expect that flyer every time you do a proper cleaning.
 
I don't put anything down my barrel that doesn't need to be there.
Over cleaning provides more opportunity to damage crowns, etc...when I do fully clean which is rare, it's nylon brushes only and a chamber guide, quality rod, jags, etc.
Bore snake after shooting to remove loose stuff that can promote corrosion if there is any moisture and a bit of G96 on the tail of the snake for a touch of added protection
Replace your bore snake once it looks dirty.
 
Ian Robertson said:
There are really only two reasons to clean a bolt gun, for preservation and/or accuracy. If you don't need these then don't clean. I try to clean my summer guns by Christmas, comming soon.
Click to expand...

When someone like Ian makes a statement, it's wise to pay attention. Another gunsmith Also told me that most people clean their handguns and rifles way to often. When he told me how many rounds he would shoot before cleaning I was very surprised. Needless to say, I have a lot more free time on my hands, .... For reloading

I do clean my hunting rifles at the end of hinting season because I'm hard on them due to conditions. rain, mud, water, pine needles, more mud, rain sleet,etc. it's why I just can't take a rifle with a beautiful wood stock when I go hunting.
 
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