Dirty vs clean barrel

[powdergun]

Has anyone experienced a gun that shot better with a dirty barrel.

I was at the rage testing loads with my M77 MkII Ruger. When I fired with a dirty barrel the groups were way smaller than when the barrel was clean.

Dirty .8 to 1.1 inch groups
Clean 2 to 3 inch groups

Same load on all groups. If this is the actual case I'll have to make sure I go hunting with a barrel with a couple of rounds through it.

 

[agilent_one]

I have found the same for all my rifles, with the exception of the 17hmr. My rifles sit "fouled" for all of hunting season. In fact, I really don't do much bore cleaning at all.

My .243 really goes to #### if I scrub all of the copper out.

 

[crazy_davey]

All of my rifles shoot better after they have been shot a few times. I never try to get decent groups after cleaning a barrel.

The routine for me is, clean till spotless, shoot about ten times at whatever to foul the barrel then shoot for groups.

Before hunting season I do that routine, when the groups are good and the scope is sighted to the gun, I dont clean untill hunting season is over.

Trying to shoot groups with a freshly cleaned barrel is not the way to go, foul it first then go for groups

 

[stubblejumper]

Trying to shoot groups with a freshly cleaned barrel is not the way to go, foul it first then go for groups

Of course you are talking about your own rifles.My rifles shoot the same size groups whether the barrel is clean or fouled.The accuracy falls off when the barrel becomes quite fouled.This varies from gun to gun so you must test your own guns to see if there is a difference.

 

[catnthehatt]

Of course you are talking about your own rifles.My rifles shoot the same size groups whether the barrel is clean or fouled.The accuracy falls off when the barrel becomes quite fouled.This varies from gun to gun so you must test your own guns to see if there is a difference.

X2! Mine will shoot well , till there comes a point where the foulling tends to affect the accurcay, then they get cleaned of copper .
I usually run Amzoill through them, and a patch of Kroil after about 20 rounds to keep the powder fouling to a minimum
Cat

 

[Gatehouse]

X2! Mine will shoot well , till there comes a point where the foulling tends to affect the accurcay, then they get cleaned of copper .
I usually run Amzoill through them, and a patch of Kroil after about 20 rounds to keep the powder fouling to a minimum
Cat

x3

I don't even bother cleaning bores anymore, unless the accuracy realy drops off, which takes alot longer than many suspect.

I( relaly have no idea when the last time I cleaned my 7RM Ruger. And I was hsooting 1.75" 3 shot groups the other day. At 300 Yards.

And that is a factory barrel.

 

[crazy_davey]

Sorry, I should have stated that some rifles shoot good either way, sounds like your Ruger shoots better fouled. Most of my rifles are the same as I stated above.

 

[catnthehatt]

x3

I don't even bother cleaning bores anymore, unless the accuracy realy drops off, which takes alot longer than many suspect.

I( relaly have no idea when the last time I cleaned my 7RM Ruger. And I was hsooting 1.75" 3 shot groups the other day. At 300 Yards.

And that is a factory barrel.

I shoot my hunting rifles a lot at the range as well in the field, and tend to wear them out for target accuracy way before they are "hunted out"!
If I was using a rifle , such as my father's .303 Brit., only for hunting , I would likely do the same Gatehouse, and often get the two types of shooting mixed up more often than not!!
Cat

 

[todbartell]

most guns shoot best once they've had a *few* rounds down the tube

my 223, I clean it about every 100 rounds. accuracy is just as good at round 100 as it is at round 10.

only clean your barrels when accuracy deteriorates!
​

 

[LittleBoyLefty]

What do you guys do when hunting in the winter or inclement weather? Are all your tubes stainless? I too prefer to hunt with a few foulers down the tube.Most of my rifles are CrMo, all but one .22LR , and condensation in the barrel kind of eats at my mind. Hasn't been an issue yet, but............

 

[agilent_one]

What do you guys do when hunting in the winter or inclement weather? Are all your tubes stainless? I too prefer to hunt with a few foulers down the tube.Most of my rifles are CrMo, all but one .22LR , and condensation in the barrel kind of eats at my mind. Hasn't been an issue yet, but............

If it makes you feel better: patch it dry and lightly oil it. Don't clean it. Most hunting situations don't require 0.3 MOA.

 

[todbartell]

I would not reccomend putting oil in the bore before hunting, as it *can* cause your POI to climb, until enough shots are through the tube to get rid of the oil.

hunt dirty!
​

 

[Wooly ESS]

My M70 in .338WM shoots better dirty. It took me over a year to figure this out. I would work up a series of loads, and start shooting them at the range. They would start of shooting poorly, but I always seemed to end the day with a pretty good group. I would leave the range feeling pretty good, go home, clean the gun, and worked up some new loads based on the last loads of the day. Next time I went out, the gun shot all over the place again. It drove me nuts. Then one day, I noticed that each subsequent group shot better than the preceeding (I'm a slow learner!). So I stopped cleaning the gun between range sessions. The gun just kept shooting better and better. Now, I clean it once a year.

This particular gun requires about a dozen shots before it settles down and starts to shoot.

 

[eltorro]

Do you guys have any pitting in your bores after a hunt in the wed season?
Yeah... sure I put on the condom and dont' walk around in the rain with the opened chamber, but sure the condensation must get to them.
What about the chemical reaction with the powder?
are you positive that all your powders are inert after burning?

I hate cleaning rifles while hunting, because I had to use the boresnake, and I was afraid I'll jam it in...
Now I got a OTIS and I want to know if <<the hunting situation where hugh precision is not required>> demands a dirty bore to acheive the exact same thing.

 

[Steeleco]

What do you guys do when hunting in the winter or inclement weather?

For that I use a bore snake, dry no oil. But I've also started using electrical tape over the muzzle to help keep things dry

 

[agilent_one]

But I've also started using electrical tape over the muzzle to help keep things dry

I keep a fair amount of "finger cots" handy to keep the elements out. So far, I've never cleaned my gun on a hunting trip.

Also, having a stainless barrel does increase my "piece of mind."

 

[scott_r]

I clean my rifles after every outing till the patches come out white. My Varmint rigs get a treatment of wipe-out after each outing as well.
All my guns will shoot MOA and better when firing through a clean pipe.

 

[Republic of Alberta]

Not only can a clean bore be detrimental to accuracy it can also cause irratic velocity spikes.


I do have a 308 that shoots best with a clean bore, as few as 10 shots and accuracy starts going down hill. This can be common with bbls that copper foul bad, strangly my 308 does not realy copper foul at all.

So there you have it, each gun is different.

 

[BIGREDD]

I moly all my bullets and all my bores see nothing but... A dry patch every 10 rds is all that is needed to ensure a clean dry bore for about 100 rounds.
Then you clean with Kroil and Butches Bore shine... moly works.
Clean or dirty, hot or cold barrels shoot very consistently when moly treated.

 

[LittleBoyLefty]

BR, whats your preferred brand of poison? I might have to give that moly stuff a try.