Rifle Cleaning/Maintenence...

strider007

strider007

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Hey guys...

I'm sure that this has already been covered thousands of times over, but I just thought that I would give it a fresh start. How often do you all clean your precision rifles? I've read that some shooters have a set round count that is reached and then a thorough cleaning is performed, while others just keep on shooting until their groups are a bit out of whack.

What do you guys do, and exactly how detailed does the cleaning get?

I'm relatively new to precision shooting, and I'm just trying to take in as much info as I can. Looking forward to all of your replies...
 
All barrels differ whether custom or stock. I generally find custom barrels foul less and therefore need less cleaning attention. Another big factor is the bullet of choice going down your pipe. I stay away from Barnes bullets except in my medium to large bores because my experience is they foul fast and affect accuracy.

Generally my rifles tell me when they need cleaning, but I've learned to watch the round count and clean generally before I hit what was previously my "dirty" count. My stock 7-08 hunting rifle shooting Sierra Gamekings and tends to foul around 40+ rounds, where as my custom 308 shooting Sierra matchkings seems good for almost 200 rounds.

My rule of thumb is I never go to the range twice and shoot more than 20 rounds each time without a cleaning. For me this involves a patch of wipe-out accelerant, then a full bore application of wipe-out and a 1hr wait. I patch the rifle clean, one oiled patch and then a dry patch, voila, done. If I find stubborn fouling after the wipeout I will also sometimes run a patch or bore brush with Sweets on it before the oil and dry patches to finish. I never run a rod in my bore without a bore guide either. Don't overlook greasing the lugs on your bolt and doing a chamber cleaning as well.
 
After every outing.

Been slacking this year though. **for punishment I will sit in the corner and reread my loading manuals for 1 hour**
 
I clean when the groups start to open up. I have gone over 800 rounds before cleaning and still won weekend aggs. The only reason I cleaned it after the 800 rounds was because a big match was coming, up and I didn't what to have to clean half way through the match.
 
I've joined the "as little as possible" crowd for barrel cleaning, once I know there's no more fouling, though I do keep an eye on it a bit.
I do clean the action and chamber each time to make sure there's no powder residue but I don't do a full bore clean. Get's that first shot/sighter way closer to where it should be than a clean bore does.


Either way, find a process you're comfortable with and that gives results you like, part of the fun is trying different things and seeing what it does. Sometimes you find out something was a waste of time but eh.
 
Thank, SND. I was thinking the same thing, about how clean to keep the bore. I can't remember exactly where, but I do remember reading that a bit of copper lining the bore actually keeps the rifle shooting straighter. If every little trace if copper is removed through a thorough scrub-down, until the first few rounds are fired through the barrel, and a bit if a copper trail is left behind, you may be prone to a couple of floaters or shots impacting slightly off POA. I haven't been shooting long enough to actually confirm this, but I know that I have heard/read this many times. Thanks again.
 
For target rifles I do it as little as possible also. I only shot 500-600 rounds this summer and cleaned my T/R rifle at the end of the season. My .22 rifle is done the same.

Now my hunting rifle is a little different story. I check the zero of the scope and foul the clean barrel with a couple shots a the beginning of the season and hunt with it that way. Then after the money shot they are cleaned and put away.

I store everything clean.
 
My custom rifle with a Krieger barrel opens up after 75 rounds with Berger 180 VLD's, so I clean it after each outing with just patches and a "copper out" cleaner
 
I try to do a good break-in of the barrel (http://www.snipercountry.com/hottips/Breakin.htm) for the first 100 rounds. I don't follow that procedure exactly but it will give you an idea. On my latest rifle I used Smooth-Kote. After break-in I do a very quick cleaning after every outing (20-50 rounds) and a more thorough cleaning at the beginning and end of the season.

I have been told to invest in a 1-piece carbon fibre cleaning rod and a bore guide to protect the rifle's action and throat. I also prefer to use felt pellets to scrub out the bore instead of patches.
 
maynard said:
I clean when the groups start to open up. I have gone over 800 rounds before cleaning and still won weekend aggs. The only reason I cleaned it after the 800 rounds was because a big match was coming, up and I didn't what to have to clean half way through the match.
Click to expand...

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have 400 rounds on my Coyote and 360 on my NSB 260 without any cleaning, both rifle holding well below the .5MOA guarantee. I do run some KG1 carbon cleaner every 100 rounds or so to try reduce the carbon ring in the throat area from building up. But thats about it. Clean it when it stops shooting.
 
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