I was shooting at my gun club’s 300 yard range and there were some guys who shoot precision rifle series.

They had high end target rifles in stuff like 6mm br, 6.5x47 ect

They had nice scopes and $10k in each set up and has all the high tech stuff - radars for bullet speed ect.

They all shot exceptionally well and they travel around the country on prs shooting match circuit.

They also never clean their rifle barrels. They said they will clean only when velocity declines or groups open up. They said some copper fouling was good and created a smooth coating inside the barrel.

I was confused to say the least but these guys looked like knew what they were doing.

Mike

Because they are right.
Unless you have a very rough bore there is no reason to clean it down to bare metal; that is counterproductive.
Much like cast iron frying pan; never clean it down to bare metal; you just have to season it again.
Many guys over clean their barrels.
Now, if you are getting copper fouling (I don't mean just a copper "wash"), then you have other issues to deal with.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Because they are right.
Unless you have a very rough bore there is no reason to clean it down to bare metal; that is counterproductive.
Much like cast iron frying pan; never clean it down to bare metal; you just have to season it again.
Many guys over clean their barrels.
Now, if you are getting copper fouling (I don't mean just a copper "wash"), then you have other issues to deal with.

So once every 500 rounds?

Mike

They are competition shooters who go through rifle barrels much more frequently than the average hunter. They may have a rifle barrel for a couple of years. While hunters may have a barrel for a couple of decades. They may also shoot under better weather conditions than a hunter hunts.

I have read gunpowder residue is hydroscopic, meaning it draws and collects moisture. If you leave moisture in your rifle barrel over a long period of time it could cause rust or pit. So, I prefer to clean mine after every range session.

While hunting, I bring a rifle cleaning kit with me and after spending a day in the rain, will patch the barrel dry at night back at camp and will run a lightly oiled patch through the bore just to make sure.

Even after hundreds of years of human use and experience, there is still debate about how to properly clean a rifle barrel...see attached article link. Just like there is still debate about how to properly bed a rifle, whether to break in a barrel or not etc. It's part of the human condition I suppose.

https://www.ssusa.org/articles...-barrel-care-part-1/

Clean vs CLEAN.
I always clean my bores after every range session; run a few patches with RBC on them to remove fouling followed by CLP to prevent rust because I may not shoot that rifle ever again.
That does not mean CLEAN them down to bare metal.

I have read gunpowder residue is hygroscopic, meaning it draws and collects moisture. If you leave moisture in your rifle barrel over a long period of time it could cause rust or pit. So, I prefer to clean mine after every range session.

I think this is also correct in the NZ context with our regular rainfall and frequent high humidity. Uncleaned barrels tend to draw moisture leading to metal corrosion. I know from experience that enough corrosion means a barrel needs replacing, preferably with Stainless Steel. I also clean mine after each range session but these days I'm not as anal about the amount of cleaning required. Enough is good enough.

While hunting, I bring a rifle cleaning kit with me and after spending a day in the rain, will patch the barrel dry at night back at camp and will run a lightly oiled patch through the bore just to make sure

My practise after a patch or two to dry the bore ( and remove some powder residue if fired ) is to twice run a G96 Oil soaked patch through on a pull-through. It's easy to wipe out again or if not, will prevent moisture ingress until you travel home.

My preferred cleaning products now are KG1 ( carbon remover ), KG12 ( copper remover ) and now and then KG2 ( bore polish for stubborn copper ). Finally, before going into the gun safe I patch barrels with KG4 ( light oil, lubricant ). The system works well and has prevented any corrosion for many years.

To keep my post somewhat in context of the OP I should say I am a hunter, not a precision or long range shooter with specialised firearms. I know one guy involved in those disciplines and he doesn't believe in barrel cleaning. IIRC he said cleaning lead to accuracy loss, not the opposite. Perhaps with very high frequency shooting one can make a logical case for not cleaning due to the disadvantages.

I've known a few benchrest shooters that were like that. After shooting their required targets they usually ran a few solvent soaked patches through the barrel. Rarely did I see any of them resort to a bore brush. I ask one why not a brush and basically it was a fouling condition that they wanted and using a bore brush on copper and powder fouling would take away that condition. Through trial and experience and experimentation they knew what was going on inside their barrels. With some of the bug hole groups that they were getting I guess they were right. Frank

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Clean vs CLEAN.
I always clean my bores after every range session; run a few patches with RBC on them to remove fouling followed by CLP to prevent rust because I may not shoot that rifle ever again.
That does not mean CLEAN them down to bare metal.

X-2 Exactly!!

I find that very smooth, good barrels don't gather enough fouling to be much of a concern and they just keep shooting. Rough barrels, factory barrels and eroded barrels often take a lot of shooting to steady down; and anything that you take out inevitably has to be put back in.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Now, if you are getting copper fouling (I don't mean just a copper "wash"), then you have other issues to deal with.

Forgive me, but wha is the distinction between copper "wash" and "other issues?"

I ask because I use Wipe Out and consider any change to blue to indicate I need to give my barrel a second dose because the blue indicates there was copper.

I've also noticed, upon repeated cleanings, I can get brown then charcoal black. I assume the brown is powder residue and the black is carbon.

Thoughts?

I agree most tend to over clean a rifle bore..

Contrary to many posts, using a copper brush with copper remover is ridiculas, its copper the patch will always be blue and the brush will deteriotate for goodness sakes..Use a Nylon brush..