Guys, I read some information somewhere that says after you clean your rifle bore, you should lightly oil the bore before firing the first shot. Something about the bore needs this light layer of oil to protect it somehow. Personally, I think this is bull, but hey, I've been wrong before and I might be wrong here.

First, how clean is clean? Do they mean a clean bore that is stripped of all copper, or just cleaned of powder fouling?

Second, when I shoot my first shot through a clean, but lightly oiled bore, the POI is 1 1/2 to 2 inches away from subsequent fouled bore shots at 100 yards. I believe this is normal. But, when I clean my rifle bore, and instead of lightly oiling the bore, I run a couple clean, dry patches through it to remove as much of the solvent as possible, and dry the bore as much as possible, that first clean, cold bore shot POI is the same as the several following warm, fouled bore shots POI's. Seems to me this is what I want.

Now, I am not a cleaning freak where I must de-copper a bore after every 20 shots. But I do run wet patches through a rifle bore after 20 to 30 shots to remove powder fouling, and then dry the bore. (I just feel that after 30 shots, it is probably good to remove the powder fouling. I do the Sweet's copper solvent thing every 200 shots or so.)

Third, my point of reference is big game hunting rifles of the medium bore type. And keep in mind that I'm the guy who started the "quest for small groups with big game hunting rifles" thread, so 1 1/2 MOA is great accuracy to me. I don't baby my big game rifles, but I don't abuse them either. I believe a medium bore, big game hunting rifle should have dings, dents, scratches, and nicks on the stock, barrel and scope, and each one represents a memorable story for the shooter. And lightly oiling the bore seems...well, just how can a copper bullet harm a clean, dry bore? Is this bull or what? roy p.

I've never heard or read of this suggestion before. FWIW I always run a dry patch through my rifles before the first range session to get the oil I put in over the winter out.

I believe in running a little Tetra gun on a patch through the barrel, followed by a dry patch. It either reduces the copper fouling, or I am imagining things..... Dutch.

I've always shot from a clean dry bore, with the same expereince that this way allows the first shot to hit closer to the subsequent ones. My buddy always oils his bores before putting the gun away, but then runs a patch with degreaser through the bore before shooting it.

I believe you may harm your barrel more than help it by leaving oil in the barrel. I think you end up burning whatever oil is there on the first shot, which will leave a residue. No idea how permanent that is, but it can't be a good thing.

If you really believe it's good to shoot an oiled up barrel, try really oiling it up and taking a shot. I bet you'll get a cool flamethrower effect. Not trying to be a wise-ass, i'd really like to see what happens.

I remember where I read about the lightly oiled bore. It's with Butch's Bore Shine. Go to http://www.bbsindustries.com/ and read the information about bore cleaning and lubrication.

It says that "Shooting over a dry barrel will produce immediate copper wash streaking and can cause damage to the bore." It also says "Oil will fill those minute pores and tool marks in the barrel, creating a smoother surface to shoot over."

Now, I use Butch's Bore Shine and his bore oil, and I think they are great products. The products work as advertised or better. But I wanted some other peoples' opinions about the lightly oiled bore idea. I don't agree with the possibility of a damaged bore by shooting over a dry bore after cleaning.

Of course I use a good gun oil in the bore when I am putting the rifle away for a spell. What I am referring to here is when I am at the range and I clean my bore after a number of shots, and I want to continue shooting. I just don't see how shooting over a dry bore immediately after cleaning poses any possibility of bore damage.

I certainly don't want this to be a Butch's Bore Shine bashing. I use and really like the products. I just want other peoples' opinions and experiences on this matter. roy p.

I clean the barrel, run a patch soaked with oil a few times, then I run a couple of dry patches to remove the oil.

According to some articles I have read on the subject, it is a bad idea to leave too much oil behind on the rifling: The bullet on its way out of the barrel will push some oil forward, but it will overtake the oil. The oil will be like a very small wave in front of the bullet, and the bullet has to ride over it. If the bullet rides over the oil, it pushes the oil against the rifling, leaving behind small donut-shaped imperfections on the rifling.

That's what I have read on this subject. I have no idea if it is true, but it makes sense to me.

Roy,
After thousands of rounds though many rifles I have settled on putting my clean rifles away with molly coating for the varmint and paper rifles and for big game rifles a patch of graphite lock mecanism lube from NAPA Auto Parts. A bench rest friend suggested the graphite suspended in a non-gumming oil from NAPA. I find that POI shift is minimal this way, however, I live in a dry climate and use state-of-the-art vapor corosion inhibitor technology in my safe.

I had always been under the impression the oil was to stop the bore from rusting.

Harsh ammonia cleaners like CR-10 strip the bore to bare metal and can rust very quickly if they do not have some sort of oil to prevent it from happening.

New rifles have oil in the bore when bought don't they?

But if its going to be cleaned and then fired right away I can't see that you would need any oil at all.

I always ensure my bores are clean & dry before shootin.

I believe that any fluid in the bore can cause a hydraulic effect(a fluid cannot be compressed),as the bullet moves down the bore it may pass over the liquid but the liquid not able to be compressed is forced into the metal causing pitting of the bore & possible damage to the lands,the fluid may also cause some damage to the bullet,thus effecting accuracy & performance.

That is why I always run a dry patch through my bore a couple of times before shooting.

Cant remember how I know about this but I believe it to be true.

The same thing can happen in your chamber & bolt face as well so I always ensure those area's are clean & dry before shooting as well.

Tumbo

After cleaning, I always run some Tetra Gun Lube or Breakfree CLP through the barrel, then a dry patch. My guns are stored in this condition, no rust. Before shooting, I like to run another Tetra or CLP patch through the bore, then a dry patch. Too much lube in the bore can create pressure problems and I don't particularly need that in my life!

Easyup: What is a stte of the art vapor corrosion inhibitor technology. I would like to use it.
Thanx. Donovan

Before I shoot at the range I run some dry patches down the barrel and then a patch with Kroil. Put up the targets, set up the chronograph and run a loose patch down the bore leaving a very small film of Kroil in the barrel. It has definitely reduced copper fouling in all of my barrels.

Two folks you might want to talk to are Chris at Pac-Nor and Darrell Holland....two fellows who know a bit about barrels and how to take care of them.

As I've said before--- The proper amount of oil on a gun part (including the bore), if put in a shot glass, won't ruin good whiskey.

It's REALLY easy to see the effects of a dry bore and one with a very light film of lube. All you need is a bar of steel, finely polished, like a bore is, and a copper bar. Degrease the bar and strike it a glancing blow with the copper bar. Do it again with lube on it. Now make up your own mind. It's real easy to determine which is best.

I don't think a VERY thin coat of oil in the bore will damage the rifle if it is fired. However a very oily bore is a no no, IMO.

My take on this subject is if you are hunting in wet weather for several days, the a very thin coat of oil should be left in the barrel of your rifle, with the muzzle covered with electrical tape, or a penny baloon. and the rifle can be fired right through the tape, or baloon with out worry. However if I'm hunting in dry weather, I run a dry patch through the bore before loading in the morning, then fire one shot through the barrel before leaving camp, to foul the bore.

If at the range, and you intend working up loads for your hunting rifle, then the barrel should be in the condition it will be in when you are in the field, hunting. I find untill the bore is dry, and fouled with the first shot into the backstop, the rifle will place the first shot in a different group than the rest fired after the first round.

I do a lot of regulateing of double rifles, and if they are not wiped dry,and fouled, then let cool to ambient temprature, as it would be for the first shot at game, the the 4 shot group, fired rt, lft, rt, lft, will be spread, with the first shot from each barrel, being very high, and wide. This is caused by the oil slowing the bullet down just enough to cause a slow barrel time. The subsiquint 2 rounds will group together, because of their barrel time being faster enough to cause them to shoot lower, and to regulate. The above applies only to double rifles. Single barrel rifle have their own problems with bore condition, and temprature.

Stop and think for a moment! When you get your rifle to print the best group, is when you stop with the load developement. The condition of that barrel when you get that best group is the condition it should be in when you fire the first shot at a live target!

Certainly, the bore should be protected, for storage, and at night in cold, or wet weather camp, but not while shooting! All opinion, however, and is your's to take or leave, but considering what you paid for it, at least it is cheap, if you decide to through it away!

[ 03-21-2003, 21:58: Message edited by: MacD37 ]

Dry with a few rounds run through it suits me fine.

I agree with markus. the oil is to keep the bore from rusting. And I find it hard to believe the amount of oil that is left behind after a oily patch is run thru the bore followed by two dry ones is going to create a barrel wrecking tidal wave. Even if I clean at the range in the middle of a session, the bore is lightly oiled before the next relay. (I always run a neutralizer (bore scrubber, brake cleaner) thru the bore after using ammonia of any sort. After it dries it is followed by a very lightly oiled patch
The exception is before a hunt. I sight the rifle in, clean it throughly out of the stock, oil it and then reassemble it. I fire a couple of fouling shots and don't touch the bore again until after the hunt. I use electrical tape over the bore as a matter of course and that pretty well takes care of dust, grit, rain, and dirt daubers.
It seems to me that raw metal rubbing against raw metal can't be good.

Thank you all for the advice and opinions. I guess I'm doing it right. I came to my own conclusions about this by just using my common sense.

When I clean a rifle bore just before putting the rifle away for a spell, I'll run a patch wet with a good gun oil through the bore and leave the bore nice and wet. Then a month (or four months) later when I want to shoot the thing again, I'll run a patch soaked in bore solvent, like good ol' Hoppe's followed by two clean, dry patches. Then I run a patch wet with gun oil, followed by two clean, dry patches in the bore. I believe this leaves just a slight trace of oil in the bore for that first shot.

At the range when I clean between shot strings, I'll clean, then I'll run a patch wet with Hoppe's (or other powder solvent) followed by two clean, dry patches. Again, I believe this leaves just a slight trace of a "lubricant" in the bore for that first shot. As stated in my earlier post, drying the wet bore with two patches makes that clean, cold barrel shot POI pretty much the same as the following shots.

I always thought the Butch's Bore Shine article was telling me to leave more oil in the bore than how I do it. Maybe I've misinterpreted what they mean when I read in their article "...you should always coat the barrel with a light gun oil." I interpret "coat the barrel" as a good bit more than a very light trace of oil.

One thing I won't do to my rifles is degrease the bore with brake cleaner or some other type of degreasing agent before shooting. This just doesn't seem right to me.

So I guess I've been lubricating my bore before shooting all along, and not realizing exactly what I'm doing or why. Based on JBelk's criteria however, how I've been doing it won't ruin that good sippin' whiskey of his. roy p.

The purpose of oil is to stop metal parts from rusting & it should be applied to the bore when the rifle is not going to be used within the next day or 2.

beemanbme

I agree with you,metal rubbing on metal is generally not a good thing but here we are dealing with a steel bore & a copper covered or lead bullet,both of these metals are actually used to lubricate other harder metals,why do you think they used to add lead to the fuel for your car!

Copper or lead bullets will cause no damage to a dry bore,liquids & the hot gass behind the bullet will.

Tumbo, while my logical mind agrees with your point, my gut doesn't. Perhaps I have been oiling my bore too long to change. One of the post mentioned that the oil would fill minor abrasions in the bore allowing the bullet to ride over them without leaving copper behind. Maybe that's why I do it........

I'm no expert but I would have thought that fluid being forced into abrasions under pressure would only make the abrasion worse.

When i'm talking about a dry bore i'm talking about after at least one dry patch has been run through it,a wet bore is one where an oily patch is run through only.

I'de never fire a rifle with a wet bore,however I dont think you will have a totally dry bore by running a couple of dry patches through it,the dry patch would remove the oil from the smooth areas of the bore but not from the abrasions.

Dont know if i've explained what i've tried to tell well though.

Oh, we're on the same page.

Pac-Nor's barrel care page actually suggests that shooting a dry bore will increase fouling. (PAC-NOR Barrel Care Page).

FWIW - mike

I do oil the bore, but dry before shooting, then two fouling rounds to confirm zero a day or two before hunting. I would not oil day to day on a hunt unless there was alot of moisture encountered. Then of course would not use foul rounds while in game country.

The one thing I think is VERY important to mention is the need to dry the chamber. If you have hot rounds the oily chamber walls may not grip the case well enough to hold the case, resulting in more force than desired on the bolt.

Deke.

Taking off on a slightly different tangent, what do you think about WD-40? I grew up cleaning my firearms with it and today a guy at a gun shop told me that it would gum up my weapons terribly. He said something about someone bringing in a "broken" gun in for repair and it being just gummed up with WD-40. I have had no such experience. I use rem-oil or break free before I put them away, I use the WD instead of solvent. I have a can of "gun scrubber" but was told that it was way too harsh.

Ruger#1

If memory serves, there was also a negative reference in here in one of the threads dealing with Remington triggers - something like "WD 40 gums up the trigger part"?? Was not immediately able to locate the thread...
- mike

I usually start hunting in July or August and don't stop until about early Dec....I never clean a bore until I'm finished hunting..It has never hurt my bores....A clean bore shoots high as a rule and oil will make a shot go high as a rule...I just trust a fouled bore..I may run a bore snake thourgh them a couple of times between hunts, then shoot them a few times...

At the end of hunting season I scrub the bores with Kroil and JB compound followed by Cr-10 or that good foam stuff until they are squeeky clean, oil the hell out of them and they go in the gun cabinet until next year or a shooting session....

I believe that a bullet needs to be lubricated going through the bore.Some solvents contain oil in them and leave an oily film even after the "dry" patches are passed through.If you shoot with a degreased barrel you will only create unnecessary high pressures and reduce the life of your barrel.

In general most big game rifles have regular steel barrels and we may not fire a shot for days anyway! Just oil the bore and deal with that condition.

Firing the rifle from a hunting position, ie holding the forend with your hand, from a bench and looking to where that first shot hits is the best thing to do. I find that my rifles, that have good bedding, shoot a good group in this condition.

I do not clean some rifles like Atkinson says but only if I can keep them in a dry, heated safe.

Use tape over your muzzle anyway and for oil a 5W-30 engine oil with a pure synthetic base stock would be fine. Such oils contain effective R&O packages and will protect your bore from rust.

In summary when in doubt oil your bore.

I can't say what's optimum. I clean guns before prolonged storage, but rarely or never take a clean gun hunting. Accuracy is a business of consistency; if you start with a clean bore it won't stay that way for long. If you start with a fouled bore, your chances of consistent shooting are better.

Tom

[ 04-13-2003, 07:58: Message edited by: TomP ]

Before being enlightened I never put a brush to a barrel that didn't have obvious copper fouling. I cleaned with patches and Dextron transmission fluid. I stored with the bore "wet" with trans fluid, dried the bore before firing and liked to go hunting with a fouled bore.My rifles stayed very accurate and I killed lots of game. Now I use Hoppes Bench rest every time I shoot my rifles on a brush, dry the bore with a couple of patches and oil with trans fluid if the rifle is to be stored for more than a month. If not I leave the bore patched dry after using the Hoppes Bench rest solvent. I still dry the bore before going hunting and still prefer to check zero at the range and leave the bore fouled while hunting, rusty barrels I have none.

Rick,
I agree that transmission fluid is the best of the oils on the market and the cheapest..