I got this idea from another post. For hunting, do you keep a clean barrel or a slightly fouled barrel. I personally like to give a gun a good cleaning after range time, but fire 2 rounds through it before hunting. This (for me) seems to offer much more consistancy for first shots furing the season. Should I be lucky enough to fire a few shot during season, I will repeat cleaning process and 2 shot fouling throughout season as needed. What's your prefered methods?

I personally never hunt with a freshly cleaned rifle. I check the rifle's zero before the hunt and try to not clean it again until the hunt is over.

Mark

Most of my guns take 1 or 2 fouling shots to group the best so I always shoot two before I go hunting. One of my guns takes about 12 shots to foul "right".

Wow, 12 shots? is it an older,well shot gun?

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I personally never hunt with a freshly cleaned rifle. I check the rifle's zero before the hunt and try to not clean it again until the hunt is over.

Mark

Mark and I have the same method.

Doc,
Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Mark and I have the same method.

me three.

I also will check POI with the barrel dirty, but cleaned/dried with a pull-through, so I know what to expect in case I have to do a quick cleaning after a dunking or a fall in dust and dirt.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Doss:
Wow, 12 shots? is it an older,well shot gun?

Nope, it's done it since brand new and drove me crazy untuil I figured it out.

I haven't cleaned the bore (SS) in two years (about 150 shots) and I'm gong to not clean it until I see a loss of accuracy in it as an experiment.

After the pre hunting shooting session I clean my barrel as to eat off of. I know where bullet impact is from a cold clean barrel. And it shoots consistent groups. Its a Rem VS .308. I really enjoy going to the range and firing that first shot knowing where its going to be.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I personally never hunt with a freshly cleaned rifle. I check the rifle's zero before the hunt and try to not clean it again until the hunt is over.

Mark

Yep.

Major Bad Karma to take a cleaned, oiled barrel out on a hunt.


MM

I take my rifle out before season starts, sight it in and do not clean it untill season is over. I never thought about a fouled barrel shooting better just lazy. After all who wants to clean a barrel after hunting all day not me. That is why I buy Stainless Steel guns.

DITTO, I check zero in Sept. and don't clean it til the end of Nov.

Dunno about Karma with 'clean' but oil is a bummer. About the only thing I'll shoot with oil residue in the barrel is a scattergun, otherwise, NOT.

Perhaps I am fortunate in this regard but I have no CF guns that change POI when shooting jacketed bullets, clean or fouled bore. Some will shoot better groups fouled, some do not improve. Lead shooters are different, some do, some don't. The rifle I use for paper patch shooting will change POI from clean to fouled, so it does not get cleaned during the season. It is possible that I'd seen the effects of this at longer ranges than I shoot at, but until that time...

I dont clean my guns till the season is over..same as some of the other guys that alread posted.

If you shoot your rifle enough, it will tell you what it likes. All of mine tell me they like a fouled barrel, and each has their own secrets as to how many shots it takes to go back to maximum accuracy, and how long they will stay there. If you shoot your rifle only once or less than 5 times per year all this accuracy talk is not for you to even consider. Take your rifle out and shoot it however you wish to make you happy and enjoy your hunt. Good shooting.

I have one rifle that doesn't shoot until it's fouled by several rounds. When I tried the Barnes XLC it seemed to take about 8 before it returned to the poi it was dirty.

My .338 doesn't care a bit. The .25-06 seems to shoot better when clean. Go figure! Nate

I never gave it any thought unitl using a chrony. From now on I will be hunting with a fouled barrel.
I have found that my stainless barrel needs 4 rounds to foul and my non stainless barrel takes 2. The difference in POI is not enough to miss anything but at 350 yds it may make a difference.

Clean and DRY.

Fouled - clean after sighting check and then a fouling shot. I don't think new powders foul lik the powders of old. Am I ageing my self.

depends on the gun, mostly all I hunt with are fouled, however I have an austin& halleck ML that shoots the same fouled or clean, which is very nice, I don't have to keep all that corrosive stuff in the barrel during the hunt

Seems like I read from either Hart or Lilja that it is NOT recommended to ever shoot through a dry bore. I was told that when you clean the bore, put a light coat of oil for followup, then the first time that rifle is shot again, put one dry patch through it so there is trace amounts of oil before the next shot.

I've done that method for years but never blew a bullet down the bore on a wet oiled surface.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Doss:
I got this idea from another post. For hunting, do you keep a clean barrel or a slightly fouled barrel.

I never carry a clean barrel to hunt with, as my guns all change point of aim in the first few rounds and then settle in.

My rifle is always clean before I fire it while hunting. Not only that, but at the end of the day I clean the dust, water, and mud from the stock, barrel, and scope, and run a BoreSnake through the barrel.

I place a mini balloon over the muzzle brake, but sometimes branches hit it when I ride my ATV, and little pieces of bark get inside. That's the reason why I run the BoreSnake through the barrel. Snow sometimes pile-up on the exposed area of the bolt, so I clean that too.

Since my stainless Ruger rifle shoots three rounds well enough from a clean barrel, I seldom shoot more than once or twice to drop a moose from 100 yards to nearly 300. It always shoots +2" high from the center of the target, and no wider than 1-1/2" with very little effort as long as I use 230-grain Lubalox-coated FS, or 250-grain Nosler Partition.

quote:

Originally posted by whiplash:
After the pre hunting shooting session I clean my barrel as to eat off of. I know where bullet impact is from a cold clean barrel. And it shoots consistent groups. Its a Rem VS .308. I really enjoy going to the range and firing that first shot knowing where its going to be.

Same here.

I use Moly Coated Bullets, so pristine clean in my rifles means No Copper, but there will be Moly.

After removing any visible Copper(generally a very small amount), I put some Moly Grease on a Paper Patch and then dust it with MOS2. Give it a few strokes through the barrel and then follow with 1-2 dry Patches.

I hunt in a lot of humidity and rain which tends to "Pit" Fouled Barrels. So, I try my best to create a situation where that is not possible.

And like Whiplash, I know where the first and the second bullets are going from my clean, lightly lubed barrels.

Here's what bothers me about the whole argument as to which is better. Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I fired for qualification over some days in the NG at ranges up to 1000 yards. ( It wasn't for basic qualification but more to see if we could qualify to be put up as candidates for sniper school) I still had to present a gleaming bore daily to the platoon sergeant. Was he trying to handicap me?

quote:

Originally posted by MuskegMan:

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I personally never hunt with a freshly cleaned rifle. I check the rifle's zero before the hunt and try to not clean it again until the hunt is over.

Mark

Yep.

Major Bad Karma to take a cleaned, oiled barrel out on a hunt.


MM

Are you guys speaking of carbon fouling, oil residue or both.

It is not necessary to strip all of the carbon fouling out of a barrel when cleaning to keep it well maintained and coated with a rust preventative. In my experience, a propely finished and broken in barrel will have a slight coating of carbon which keeps the copper from sticking and will give you a closer POI between first shots of the cold, clean and oiled barrel and a second shot from a warm, dirty and dry barrel. I have several hunting rifles that will do this within 1.5MOA as well as I've done this w/ several military and police sniper rifles within 1MOA.

I will have a serious rust problem after several days in foul weather if I do not have a coating of a rust preventative in a chromo bore. This also applies to my black powder smoohtbores and rifles.

How can you expose your dry and unoiled chromo bore to S.E. Alaskan foul weather for one season, one week or even one day without ruining the barrel?

Gary

I do the same as many who have posted - check my zero at the beginning of the season and then wait until the end of the season to clean the barrel.

I have always felt guilty about this though. Is there any downside to not cleaning the barrel for 3-4 months? How about a year? What harm am I potentially doing or should I not worry?

Doug

quote:

Originally posted by dougaboy:
... Is there any downside to not cleaning the barrel for 3-4 months? How about a year? What harm am I potentially doing or should I not worry?...

Hey Doug, There can be a downside if you carry the rifle where the weather feels damp or sticky - high Humidity.

Here is a portion of what I responded in a similar thread on Gun Smithing:

I want a pristine clean and lightly lubed barrel for a couple of reasons.

1. Had to carry Rusting Blue for many years because Stainless rifles did not exist. And even with Stainless, it is possible to get "Pitting" if you happen to hunt in a Humid environment.

The problem with having copper in the barrel is it creats a Battery in Humid conditions and thus creates rougher spots, larger barrel imperfections and bigger Pits.

Any time you have two dis-similar metals in close proximity and water gets between them, the Battery action begins. Here you have the barrel steel, a layer of Powder Residue from the Initial Cartridge Blow-By(before the Bullet becomes engraved into the Lands), and the copper. As moisture permeates the Powder Residue, the Battery is created.

2. When I hunt, I want the very First Bullet to enter barrel conditions as similar as possible to the previous Single Shots from a pristine clean, lightly lubed Bore. Consistency for the First Shot.

I've never had a need to fire a 3rd shot at anything "I've" ever taken one or two shots at. Always nice if the 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. keep going in the same place for shooting Targets(which I do on occasion), but for my hunting the First Shot is the most critical and I like the Second Shot to be very close by.

So, I develop Hunting Loads with the end Goal being very small, cumulative 1-shot groups from a pristine clean, lightly lubed Bore.

And the Link to that thread is here:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../496109504#496109504

Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills.

I hunt with a fouled barrel, only cause folks have said rifles shoot different from clean to fouled. I had not paid much attention to my first shot clean bore to notice a huge difference. Then again too, I only shoot my rifle at the range less than a dozen times anyways.

I never hunt with a clean barrel. 2 foulers for me.

The M/L, the 8x57, and the .308 get their sights checked right before deer season, though they get shot regularly from when the target holders emerge from the snow in the spring and all through the summer. The M/L gets thoroughly cleaned every time it is fired, (I shoot Pyrodex). The .308 gets cleaned fairly often as I am still testing cast loads and need to completely remove copper fouling before and sometimes leading after. I don't cast for the 8x57 yet, but the old girl still gets a good cleaning after a workout.
Before I hunt, neither the .308 nor the 8x57 get cleaned after checking, and I put either an orange target dot or a piece of electrical tape over their muzzles to keep the debris out. Both centerfires take at least five shots from a clean barrel before they are at their optimum, and I'm likely to shoot 30 to 40 rounds at a practice session. The M/L is always left clean and oiled, so immediately before charging I wipe any residual oil out of the bore, fire two caps, load it with powder and ball (or sabot), then put an orange dot on the end of the muzzle - tape isn't wide enough. This also tells anyone who might handle it that it is charged. Humidity isn't a problem here, but if it's rainy, the actions get wiped down after.
I think that most common cleaning solvents, lubricants, and protectants leave odors readily detectable by the sensitive noses of deer and other game species, which I think is another good argument against the freshly cleaned rifle.
Two of the most successful deer hunters that I know never clean their centerfire deer rifles unless the accuracy is effected, and they often go several hundred rounds, sometimes more without bothering. While they can't shoot the tiny groups that my rifles can, their kill record, especially compared to mine, is quite impressive, and the rifles in question all have had many thousands of rounds through them without any apparent ill effects.

I may have really learned something from this discussion!

I have a M70 in .338 WM that has always frustrated me witrh its inconsistency. Sometimes it shot great, and sometimes not. Also, I am anal about cleaning my rifle bore. I shoot a dozen shots, then clean the bore.

After following this discussion, I thought I would try a little experiment. I thoroughly cleaned the bore with Sweet's 7.62 Solvent. I then fired 16 rounds over two range sessions, a week apart. My first shot was a "fouling shot", then I fired 5, 3 round groups from a rest. The group sizes, in order, were:

2.2"
1.6"
1.4"
.9"
.5"

From this single test it would seem this particular rifle requires about 10 rounds from a clean barrel to settle down.

I can't remember how many times I would struggle at the bench to get a decent group, and then, finally, at the end of the day, I would finish with a group that didn't look too bad. I would go home, clean the barrel, go back out and spray bullets all over the place again.

I don't think I would ever have figured out this particular quirk without this discussion. It just goes to show what you can learn if you can keep an open mind!

Gentlemen and Women ----- If you shoot less than 20 rounds per year and go hunting, it matters not if you shoot a clean barrel or fouled barrel. You will shoot as you will shoot. You may not be shooting enough to get maximum accuracy out of your rifle and yourself. Only shooting many rounds will help you develope the shooting habits, like placing the sights or crosshairs on the target repeatedly and easily squeezing the trigger, without panic attacks and buck fever. Now I am not saying you are not a successful hunter of game, you may kill efficiently the way you shoot, it is not for me to say how you do your shooting. If you shoot enough to figure your rifles best accuracy you will find that each barrel has it's own personality and it will tell you what that is, enough shooting is the key. Some take one or two fouling rounds then they are at maximum accuracy for 10 or even 50 rounds. The bullets make a difference, the coated bullets taking more time to shoot the barrel back to maximum. The all copper bullets foul quicker than the partial lead bullets because they are longer and impart more bullet material to the barrel, that eventially has to be cleaned. Some of the partial lead bullets like the North Forks are grooved to alleviate this problem. ----- Bottom line, enough shooting will tell you that always shooting a pristine-clean barrel will not give your rifles maximum accuracy or yours. That said, the way you shoot your rifle is your business, it is not for me to tell you to change. I know a buddy that has killed 6 Elk out of one box of cartridges, still has some, and I will bet you he hasn't cleaned his barrel in 10 years. Good shooting.

I think that every rifle is a little different. I have a model 70 featherweight that will shoot any bullet I stuff into it and won't change the point of impact from clean to dirty. I have a 338 that I shoot failsafes through and it takes about five shots to get it to settle down and then I have about ten shoots before the accuracy drops off. (molly build up??) then I have a Rem Sendero in 300 ultra Mag that likes a squeeky clean barrel from the first shot to about the 8th shot and then accuracy falls off. Shoots like a laser beam but very finicky. Go figure.

Wooly,
Glad to hear about your results!!! Congrats

Gotta agree with Digital Dan on this one. Oil in a rifle bore is a bummer

Lubricating oils are NOT compressible and can be a damaging obstruction in a rifle bore. Depending how long and how you store the rifle after lubing the bore can allow puddles of lube to form in the bore.

Try this experiment. Clean your gun as usual. Then store it vertically with the muzzle down on some folded paper towels for a week or so. If you are leaving too much solvent or lube in the bore it will show up on these paper towels after a few days. It's my belief this residue more than the cleaning causes the shift in POI.

If you find a dirty paper towel after a couple days it's a pretty good indication, you need to dry patch a little more in your cleaning regimen.

Personally, I prefer bore conditioning solvents like Shooter's Choice and only clean the bore when I feel it needs it (ie. the hunting weather or intense range day). My experience is POI doesn't move much if at all, if I've done my part to remove excess residue.