Just curious.

No

I cannot see how it would.

I once read that too smooth a chamber might prevent the brass from 'sticking' to the chamber walls during firing, allowing the case to move backwards into the bolt face.

George

The cartridge always moves backward into the bolt face upon firing

shootaway says an unclean bore will lead to cracked stocks ... and he says that from under a skidoo helmut with one scope ring on his 458

Bore obstruction creates pressure issues, leading, fouling. But even then it needs to be extreme. Clean bore is the way to shoot. "Fouling shot" to heat the barrel and get on target. I run a brush, solvent and patches every five/ten shots off the bench in a .308 Win. if I'm looking for tight groups.

But I've fired hundreds of rounds in an AK without swabbing, cleaning.

If bore cleaners like Sweets are not fully removed with something like Hoppes you can get a pressure spike. It seems to "dry out" the bore and is very noticeable on match grade buttoned barrels

quote:

Originally posted by jwp475:
The cartridge always moves backward into the bolt face upon firing

Of course, but I believe the gist of the article was that as the brass expands upon firing, it exerts friction against the chamber walls, lessening back thrust.

I suppose a strain gauge or two would prove this to be a fallacy or not.

George

Too much oil in the bore can create problems. I usually run an oil patch through the bore in the Am, then two or three dry patches to ensure that the bore has no debris.