What's the verdict? I say shoot with a dry bore, otherwise the oil that is left in the bore with just help collect fowling. Yes, I do oil my bores after cleaning but I always run a patch of isopropyl alcohol (inert, and cheaper than nitro solvent) through the bore before heading to the range to remove oil. I know many believe that shooting with oil in the bore is the right way to do things. What's your routine?

dry bore

Wiped dry, no solvents.

Think of it this way. Do you run your auto engine without oil, metal against metal???

Oil the bore lightly.

Jest my personal opinion.

Pecos

Although I've tried numerous combinations, I usually leave a LIGHT coating of Hoppe's #9 in the bore after cleaning(BTW I don't think too much of #9 for cleaning), or, as often happens, if I'm using another bore cleaner, a light coating of a good oil. I dunno if it helps or hurts, but I know it helps if I go on to another rifle and leave that one sitting for a while as often happens.

Oil and wipe with dry patches.

Very light oil!! --Can't imagine 2 metals rubbing against each other and 55,000 psi without a trace of lube.

Driz-A-Bone.

I've seen odd fliers come off for the first two ro three shots from a very lightly oiled bore. I used to finish my rifle cleaning with a wet patch of Break Free, then dry patches until nothing came off. Still had odd fliers.

Now, I simply dry off the Hoppes or Shooters choice completely and store. I only lightly oil the bore if I know I won't be using the rifle for months. Then, I do clean it out with Hoppes and dry it out.

You guys that say oil. Do you carry an oil can with you in the field so that you can oil up before every shot. or do you have an oil pump mounted on your gun. You guys oil up and then waste 2 or 3 shots drying it out!

Becareful with those oily bores. Ever hear of hydraulics? I doesn't take much in the way of a liquid and the force of a projectile to push a perfectly good barrel out of whack. Oil the bore if you must between shooting sessions, but run a dry patch or pull a bore snake through it before you light it up.

Alcohol??? Alcohol is for drinkin'...

Malm

NOW I'm beginning to understand where all this copper fouling comes from that ya'll talk about.

The proper amount of light oil, if applied to a shot glass, won't spoil good whiskey......

BUT there should be *some*.

It's REALLY easy to see. Dry the outside of a barrel and hit it hard a glancing blow with a brass or copper bar. Now do it with a trace of oil on the metal. It's plain to see that a dry bore is a BAD idea.

BTW-- The Boresnake with a half dozen drops of ATF on the tail is near enough to the perfect way to properly oil a bore.

I realize it's impossible to measure, but how much oil is left in the bore after a shot or two? Is the benefit gone?

My two cents:

After wiping the barrel clean for shooting there is still some oil left.I need two or three fouling shots until the groups are what they are supposed to be.Then it stays consistent for quite a long time and I quarantee there is no oil.

If I go hunting I foul the barrel that way before going. The first and possibly only shot has it�s own will unless the rifle has been shot a couple of times before it.

Funny that we have so many different views.

Oil for storage.
Before shooting patch until the patches look clean and dry. At that point you have JBelk's "shot glass coating" left in the barrel. You won't remove all the oil with patches, it takes (non-petroleum) de-greasing solvents (isopropial is one) to get all the oil out of the metal.

Final stroke: One oily patch thru the bore followed by two dry patches.Yes, it may take a couple of shots to settle down but the first shot is still a "killing" shot as far as hunting is concerned.

Maybe I misunderstood the question, but let me add, if I am going to be doing any kind of serious hunting with a rifle, I shoot at game out of a fouled bore, usually 3 shots, which checks my zero. But for storage or general use, I lightly oil the bore after cleaning.

Always a dry bore.

You should oil your bore when not in use & run at least 2 dry patches through it before using it,that should remove all but a very fine coating of oil down the bore.

Leaving more than that can cause significant damage to the bore,the fact is that any liquid in the bore as the bullet moves down it will build up before the bullet & if the bullet passes over it the liquid could be forced into the metal(as a liquid cannot be compressed)causing damage,i've seen this form blister like bubbles on the outside of the barrel,rendering it useless.

As to worrying about friction caused by the bullet & a dry bore well the bullet is made of copper & lead with some other additions,both of these metals are much softer than the steel in your bore & both are used to lubricate other harder metals(why do you think lead used to be put in fuel?)!!

Most of the damage or wear & tear to the bore is caused by the hot gasses from the burning powder not the bullet passing down it so in actual fact a wet bore could cause damage & be of no value in saving the life of your bore.

So oil your bore while not in use but clean it out before shooting it.

Lightly Kroiled, then wiped "dry" Little lube isn't a bad thing in this case. Accuracy has always been uneffected in quality bores.

I shoot mine dry.

If you want to shoot slightly oiled bore, why oil the bore? after 1 shot oil's all blown out, maybe lubing the bullets is more practical. Just saying that, I don't do it or endorse it.

Oiled well and one big dry patch run down to take the excess out... that's it.

There's only rapid copper fouling to gain from running a degreaser or alcohol down the bore afterward, test it on several rifles and just see for yourself.

Ever heard of hydroplaning? Tell even a solid copper bullet to ignore that fact. Impossible to ignore it, and the copper gives way, as it does from the rifling, the barrel doesn't... if it isn't an excessive amount anyway.

I foul mine with at least 5 shots before taking the rifle hunting. Close the muzzle up with electrical tape when needed and POI is always kept stable.

It's absolutely ludicrous to shoot one with a degreased bbl... but you all keep doing it, bbl MFG's need to eat too. Some could probably use the extra excersize cleaning too.

Do you have copper piston rings in your truck? Total Seal TS1 moly faced rings here. Tighten up the side clearance on your rod bearings and see how long any of them last. They won't! What kills rings? too much heat, lack of lubrication, dirt, metal and so on, same thing as your bore too.

Or maybe a copper crankshaft? Don't see the connection there.

Do you shoot 3000 rounds per minutes (RPM's)? I doubt that's an equal comparison at all, if any could even be made there. The life span of a bullet is one trip down the bore, that of a piston ring is how many? Thrust load from a piston causes the main wear on a cylinder, keeping the bore lubed and thus unscuffed is critical to ring seal.

Do you drip some 10W-30 down the barrel between shots? The fouling builds a protective barrier after it's fouled, the oil helps do that for the first shot. Oil isn't needed after that.

Dry Bore for me. I just started even putting a CLP down my bore and then only my Battle Rifles. My hunting guns never see oil down the bore. Keep them in a dry place and they don't need it. My bores are clean and shiney.

I run a patch oiled with a very, very small amount of break free through the bore right after cleaning. In theory, I think that it helps keep the rust bunnies away. I don't really give a horses rear-end about how the oil affects the first shot or any subsequent shots. In my rifle, there isn't enough of a difference in POA to worry about or argue about. Bambi won't notice the difference, he'll be my dinner guest afterwards no matter how many shots it took(usually one).

ZM

[ 05-18-2003, 03:16: Message edited by: recoiljunky ]

After a thorough cleaning I always run a oiled patch down the bore. Before shooting I patch it with at least 2 clean patches before shooting. This leaves a very, very light coat of oil in the bore which I feel is necessary. I would NEVER, NEVER totally remove oil from the bore with a solvent like isopropyl alcohol or acetone before shooting. There's a huge difference between a bore that's been patched "dry" by using clean patches after oil, and a bore that's been stripped of all oil by an aggressive solvent. Too much oil is bad as mentioned above, but a bore completely free of oil is bad ju-ju. Also, as one poster mentioned, oil isn't needed after the first fouling shot, the powder residue acts as a lubricant just like powdered graphite in other applications.

Brent-

I re-read your post. While I don't agree with your analogies, we pretty much do the same thing. I dry my bores with patches, not a degreaser. So maybe we're not that far off, just looking at it from different angles.

What the hell! Even a bore that starts out "wet" is gonna be dry as hell after the first shot! No oil on earth can stand up to those temps and pressures!! Now, if you're at the range, I suppose you could reoil it after every shot! But even us kanoozers don't do that after wiping out the fouling!!

[ 05-18-2003, 23:12: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

Orion 1,
CB, that was too funny. I'm afraid you're fighting a battle of wits against an unarmed opponent. Ouch!

Cold Bore,
Hydroplaning probably doesn't happen to any great extent, if at all but, bulging a barrel from "excess" oil in the bore suggests it "can" and does happen to a point the steel will yeild, so does the bbl stretch minutely, while not to the point it yeilds, from just light oil or excess copper fouling by reducing the bore size?
Who knows for sure, just a though.

DRY BORE

I oil lightly after cleaning, but remove all traces of oil before a shooting session with a couple good squirts of brake cleaner down the bore from the chamber end.

DRY..... if i can help it...

see, this little thing about shot placement... my first shot from a oily hole is always a little kattywhompus....

so, before I head out for a hunt, i hit the range, shot some... clean it if it aint shooting right, oil it well.. and shoot 3...
jeffe