Cleaning during load development?
- Thread starter 06shooter
- Start date
Carbon fouling takes just seconds to get out with any solvent and a patch.
Copper fouling screws up accuracy. The guys I hunt with put in Hoppe's #9 and let it soak over night every 5 rounds.
I try to clean out the Copper every 10 rounds and go on shooting:
1) Wet patch with Carbon Solvent [I use KG1, but anything works]
2) Dry patch
3) We patch with Copper solvent [I use KG12, but anything works]
4) Wait 10 minutes.
5) Put Kroil and Flitz in the bore and start bronze brushing with a brush that is at least .005 bigger than the groove diameter, and the brush gets smaller all the time [I use Holland's Witch's brew witch contains both]
6) Wait 10 minutes
7) Go back to brushing with Kroil and Flitz.
8) Flush with patches with Alcohol.
9) Dry patches
10) Check for Copper streaks visible in the last 1/2" of muzzle with magnification and a flashlight. Repeat if necessary.
Copper fouling screws up accuracy. The guys I hunt with put in Hoppe's #9 and let it soak over night every 5 rounds.
I try to clean out the Copper every 10 rounds and go on shooting:
1) Wet patch with Carbon Solvent [I use KG1, but anything works]
2) Dry patch
3) We patch with Copper solvent [I use KG12, but anything works]
4) Wait 10 minutes.
5) Put Kroil and Flitz in the bore and start bronze brushing with a brush that is at least .005 bigger than the groove diameter, and the brush gets smaller all the time [I use Holland's Witch's brew witch contains both]
6) Wait 10 minutes
7) Go back to brushing with Kroil and Flitz.
8) Flush with patches with Alcohol.
9) Dry patches
10) Check for Copper streaks visible in the last 1/2" of muzzle with magnification and a flashlight. Repeat if necessary.
bacardisteve
New member
If testing loads i clean the barrell if changing powder. After that i wont clean the bore again untill accuracy degrades. My rem 700 308 usually goes a couple hundred rounds before groups slowly start to open.
603Country
New member
Depends on the rifle. For max accuracy in the 220 Swift, if I'm shooting groups, I clean the bore of carbon fouling every 15 rounds. With the 260 and the 223, both of which have new and very smooth barrels, neither carbon fouling or copper fouling is excessive. I'll clean when the groups open up a bit and I can be sure it isn't my fault.
If testing loads i clean the barrell if changing powder. After that i wont clean the bore again untill accuracy degrades. My rem 700 308 usually goes a couple hundred rounds before groups slowly start to open.
What do you suggest ? Solvent or bore snake ?
Thanks , 06
__________________
What do you suggest ? Solvent or bore snake ?
Thanks , 06
__________________
For years I have used Dewey nylon coated steel cleaning rods:
http://www.amazon.com/Dewey-Rods-30C-36-Nylon-Coated/dp/B000GH1DUS/
For the past week I have been using Carbon fiber cleaning rods.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NJ81C8
I like the Carbon better. It is lighter and stiffer.
I like to have one rod jag and one rod brush.... to speed things up and to keep my hands cleaner.
http://www.amazon.com/Dewey-Rods-30C-36-Nylon-Coated/dp/B000GH1DUS/
For the past week I have been using Carbon fiber cleaning rods.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NJ81C8
I like the Carbon better. It is lighter and stiffer.
I like to have one rod jag and one rod brush.... to speed things up and to keep my hands cleaner.
Changing powders has been known to effect accuracy but only for a few rounds . After 5 rounds or so of the new powder . All the old powder fouling and it's effects are gone . For me that works out great because I've never found the first minimum load as being the perfect load so I use those to wash my pains away .
Now that's all with in reason . If you just put 100rds down range testing loads and plan to run another 50+ . I'd clean the rifle but if I've only shot 25rds from a clean bore . I'd just shoot my next powder knowing the first test loads will clear out any powder fouling left behind from the last load .
There was a point in time that I tried the copper equilibrium theory . Which is (all rifles are different) At some point in the round count you are removing just as much fouling from the bore as you are leaving behind . Most rifle need a few fouling shots to settle in ( some more then others ) . Then you hit a point where the rifle is pretty much GTG for the next X amount of rounds before accuracy drops . I would go 300rds before cleaning with out any real noticeable change .
The theory is you don't clean the rifle so the next shot shoots to the same POI as it did 2 weeks ago when you put the rifle up after the last time out . Think about it , You're at the range and you get your rifle shooting dead nuts . Then go home and clean it . How do you think those first few shots next time out are going to shoot . Not the same as that last group you shot two weeks earlier .
Now this is not the way to go for competition but if your in a situation where you need your rifle to shoot a dead nuts cold bore shot . Which would you want , a rifle that's sparkly clean that you're not really sure where exactly the POI will be or a rifle you just finished shooting a few days ago that was shooting great .
Now I did find this to work , After 150rds and the rifle put up for a month . The next time out my cold bore shot was almost always dead center of what I was aiming for .
OK now all that said , DON'T DO THAT
. You can get a lot of build up in the throat area and It takes for ever to clean the rifle after 300+ rounds . I was getting so much fouling in the throat it actually effected my COAL . That's when I realized it's not worth the effort for the type of shooting I do . how ever IMHO the theory has some truth to it and in the right situation it's valid .
Now that's all with in reason . If you just put 100rds down range testing loads and plan to run another 50+ . I'd clean the rifle but if I've only shot 25rds from a clean bore . I'd just shoot my next powder knowing the first test loads will clear out any powder fouling left behind from the last load .
There was a point in time that I tried the copper equilibrium theory . Which is (all rifles are different) At some point in the round count you are removing just as much fouling from the bore as you are leaving behind . Most rifle need a few fouling shots to settle in ( some more then others ) . Then you hit a point where the rifle is pretty much GTG for the next X amount of rounds before accuracy drops . I would go 300rds before cleaning with out any real noticeable change .
The theory is you don't clean the rifle so the next shot shoots to the same POI as it did 2 weeks ago when you put the rifle up after the last time out . Think about it , You're at the range and you get your rifle shooting dead nuts . Then go home and clean it . How do you think those first few shots next time out are going to shoot . Not the same as that last group you shot two weeks earlier .
Now this is not the way to go for competition but if your in a situation where you need your rifle to shoot a dead nuts cold bore shot . Which would you want , a rifle that's sparkly clean that you're not really sure where exactly the POI will be or a rifle you just finished shooting a few days ago that was shooting great .
Now I did find this to work , After 150rds and the rifle put up for a month . The next time out my cold bore shot was almost always dead center of what I was aiming for .
OK now all that said , DON'T DO THAT
. You can get a lot of build up in the throat area and It takes for ever to clean the rifle after 300+ rounds . I was getting so much fouling in the throat it actually effected my COAL . That's when I realized it's not worth the effort for the type of shooting I do . how ever IMHO the theory has some truth to it and in the right situation it's valid .I agree
If the rifle in question is a truck/brush gun the rarely gets cleaned and that's the likely condition the gun will be used . Do the load development in the same condition .
If you're a bench rest guy that cleans every 10 rounds in competition . Then clean the gun every ten rounds or even after each load .