Is it ok to wait 3 days to clean my .243 after shooting 12 rounds through it?

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reynolds357 said:
Brian, I can assure you my .35 Whelen was not neglected.
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I had to go back and look at your post, I didn't see that part about your 35 until now. I was responding the the post immediately above mine.

You have to admit though, something unusual happened with that gun. I can't say what, but I imagine a clean, dry bore after an unsuccessful season or something along those lines.

There's just no reason for an uncleaned bore to rust any more than a clean one. Less, really. Excess oil residue has ruined (ringed) no small number of barrels and a bore wiped dry has no protection at all.

Otherwise, there's simply nothing about modern gun powder or primer residue that will directly harm a gun nor will it combine (in significant amounts) with atmospheric agents (water or other) to harm the gun.

If residue was going to rust the guns, mine would be toast. Summer time temps here run 80-95F with relative humidity almost always above 40%, with 60-80% typical and 90+% not uncommon. None of my gun bores have ever rusted. Blued, stainless, handguns, rifles, single base powder, double, ball, extruded, etc, etc. Not one speck.
 
Many years ago, I ruined a .22-250, Rem 700 bore by not cleaning it for several months. It was in a closet with a steel plumbing vent tube during humid months. I keep my guns in cabinets and try to clean them within a few days of shooting, even though some have stainless barrels.
 
Quickly oil the outside with some field wipes and dont worry about it. Hand grime will cause light surface rust a lot faster than you think!
 
It would be OK after 30 years. That is not enough usage to justify cleaning at all.

Get a good one piece coated rod and a bore guide. Cleaning improperly with the wrong tools destroys more barrels than anything else.
 
no matter what, it won't do any real harm.

however, if it's the first 12 rounds into the barrel, i'd clean the bore after every shot for the 1st 5 rounds, then a cleaning after every 5 rounds for 25 rounds. that's a minimum "barrel break in" for me, to help clean out the rifling of a new bore and to allow an equilibrium of lead/copper fouling.
 
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Waiting on the cleaning of a shot anything can be habit forming. Best not to let a necessary job string out too far. Otherwise you'll have guns that look like mine._:eek::o
 
Like others have said....mine get cleaned rarely. I'm not a fan of it either. Sometimes I enjoy it. . but laying out 15-20 guns to clean is daunting. And that's a small collection. Time could be used wiser... Like shooting!!!:D
 
having a cleaning "break in" regimen for a NEW factory rifle just makes safe common sense. none of these kinda barrels are lapped and polished, and it's a good bet there's some roughness happening, and that would best be served by the standard defacto new rifle shooting process - clean out well after each of the first 5 rounds, clean out well after every 5th round, for 25 rounds. ymmv.
 
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