Ridgerunner665
New member
I clean the copper out of mine once per year...no more, no less...I use only Hoppes #9 Benchrest Solvent...no brushes, no harsh cleaners...just Hoppes and patches...it usually takes 2-4 overnight soaks to get it clean.
After each range session...a wet patch (CLP), a dry patch (tight), another wet patch...and put it in the safe.
I'm no expert on anything, but I have been shooting rifles since childhood...got my first one at the ripe old age of 9, that was 32 years ago.
My first "high powered" rifle was a Marlin 30-30, got it when I was 11...I used Jim Carmichael's book (The Book of the Rifle) to learn how to sight in the scope, I had never owned a scope before this...the initial sight in went smooth enough...I shot it for a year or so before the accuracy went south, then I cleaned it with Hoppes #9...I had read about how rifles often need a few rounds to settle down after cleaning, and that Marlin was no exception...it was all over the paper for 22 rounds after that cleaning, then it settled down and went right back to where it had always been shooting.
Next up was a 25-06...Remington 700 BDL...with the same scope that was on the 30-30, a Bausch & Lomb 3-9x40 Banner...sighted in, shot it for a year or so, and it was very much a tack driver...until one day it wasn't...time for a cleaning...again, Hoppes and patches...after cleaning it was all over the paper for over 30 rounds...then it settled right back into shooting the tiny little groups it had always shot.
Now....30 years later...there have been a couple hundred rifles, and every one of them shot better with a fouled bore than they did with a clean one....
So...I just don't understand the concept of deep cleaning after every range session...
How do you ever really know where the bore settles down at?
How do you afford all the ammo to get it sorted out every range session?
And lastly...have you ever tried shooting it for a few hundred rounds between cleanings?
You just might find that its more accurate than you ever thought it was...
After each range session...a wet patch (CLP), a dry patch (tight), another wet patch...and put it in the safe.
I'm no expert on anything, but I have been shooting rifles since childhood...got my first one at the ripe old age of 9, that was 32 years ago.
My first "high powered" rifle was a Marlin 30-30, got it when I was 11...I used Jim Carmichael's book (The Book of the Rifle) to learn how to sight in the scope, I had never owned a scope before this...the initial sight in went smooth enough...I shot it for a year or so before the accuracy went south, then I cleaned it with Hoppes #9...I had read about how rifles often need a few rounds to settle down after cleaning, and that Marlin was no exception...it was all over the paper for 22 rounds after that cleaning, then it settled down and went right back to where it had always been shooting.
Next up was a 25-06...Remington 700 BDL...with the same scope that was on the 30-30, a Bausch & Lomb 3-9x40 Banner...sighted in, shot it for a year or so, and it was very much a tack driver...until one day it wasn't...time for a cleaning...again, Hoppes and patches...after cleaning it was all over the paper for over 30 rounds...then it settled right back into shooting the tiny little groups it had always shot.
Now....30 years later...there have been a couple hundred rifles, and every one of them shot better with a fouled bore than they did with a clean one....
So...I just don't understand the concept of deep cleaning after every range session...
How do you ever really know where the bore settles down at?
How do you afford all the ammo to get it sorted out every range session?
And lastly...have you ever tried shooting it for a few hundred rounds between cleanings?
You just might find that its more accurate than you ever thought it was...
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