benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

[cruze5]

my local 300 yard range is full of bench rest shooters. its rare that i will find another bipod or sandbag / prone shooter like myself.

Everytime I go they spend it seems forever cleaning out the barrel. yesterday it was his first trip out with his new Brux barrel..

is there that much of a difference between a benchrest gun barrel and a heavy match barrel in a say a Remmington 700, Sako, AIC, etc?

Or has it just been programmed into these slightly older shooters heads that cleaning the barrel after every group is a must?

 

[eracer]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

I'm surprised at the mention of 'older shooters' when talking about BR. I know my old eyes can't see 300 yards, much less hit a bullseye using iron sights.

 

[cruze5]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

im 31 years old and never see ANYone my age at my range. the rest of the shooters are at least 20+ years old that me

that is no way a complaint I have learned so much from listening to and watching others

 

[JSTARSZ]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cruze5</div><div class="ubbcode-body">is there that much of a difference between a benchrest gun barrel and a heavy match barrel in a say a Remmington 700, Sako, AIC, etc?
</div></div> the quick answer is no there is no difference; but, it is more of a perceived way of doing things. There is a lot of group thought when it comes to the Voodoo of shooting and the Bench Rest guys hang around a certain crowd that does it a certain way as there is a lot of group thought on how we do things here. I have learned a lot from both sides but I don't like going to the range and swabbing my barrel out between strings - just seems silly to me. Heck, I don't even clean it when I come home very often. It is more like corporate culture...

 

[kraigWY]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

Somebody here (on the SH) posted an article "Secrets of the Houston Warehouse" that was about some hard core Bench Rest Shooters. (Great Article)....

Anyway, I don't believe those guys were anal about cleaning their bores. They spent all their time on "brass prep" or "The Arc".

I'm not a bench rest shooter so I don't know for sure. But it doesn't make sense to me. I know if I clean a rifle I'm gonna shoot the crap out of it before I go to a match. I know high power is different then bench rest, but I never seen anyone clean every five or so rounds during a HP match.

Like I said, I'm not a bench rest shooter, maybe they know something I don't.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

I come from the BR world. Started shooting 34 years ago. This is kind of the two extremes.

BR guys do to some extent over clean. With that being said their level of performance requires everything and I mean everything that can be done is done to maintain top performance.

I'm in the middle. I clean on a pretty regular basis. The reason I have to have faith in the results as I'm testing most of the time. Anything faster than a 308W will build up copper fouling. It affects accuracy and takes time to get it out. When I'm at the range I want to shoot not soak my barrel so I clean from time to time.

Guys shooting a 308W at steel plates seldom clean and seem to meet their expectations . I will say even stainless steel barrels rust and pit so putting them away dirty will sooner or later reduce performance and shorten barrel life.

 

[Jgoodley01]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

From being in the bechrest world for a few years and shooting with some of the top shooters...I have learned a few things about cleaning, barrel life, and break in. Most of which I learned from a good friend and current NBRSA world record holder.

Cleaning, most benchrest shooters are using a 6mm cartridge, usually 6ppc. These copper A LOT. Generaly speaking becuause of this most shooters clean after each group using a copper solvent, sometimes every other group. After 2 groups we generally see the group size open up. Keep in mind at 100yds on a light wind day we strive to keep 5 shot groups under .200", and .350" at 200 yds.

There are us wierd benchrest shooters that shoot a .30 cal cartridge for group and score. Either a .30BR, .30ppc, or some other wildcat form there of. The 30's dont copper much at all or powder foul. As a matter of fact, a "benchrest clean" 30 barrell takes a good 8 shots to settle down. For the most part I go a full match, approx 200rnds, without cleaning my .30

 

[oldrifleman]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

Also remember that Bench Rest gurus go through barrels like crazy. I have hung out in the BR areas and know that when they start the year they buy 7-8 barrels and set up 2-3 at a time for a rifle. The life of a barrel is normally less than 1000 rounds. Barrels are considered an expendable commodity. Steven

 

[excaliber]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

Tactical accuracy and benchrest accuracy is two different worlds. Your gun will tell you when to clean.

 

[Joe40x]

Re: benchrest gun barrel cleaning v the rest

When accuracy drops off...clean. Till then shoot!