Barrel Seasoning- Different Ammo, Same Manufacturer

slickalaus12

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 2, 2020
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Hey guys,
I have searched around a bit but haven't been able to find an answer to this question.

When we talk about "seasoning" a barrel we are advised that using different types of ammo through the same barrel will expose it to different types of lubricants and oils, as different ammo is produced with different materials.

My question is, should I expect any affect on fouling when shooting different types of ammo from the same manufacturer? IE Hornady Match vs Hunter? CCI SV and CCI quiets?
 
There may be a 2-3 round window of weird things that happen when switching powders. Hornady, for example, probably doesn't use the same powder in their Match line as the American Whitetail. The different powders may foul more or less than one another-- just depends on what they are.

I say "may", because I've only very rarely got the hint that it was an issue and most of the time have no problem whatsoever. It's certainly not worth scrubbing your barrel between ammo types. It's not like moly coated bullets where swapping back to bare copper causes problems.
 
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Switching between copper solids and jacketed bullets can be a significant and persistent problem until the barrel is cleaned and shot again to copper foul. Otherwise, seems to be smaller issues, if any between jacketed ammo.
 
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IE Hornady Match vs Hunter? CCI SV and CCI quiets?
You dont have to worry about it really in centerfire, its the rimfire stuff where different bullets can have different waxes on them that can cause issues until it stabilizes after a dozen shots or so. Centerfire doesnt use wax so the residue left after a powder burn and copper bullet is much less appreciable than the wax build up and slickness from a coated lead bullet.
 
You dont have to worry about it really in centerfire, its the rimfire stuff where different bullets can have different waxes on them that can cause issues until it stabilizes after a dozen shots or so. Centerfire doesnt use wax so the residue left after a powder burn and copper bullet is much less appreciable than the wax build up and slickness from a coated lead bullet.
This is the most useful thing I've read all day. Thanks Spife!
 
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You dont have to worry about it really in centerfire, its the rimfire stuff where different bullets can have different waxes on them that can cause issues until it stabilizes after a dozen shots or so. Centerfire doesnt use wax so the residue left after a powder burn and copper bullet is much less appreciable than the wax build up and slickness from a coated lead bullet.
thanks!
 
I've seen slight inconsistiencies with differnt powders and rarely bullets.

For instance, If I'm doing something to test a clean barrel for my match rifle I'll load up 10 ELD-M rounds to fire before I swap over to the A-Tips I'll run in the match.
But since my practice load is with STA-Ball and my match load is VARGET I can see slight differences the 2-3 shots or so after swapping. After most shooting with the STA-Ball I'll clean it anyway.
 
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