Why are there only three? i.e clean/cold, fouled/cold, fouled/warm?
There is clean/cold, then there is really clean/cold, no? In other words, there is the truly clean bore, where the bore is down to steel (really clean), but then there is the gilded bore, where just the carbon has been cleaned out (clean). So, shouldn't we recognize this further differentiation? Wouldn't it be clean/cold, gilded/cold, fouled/cold, and fouled/warm?
I used to clean down to steel after every session, but not with a brush. Sweets and J-B (which I should not have used as much as I did). Then I got the bright idea I needed to use a brush and the accuracy dropped immediately, and I haven't gotten the accuracy all the way back yet. (Now, truth be told, this was also the time I switched from 168 gr. SMK to 175 gr. SMK for better long range performance, so that may be part of what I saw as accuracy degradation- 1:12 twist barrel)
Then I read about not cleaning except maybe thoroughly cleaning every 500 rounds or so after accuracy starts to drop again. I tried that for a while, and I've gotten much of the accuracy back, and it does help with the cold bore shots. But, then I heard that bores are susceptible to pitting if you leave the carbon in the bore, and that if you clean the carbon but leave the gilding (copper) in the bore, the groups will stay tight and have a consistent cold bore shot. So, this is where I am now. i just started cleaning the carbon each session, and more shooting will show if I can have the accuracy without having to be concerned about pitting.