How often to clean barrel

[parkerg31]

I was just curious as to how often you guys clean your precision rifle barrels. Do y'all run a bore snake through it every time you shoot or every 100 rounds ect.. I have asked multiple guys that shoot PRS and they all give me different answers ranging from don't scrub cause some fowling is good to scrub because you will get more speed.

 

[stello1001]

400 rounds

 

[Hollywood 6mm]

I only clean my match barrels when the groups go to shit, or I chicken out before a 2-day match when I have 500-600 rounds since the last cleaning. My 223 trainer hasn't been cleaned in over 2,000 rounds, and it still shoots sub-MOA and holds the same speed, so it doesn't get touched.

 

[radonkun]

For me, I clean every 100-150 rounds to the barrel. 200-300 rounds I will lube my bolt again.
I do not use a bore snake. I will use hopper 9 runs a couple times first, leave there for five minutes. And then use nylon brush runs a couple times. Finally, use a clean cotton patch run a couple times until the patch clean enough.

 

[hlee]

My RPR has about 700 rounds down the barrel. I've drug a bore snake through the barrel 2 or 3 times, but I haven't gone after it with brushes and copper solvent. It shoots well enough that I've never thought "that must have been the gun" when I've missed a target.

I may re-evaluate this after the match on Saturday, but so far so good.

 

[BurnOut]

How often to take a shit? When you need to.

 

[Conaso]

Burnout - Is English your first langauge, or did you typically need to use vulgarity to express yourself? Either offer a legitimate, thoughtful answer to the OP or keep your sophomoric comments to yourself.

 

[Sniper260]

Depends, your barrel will tell you.

 

[Steelnecktie]

Depends on a lot of things, if your shooting a dirty powder or a powder that doesn’t foul much, if your barrel was lapped, if you have a muzzle brake that collects carbon, if you have problems with carbon rings building in neck. Your rifle will tell you, be it good or bad. I usually clean every 200rds.

 

[thestacche]

I call bullshit on everyone that scrubs the bore clean every time they shoot it and claim after a box of ammo the groups go to shit and don’t tighten up again unless it’s cleaned.
I’ve got 800 rounds through my 308 so far and I’ve cleaned it twice. Cleaning it made had no effect on accuracy. Not going to waste my time cleaning it again until I start missing things.
First group shooting at 100m two days ago was half an inch including the flyer and yesterday first group including the flyer was three quarters.

 

[AIAW]

Clean it when it starts to smell like mustard and burnt hair.

No. You just have to know your particular barrel. There is no set number of rounds or anything like that. If it starts to open up then give it a cleaning. You'll even need to learn how much of a cleaning it likes by determining how many fouling rounds are needed to get it back to "standard". Don't clean it then go chrono a bunch of loads and then trust that data as that's an unrealistic approach.

 

[Ledzep]

50-150 rounds. I'll clean then run 5 rounds before a match.

 

[b6graham]

ive had a 6xc that went 600ish before cleaning, and a 6.5 creed that needed it after like 250. hawk hill and bartlein not that that matters much just luck of the draw.

 

[ThePretzel]

Burnout - Is English your first langauge, or did you typically need to use vulgarity to express yourself? Either offer a legitimate, thoughtful answer to the OP or keep your sophomoric comments to yourself.

That is a legitimate answer.

You should only clean your barrel when the barrel tells you it needs to be cleaned. This is when you see unexplained velocity changes, loss in accuracy, or an unexplained shift in your POI.

Cleaning more often than that only leads to the potential of prematurely wearing out your barrel by damaging it with cleaning rods. A good bore guide reduces the risk, but it's still a possibility that you will damage the crown or the lapping of the barrel every time you clean.

 

[crowe938]

That is a legitimate answer.

You should only clean your barrel when the barrel tells you it needs to be cleaned. This is when you see unexplained velocity changes, loss in accuracy, or an unexplained shift in your POI.

Cleaning more often than that only leads to the potential of prematurely wearing out your barrel by damaging it with cleaning rods. A good bore guide reduces the risk, but it's still a possibility that you will damage the crown or the lapping of the barrel every time you clean.

Exactly what Pretzel said.

 

[Tazman]

WOW...I clean the barrels after about 40 rounds or so? Apparently I should not be doing that? I guess I have never considered letting them go for a while but even at sniper school we patched them everyday after 100 round or so? That's been a FEW years ago though.

 

[ingraham]

I clean mine at the end of each hunting season, or after they have been fired. While doing load development, I clean more frequently and never store a gun long-term w/o making sure it has been cleaned and oiled.

 

[jinxx4ever]

How often to take a shit? When you need to.

This answer really helps someone coming on here , new to the sport and trying to find legitimate knowledge. This is also the reason this site has the rep it does, and don't kid yourself, it's not good. Parderg31, besides some good advice from some on here, go to the manufactures website, often they will give u a barrel break in guide and cleaning guide. As sniper260 said, after a little experience with it, ur barrel will tell u

 

[spife7980]

Burnout - Is English your first langauge, or did you typically need to use vulgarity to express yourself? Either offer a legitimate, thoughtful answer to the OP or keep your sophomoric comments to yourself.

This answer really helps someone coming on here , new to the sport and trying to find legitimate knowledge. This is also the reason this site has the rep it does, and don't kid yourself, it's not good. Parderg31, besides some good advice from some on here, go to the manufactures website, often they will give u a barrel break in guide and cleaning guide. As sniper260 said, after a little experience with it, ur barrel will tell u

Thank god the fucking morality police is out in force today!


Some require it every 20 round relay, some require it never. A more precise is actually a more bullshit answer. We cant tell someone what their rifle is doing and likes, only they can.


Can I get a hall pass to go take a shit now?

 

[Apollo1218]

^^^ good answer!

 

[BurnOut]

Burnout - Is English your first langauge, or did you typically need to use vulgarity to express yourself? Either offer a legitimate, thoughtful answer to the OP or keep your sophomoric comments to yourself.

This answer really helps someone coming on here , new to the sport and trying to find legitimate knowledge. This is also the reason this site has the rep it does, and don't kid yourself, it's not good. Parderg31, besides some good advice from some on here, go to the manufactures website, often they will give u a barrel break in guide and cleaning guide. As sniper260 said, after a little experience with it, ur barrel will tell u

Would it make you guys feel better if I said "make poopoo" instead of "take a shit"?

It's called making a point in a humorous way, and if that's too much for you to handle, you're just not going to be able to get much out of this forum (or most others). The point being made was that no one on the Interwebz can tell you when you need to clean your barrel, just like no one on the Interwebz can tell you when you need to make poopoo. As others have said (and have said in countless threads, available via the forum search function), the barrel will tell you when it needs to be cleaned... either velocity or accuracy (or both) will drop off, and that's when it's time to clean.

With that being said, may I suggest that thy tender-eared keyboard social justice warriors make off and fornicate with themselves.

 

[perttime]

During my military service, I was taught to "clean" a rifle after every time I've been shooting it - or going through the mud and snow and dust and bushes with it.

That doesn't mean a thorough scrub to get all the copper out. It is more like a couple of patches to get the soot and dirt out - followed by light oiling that will be removed before shooting the next time.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

On days when the weather makes shooting impossible.

 

[Rudy Gonsior]

Like many others I prefer to let the performance dictate. I found that it’s much easier to keep a barrel consistently dirty than consistently clean. If the barrels is shooting why fuck with it?

Other than situations like getting water/mud in the bore, which a pass with a snake will fix, I’ve let barrels (.308/.223) go as much as 6,000 rounds. I had a .300WM go 1200 rounds between cleaning and a .22LR that I’ve never cleaned, probably has 20k through the barrel.

I think a lot of it comes down to the quality of the barrel and the cartridge. Rough factory barrels and higher performance cartridges are going to probably require more scrubbing.

My general approach when I get a new barrel, is I just shoot it, most of the time you’ll see that barrel settle in after 150-300 rounds in terms of velocity and accuracy. I might clean it once at that point just to check the copper fouling especially if it’s a high performance cartridge and then I just shoot that bad Larry till it starts to choke. Once that accuracy starts to go or velocities start flexing, I figure as a rule of thumb that I have about 10% of the barrel life left. Cleaning at this point usually brings back some performance but the clock is ticking.

 

[palmettoman]

After break-in on bolt guns, I only clean when groups start to open up. I clean my gas guns more regularly.

 

[DaleGribble82]

Clean it when it starts to smell like mustard and burnt hair.

No. You just have to know your particular barrel. There is no set number of rounds or anything like that. If it starts to open up then give it a cleaning. You'll even need to learn how much of a cleaning it likes by determining how many fouling rounds are needed to get it back to "standard". Don't clean it then go chrono a bunch of loads and then trust that data as that's an unrealistic approach.

Fact.

 

[DaleGribble82]

WOW...I clean the barrels after about 40 rounds or so? Apparently I should not be doing that? I guess I have never considered letting them go for a while but even at sniper school we patched them everyday after 100 round or so? That's been a FEW years ago though.

Yeah it was the same way when I went through the course. It’s an Army thing. You know we gotta clean it till the finish is off ??‍. My instructors did teach us though to let the groups dictate when we got back to our unit as well as with our personal rifles.

 

[LongRangeLefty]

I clean my .308 RPR with a bore guide and coated rod every couple hundred rounds. I clean it much sooner during the winter but only because it sits unused much longer and I don’t know when I’ll be out again. I also make sure I clean the action/chamber. That is very important.

 

[mustang-cars]

I used to clean my 6.5 CM every 600-800 rounds. It was my comp gun. RPR with Bartlein 26" barrel. I would notice sometimes in the middle of a match that my zero would shift without explanation. Then I started noticing a build up of carbon in the throat that would cause my ES/SD to be wider than previously tested. I changed my cleaning schedule to after every match. Some would say that's excessive but when you spend the amount of time and money shooting matches its not worth wondering if problems will arise due to not cleaning. Its also much easier to keep the throat clean if its done more often.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

The first rule about Clean Club is..., don't talk about Clean Club...

LOL!

I clean about every third or fourth shooting session, and I'm probably cleaning too often.

Even if I don't shoot the rifle at all over the year, I clean them at least once a year.

Crucial issue: if your cleaning rod has a kink in it, even a tiny one, it's shot. I gave up on metal rods and only use carbon fiber rods now. They're not perfect, but at least, they don't kink. Always use a rod guide.

Greg

 

[kthomas]

Every 200-250 rounds. If I let it go much past that, I'll usually see a degradation of accuracy.

Preventative maintenance to do it every 200-250 rounds.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Cleaning more often than that only leads to the potential of prematurely wearing out your barrel by damaging it with cleaning rods. A good bore guide reduces the risk, but it's still a possibility that you will damage the crown or the lapping of the barrel every time you clean.

Damaging the crown pulling a jag back through at mach 1 could present a problem with the crown. But just ordinary cleaning of a barrel with wet patches, eye hooks and a jag a far cry from lapping a barrel. Sending bullets down a barrel at 3K fps does more lapping than you running a rod down a barrel. Even bronze phosphorous brushes are no match for steel.

 

[ThePretzel]

Damaging the crown pulling a jag back through at mach 1 could present a problem with the crown. But just ordinary cleaning of a barrel with wet patches, eye hooks and a jag a far cry from lapping a barrel. Sending bullets down a barrel at 3K fps does more lapping than you running a rod down a barrel. Even bronze phosphorous brushes are no match for steel.

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...n-barrel-break-in-procedures.27321/post-27321

The portion of the main post that is most relevant to this discussion:

Speedy Gonzalez (Hall of fame bench rest shooter and one of the nation’s top gunsmiths) was a wealth of information as were the techs at Hart barrels. As Speedy says, “my $3000.00 video-bore scope doesn’t lie”. I've looked through lots of barrels at Speedy's shop while he was working here in North Texas. Looking through his bore scope I learned a lot and saw a lot of good the bad and the ugly when it comes to barrel and barrel maintenance. Speedy's video bore scope never lied. When looking through his video bore scope at the internal surfaces of trashed barrels, one thing we did see a lot of were cleaning rod marks. The cleaning rod marks showed too much cleaning with poor and improper cleaning techniques and equipment. This was also noted by the techs at Hart Barrels with regards to barrels they replaced.

Cleaning rods can and will damage barrels if you overclean. Even using proper bore guides, rods, and jags you cannot entirely eliminate the possibility of damaging the bore or crown of the barrel during cleaning. Brass is softer than steel and that makes it unlikely to scratch or damage the barrel, yes. Sapphire watch crystals (used for the face of high end watches) are a 9 on the Mohs scale, and yet in time even they will scratch after repeated contact and wear with other materials. It's not a matter of if, but rather when the barrel will be damaged - however slightly - by cleaning rods.

The goal is to minimize the chances of this happening and limit the potential damage done if it does occur. The potential damage is limited by proper cleaning procedures and equipment. The chances of it happening are limited by avoiding overcleaning. If you're lucky and use good technique/equipment your overcleaning may not damage the barrel enough to have any effect on accuracy before the barrel is cooked anyways. If you're unlucky or don't use good technique/equipment you will degrade the barrel's accuracy potential before it is shot out if you overclean.

 

[Singleshot]

Now fellas, what if you need the re-zero or test a new load with 50 rounds or so, and don’t plan on shooting that rifle again for the unforeseable future. Do you clean it or stash it as-is.

 

[acudaowner]

have not cleaned my ar in a year and a half has not needed it , i love taking them apart so cleaning is not really a chore more a way to get to know my fire arm better, if you shake it more than twice your playing with it have to wonder if that applies to guns as well.

 

[Lunchbox27]

New rifle/barrel I will clean it before shooting. If it's going to be a while before I shoot again, i will clean it. Otherwise I wait until it starts losing accuracy. It's usually around 400 rounds.

 

[MOUNTIC]

For me, it depends.. 300 Norma Mag, or other big boomers I clean after every outing. Just with Boretech eliminator or alike and run patches. I make sure to keep a carbon ring from forming.

 

[Milo 2.5]

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...n-barrel-break-in-procedures.27321/post-27321

The portion of the main post that is most relevant to this discussion:



Cleaning rods can and will damage barrels if you overclean. Even using proper bore guides, rods, and jags you cannot entirely eliminate the possibility of damaging the bore or crown of the barrel during cleaning. Brass is softer than steel and that makes it unlikely to scratch or damage the barrel, yes. Sapphire watch crystals (used for the face of high end watches) are a 9 on the Mohs scale, and yet in time even they will scratch after repeated contact and wear with other materials. It's not a matter of if, but rather when the barrel will be damaged - however slightly - by cleaning rods.

The goal is to minimize the chances of this happening and limit the potential damage done if it does occur. The potential damage is limited by proper cleaning procedures and equipment. The chances of it happening are limited by avoiding overcleaning. If you're lucky and use good technique/equipment your overcleaning may not damage the barrel enough to have any effect on accuracy before the barrel is cooked anyways. If you're unlucky or don't use good technique/equipment you will degrade the barrel's accuracy potential before it is shot out if you overclean.

I've wrecked one crown in all my yrs shooting, it was done getting a stuck case from casehead separation out, the rod bent right at the muzzle. I've also had a Hawkeye borescope for quite a few yrs and have never seen cleaning rod marks in a barrel. Barrels today are way more inclusion free today than just 4 yrs ago, but looking down a new one you see shit that is tough to interpret.
If you run a bore guide, whatever you have on the rod's end also acts as a centering device. You'll stand a much greater chance of bending a cleaning rod in a slugged barrel(carbon & copper) than in one that is never allowed to get that much buildup to begin with.
Make no mistake, I like to get 250 -350 rds down between cleanings myself, but the powders I use dictate when. In my 4 blasting guns, H4895 & RL 16 are used, both known to lay hard carbon down in the first 5" of the barrel. My barrels are really no different than my toilet bowl, I can keep using, it's just going to take that much longer to clean.

 

[Inifinty]

Anyone ever put an un-oiled gun in a heated (humidity controlled) safe for months between firings and find barrels that have corroded?

Corrosion concerns me when putting them away dirty but I have not seen a corrosion problem yet.

 

[shoot4fun]

I feel it isn't as much how often you clean as how you clean.
Although I certainly think carbon (and to some extent copper) fouling can be detrimental to accuracy I firmly believe the neck/throat area of the barrel must be "cleaner" than the lands and grooves. Today's latest coatings for powders tend to cause much accelerated fouling. Fouling in the areas mentioned can cause not only accuracy degradation but potentially dangerous spikes in pressure. Also, just my observation, powders like RL16 that leave heavy sooty deposits in the barrel will make for a very time consuming cleaning session if left for, say, that 3-400 round mark.
I clean precision bolt guns about every 100 rounds. I don't look for a spotless patch to stop cleaning. I look for, with a good borescope, the carbon ring and throat to be virtually spotless.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Anyone ever put an un-oiled gun in a heated (humidity controlled) safe for months between firings and find barrels that have corroded?

Corrosion concerns me when putting them away dirty but I have not seen a corrosion problem yet.

This is just my opinion, so take it as that. When you get done shooting, unless you do something to start a process, like casing a warm-hot gun in a pelican or worse a padded soft case to haul it home, shouldn't be an issue. Let the gun cool naturally.
Now if it is wet or raining when you quit, all bets are off, run a patch of Kroil down it before putting it away. In this scenario, i myself would just store them, but have the gun out within the next week shooting it.

 

[Inifinty]

This is just my opinion, so take it as that. When you get done shooting, unless you do something to start a process, like casing a warm-hot gun in a pelican or worse a padded soft case to haul it home, shouldn't be an issue.
Now if it is wet or raining when you quit, all bets are off, run a patch of Kroil down it before putting it away. In this scenario, i myself would just store them, but have the gun out within the next week shooting it.

Thanks.. if you run a dry patch down the tube before the next firing do you find that a fouling shot or two are still required to get back to normal POI?

 

[Braunschweiger]

Barrel cleaning has two parts... cleaning the bore is one thing, cleaning the actual lands and grooves out is another. Cleaning the lands and grooves in my OPINION actually does NOT help accuracy, copper fouling actually aids accuracy. General maintenance and cleaning of a barrel is mainly for longevity of it (keeping it from rust/corrosion)

Now, cleaning the BORE will have an affect on accuracy as fouling can cause differences in headspace which as you know, is an important variable in accuracy. Using a quality bore brush to clean the chamber and bore is paramount. The frequency of these cleanings is the magic question. I personally see no need to clean until after I start seeing accuracy falling off.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Thanks.. if you run a dry patch down the tube before the next firing do you find that a fouling shot or two are still required to get back to normal POI?

Honestly, I do not know. Once again my opinion, I'm not sure just what a dry patch would do to remove softer carbon. I have read after firing if you spend 5 minutes with Boretech C4 on a warm barrel you may never do an extensive cleaning on the rifle< I really think this holds merit.
To me, I shoot steel, so a cold bore shot is not so important, it'd be rare that I miss a 10" plate at 500 which is usually where my first bullet goes.

 

[DaleGribble82]

Barrel cleaning has two parts... cleaning the bore is one thing, cleaning the actual lands and grooves out is another. Cleaning the lands and grooves in my OPINION actually does NOT help accuracy, copper fouling actually aids accuracy. General maintenance and cleaning of a barrel is mainly for longevity of it (keeping it from rust/corrosion)

Now, cleaning the BORE will have an affect on accuracy as fouling can cause differences in headspace which as you know, is an important variable in accuracy. Using a quality bore brush to clean the chamber and bore is paramount. The frequency of these cleanings is the magic question. I personally see no need to clean until after I start seeing accuracy falling off.

Fact.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Cleaning rods can and will damage barrels if you overclean. Even using proper bore guides, rods, and jags you cannot entirely eliminate the possibility of damaging the bore or crown of the barrel during cleaning. Brass is softer than steel and that makes it unlikely to scratch or damage the barrel, yes. Sapphire watch crystals (used for the face of high end watches) are a 9 on the Mohs scale, and yet in time even they will scratch after repeated contact and wear with other materials. It's not a matter of if, but rather when the barrel will be damaged - however slightly - by cleaning rods.

The goal is to minimize the chances of this happening and limit the potential damage done if it does occur. The potential damage is limited by proper cleaning procedures and equipment. The chances of it happening are limited by avoiding overcleaning. If you're lucky and use good technique/equipment your overcleaning may not damage the barrel enough to have any effect on accuracy before the barrel is cooked anyways. If you're unlucky or don't use good technique/equipment you will degrade the barrel's accuracy potential before it is shot out if you overclean.

Here’s what I use on my precision barrels. It’s just a piece of weed eater line that I’ve melted one end to make a button to hold the patch. I poke a hole through the middle of the patch, slide it on the line, feed it through the bore, wet the patch, and pull it it the muzzle end. Always the same direction. I’ll scrub my AR barrels, pistol barrels, or shotgun barrels occasionally, but I’m a po mo fo, and I can’t afford to damage a $5-600 barrel. I use my weed eater line and pull patches through till they come out clean.

 

[perttime]

Need to keep the plastic covered things clean, so you don't get rock dust etc sticking to it and abrading the bore.

 

[shooter65]

Per Frank Green

http://benchrest.com/archive/index.php/t-51265.html

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...s-explain-the-best-way-to-clean-your-barrels/

 

[Saracen]

Burnout - Is English your first langauge, or did you typically need to use vulgarity to express yourself? Either offer a legitimate, thoughtful answer to the OP or keep your sophomoric comments to yourself.

There's nothing wrong with that reply.

 

[Kimber.204]

Rise of the NecoThreads! Ooooooooooo