Large rifle cleaning regime

[timelinex]

Im part of the "don't clean until accuracy drops off crowd" and usually clean my 308 after 300+ rounds or so. For those of you in the same belief system, how many rounds are you guys going on something like a 338lm before cleaning? Is it any different?

BTW please don't make this into a cleaning regime flame fest. Theres enough threads on the two different schools of thought. If you are part of the clean after every session crowd, then this question is not aimed towards you!

 

[Jig Stick]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

i clean with butches bore shine after outing. brass/copper brushes are not going to wear down a steel barrel. i dont know why people think that

 

[timelinex]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jig Stick</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i clean with butches bore shine after outing. brass/copper brushes are not going to wear down a steel barrel. i dont know why people think that </div></div>


For me it has absolutely nothing to do with me not wanting to wear the barrel out. Its all about not wanting to have to waste shots on foulers.. It takes my 308 10 shots or so to settle down on a zero after cleaning. Thats $5-10 bucks I would rather keep... Much more so for the 338lm

 

[hdbiker1]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

My routine is to remove the carbon after a couple hundred rnds and then run a wet patch of kroil followed by a dry patch. No change in poi.

 

[Blackbrush]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

The "Jig" is up! Barrel makers and gunsmith via borescope inspections indicate a significant number of barrels are damaged due to mis/overuse of cleaning rods. It's just something to consider.

10 rounds is quite a few foulers to get a barrel to settle in. Is this a factory barrel? Are all of your guns like this? Do you make sure your barrel is dry, dry before your first shot? Benchresters clean often (they replace barrels often as well - part of their game) but they don't go through 10 rounds of fouling. How many rounds do you "waste" as accuracy degrades as I am sure accuracy doesn't go to hell between shot 252 and shot 253?

These are just some of my thoughts.

I clean on varying schedules. Mainly, I avoid storing a gun for any period of time in a dirty state. Nasty things can happen beneath fouling if stored dirty for months or more. My 308s foul less than my big fast magnums so they get shot a bit more and cleaned a bit less. Most any gun with a good bore can go 100 rounds and still shoot well unless you're using something like black powder!

 

[T2CH]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

My GAP-10 takes about 10 rounds or so to foul as well. I stopped brushing so often and now just run a couple wet patches followed by dry patches every hundred or so. Somewhere around 500-600 rounds I give a good cleaning, brush, copper solvent, etc. just to check on how things are going and how much copper fouling is in there.

The wet and dry patches don't seem to move my POI but the brush cleaning sure does.

 

[Nisils14]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

338LM is probably one of the most expensive cartridges you could shoot. I don't imagine it would ever need get cleaned due to how often one would shoot this round. Clean it at your own discretion, I suppose.

 

[gutshot53]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

I don't like to run more than 30-40 rounds through my rifles without cleaning them and usually clean them after hunting season even if I have only fired a few rounds through them. I like Butchs bore shine also.

 

[timelinex]

Re: Large rifle cleaning regime

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Blackbrush</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The "Jig" is up! Barrel makers and gunsmith via borescope inspections indicate a significant number of barrels are damaged due to mis/overuse of cleaning rods. It's just something to consider.

10 rounds is quite a few foulers to get a barrel to settle in. Is this a factory barrel? Are all of your guns like this? Do you make sure your barrel is dry, dry before your first shot? Benchresters clean often (they replace barrels often as well - part of their game) but they don't go through 10 rounds of fouling. How many rounds do you "waste" as accuracy degrades as I am sure accuracy doesn't go to hell between shot 252 and shot 253?

These are just some of my thoughts.

I clean on varying schedules. Mainly, I avoid storing a gun for any period of time in a dirty state. Nasty things can happen beneath fouling if stored dirty for months or more. My 308s foul less than my big fast magnums so they get shot a bit more and cleaned a bit less. Most any gun with a good bore can go 100 rounds and still shoot well unless you're using something like black powder! </div></div>

I can't tell you if its 10 rounds exactly, but Its always somewhere around there for not just the zero to settle but for accuracy to settle. It is a factory barrel, so thats something to consider.

As far as 'wasting rounds' I was saying the foulers are the waste's , not the rounds that are shot while accuracy is fading. To be honest, I haven't ran into a time when I could completely blame accuracy fading on lack of cleaning. I usually clean around 350 or so just because I had a bad day at the range and I feel like the rifle hasn't been cleaned in a very long time. That usually lands around 350. I'm sure I could probably go much more without issues, but cleaning every couple months doesn't bother me.

My question was mainly towards big rounds like the 338lm. I was just wondering if rounds like that dirty up the bore much faster.