About cleaning your rifle...HOW often do you have to ???

[acemisser]

I know this aint got a thing to do with reloading but it is part of the
gun control for shooting...OK ??? Now on to the topic...

I got this here savage mod 10 22-250 that seems to foul up fairly
quickly..And when it does so,the accuracy goes to hell as well...

I use this here foam cleaning stuff,that seems to work realgood..
I get lots of blue color copper patchs out...Anyway I am wondering
if this is caused by certain brands of bullets or will all brands cause
a lot of copper fouling...I have shot lots of Hornady thru it and now
I an trying bergers as well as seirras....I always log the number of
loads and I think after I get it all cleaned out again I am gonna
watch the accuracy just to see how many shots I get befor the
accuracy starts to fade....You got any comment I would sure like
to hear from you....Ace

[JCalhoun]

Firstly, all barrels will copper foul. No getting around it. Unless your barrel fouls really badly I don't think you will have an issue with it accuracy wise.

When you go to try different brands of bullets it's a good idea to clean the bore as normal. You should shoot 10 fouling shots before shooting for groups to let the bore settle in or else the clean bore will cause fliers.

Once I know what load the rifle likes I usually clean the bore at around 700 to 800 shots.

[darkker]

Yes, different bullets foul differently. There is no one single recipe for jackets. Personally I findHornady stickier than Sierra .
I treat each gun differently, because they are different. But I clean when accuracy dies. Generally around 500 rounds .

[fgw_in_fla]

You want to remove copper. you say?..... Sweet's 7.62.

Make sure you use it with a little ventilation. The ammonia odor is horrible but, it cleans the copper out like nothing else.

I use Hornady bullets on occasion. Nosler is my brand. I notice a bit more copper in the barrels when I shoot Hornady's.

Lastly..... I just put a Shaw barrel on one of my rifles. I can shoot all day long (like today) and clean it with Sweet's in less than 10 minutes. It takes longer to get the Sweet's out of the gun & get it fully cleaned & lubed, then it does to de-copper the barrel. My Savage barrels, I know that the longer I shoot, the longer I'm gonna be shoving a rod in & out of the barrel. The sure do collect copper. And NO..... I never use a brush on my rifle barrels. My shotguns after a good, long slugfest shooting session I'll use the brushes. Never in the rifles.

Well,....... gotta go. I got barrels to clean, brass to sort, targets to mark & log info and I feel a nap coming on. Nice talking with you.

Frank in FLa

[skypilot]

What do you mean exactly on the accuracy falling off? What size group and at what distance are you determining "accuracy" and based on that, what do you say is poor accuracy for that barrel?

I log the # of shots down the barrel, what was shot(factory, reload and how many of each(example (31) 69 gr SMK, (5) Hornady AMAX, (20)Hornady factory 55 gr VMAX).

I have shot this barrel enough @400+yds to know it will just start to affect accuracy at that range @ 153 rounds. So I clean when my data books says 153 rds. This barrel shoots slightly less than 3/4 MOA out past 400yds and if I grunt real hard it will do low .5s to .6 MOAout to that distance so that is my reference point. When it begins to shoot outside of that and I know it's not me I clean. That has been around 153 rds. It is a hunting rifle.

[tobnpr]

If you're using Wipe-Out, I've been in that camp for two years, never use anything else, and never send a brush down our bores anymore.
I also believe you have the correct mindset in shooting until accuracy drops off, before cleaning the bore (I always clean the rest of the rifle after every range trip).
Every rifle is different, some shoot better clean, some shoot better fouled to a certain extent- which you'll be able to guesstimate by the logs you're keeping. I've read several posts from guys getting in excess of 600 rounds before accuracy suffers. Do, whatever works, for YOUR rifle.

[oneshot57]

Some of you say to never put a brush down you barrel... I do not use a metal brush of any kind. I do use a nylon brush to scrub the bore a little before I use a patched jig. I only run the brush from the chamber end out the muzzle end and then take the brush off to pull my one piece rod out.
What are your thoughts about using a nylon brush?

[acemisser]

thanks for the replies..Once I can't keep 5 in about 3/8 at 250 yds.I know it's time toclean.
And it's usualy at 200 rounds..I use nothing but the foam cleaner..Once the patchs come out
white and not blue,I amhappy..I used sweets for years..Anything that strong works good as
well,,,But I found you still had to scrub it to get the copper out.Iknow that some barrels
will foul a lot faster than others...Just courious as to what others were finding out...

[JCalhoun]

Nylon brushes are good.

[Tarleton_Texan]

I clean after every range trip no matter how many rounds I fire, I guess I am a little OCD about that. That being said do what works for you and what your comfortable with. I am on the Wipe-Out band wagon and love it, its great product.

[oneshot57]

Does wipe-out do any damage to the barrel over time?

[Tarleton_Texan]

No damage, I have even let it sit in the barrel 24hr before with no problems at all. Its well worth the ten dollars a bottle.

[darkker]

Sky,
I don't track that meticulously, I have shooting to do!
Accuracy falling off just depends on the gun and use. I have an FP that holds MOA at 1K with 500down the pipe.
A varmint gun gets cleaned when I start missing, from the 300 yard line.