Shoot clean, or shoot dirty?

Hey guys, just wanted some feedback of what everyone is doing as far as what condition you keep your gun in. My personal research has taught me that shooting a fouled barrel will give you more accurate cold bore shots.

I have put nearly 200 rounds through my Hog Hunter .308 after the break in, and have not cleaned it since. I have gone out on several different days now and find that my first cold (fouled) bore shot is bulls eye @ 100 yards. After the first 10 shots or so then the groups open up a little.

I assume that as long as I do not use corrosive ammo that the barrel will be fine? Or does the fouling eventually have a negative effect on the rifling inside? Thanks in advance.

What type of break in did you do? depending on the type of break in you did will allow me to answer your question a bit better.

barrel break in or the lack thereof can cause lots of arguments. even well known barrel makers dont agree
on this subject. bottom line for me is if the gun shoots shoot it. when it stops look for a reason. lika a fouled barrel.

If it shoots better clean then keep it clean. If it shoots better dirty, clean it only when accuracy starts to decline. Only your rifle can tell you what it likes best.

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Originally Posted by RP12

If it shoots better clean then keep it clean. If it shoots better dirty, clean it only when accuracy starts to decline. Only your rifle can tell you what it likes best.

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This.

very true and the argument upon which method to break in a barrel a tough one. im a fan of the copper equilibrium style of break in but that's just me. Now if you did that style of break in your barrel's accuracy will be reached quickly, gives really good cold bore shots and wont change until there is heavy copper fowling.

If it likes a dirty barrel shot it dirty and clean just often enough to protect your investment. I have a 270WSM that hates a clean barrel, so it gets cleaned once a year AFTER hunting season. My groups remain consist all season long even 30 - 40 shots later. I have a friend who shots long range open sight competition and his primary rifle has never been cleaned thousands and thousands of rounds later...on the other hand, I have a 243 that asks to be cleaned every 10 rounds max...treat your rifle the way it wants to be treated.

I shoot until the groups open up. Then I clean it with some Hoppes. All it does is help remove some of the fowling. Then i start shooting again.

Run an oiled patch thru the barrel before you put it away, other than that, clean when the accuracy tells you to. Some guys will shoot 150 round compitition and no cleaning in between.
My brake in consists of running as much ammo thru it as I want. Maybe run a patch if the spirit moves me. All my barrels shoot bugholes so I guess that's what counts.

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Originally Posted by RP12

If it shoots better clean then keep it clean. If it shoots better dirty, clean it only when accuracy starts to decline. Only your rifle can tell you what it likes best.

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Same here. But after a shooting trip I run one wet patch of pro shot cleaner/lube down the bore to keep it protected.

I found myself getting a wild hair and decided to clean my barrel with copper removing cleaning agents. The barrel look,d fantastic...spit shine...ultra gloss...went to shoot it and boy was i pist!....my rig no longer groupd worth a dam. I knew better but in usual fashion my curiousity got the better of me. I ran some blow ammo thru the barrel to get some copper enbedded on the rifling and my groups came back to where they were before.
Removing powder fouling and occasional chamber cleaning is the norm for me now.

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Originally Posted by eddiesindian

I found myself getting a wild hair and decided to clean my barrel with copper removing cleaning agents. The barrel look,d fantastic...spit shine...ultra gloss...went to shoot it and boy was i pist!....my rig no longer groupd worth a dam. I knew better but in usual fashion my curiousity got the better of me. I ran some blow ammo thru the barrel to get some copper enbedded on the rifling and my groups came back to where they were before.
Removing powder fouling and occasional chamber cleaning is the norm for me now.

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I've done the same thing, my 22-250 may as well be a shotgun when the bore is clean...

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Originally Posted by RP12

If it shoots better clean then keep it clean. If it shoots better dirty, clean it only when accuracy starts to decline. Only your rifle can tell you what it likes best.

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This is exactly right! My sniper rifle shot much better with a fouled barrel, I would clean it then fire 2 rounds thru it before storing it.

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Originally Posted by missed

I've done the same thing, my 22-250 may as well be a shotgun when the bore is clean...

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i did this before an f t/r match and it cost me 4 places never again last year. i only cleaned my 308 and 223 once last year i shoot them until the groups start opening up then clean and dirty them right back up my shilen takes 4-5 rnds to get back on zero 223 7-8 rnds

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Only question I have now is, if I decide to keep my barrel dirty because it likes it that way, does it eventually ruin the rifling, or decrease the life of the barrel any? I think all I am going to do is shoot my gun and run a bore brush and a dry patch through the barrel. It definitely likes having the build up.

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Originally Posted by The_Agent_

What type of break in did you do? depending on the type of break in you did will allow me to answer your question a bit better.

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My break in was; I fired 20 shots. Cleaned the barrel with Hoppes. Fired another 20, cleaned with Hoppes. Then fired about 250 without cleaning. Idk what class that break in falls into?

Every factory Savage barrel I have ever seen shot better when it was dirty. (usually after 10 to 15 rounds.) The barrels usually preform well, but if they are not properly cleaned the bullets will start to keyhole. (Indicating a hard carbon problem.) The thing is most people don't know how to properly clean a rifle, and remove hard carbon. The keyholing problem seems to show up earlier in smaller calibers. Because of this I highly recommend use of an mild abrasive product such as JB pore past, or Remington 40x bore cleaner. With proper cleaning using mild abrasive bore cleaners, the barrel will live a very long life. last off don't worry about "break in" procedures, they are a waste of time.