How often do you guys completely strip all of the

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copper out of your bore? I've always done it every time I cleaned my rifle...but Dan Lilja only recommends stripping the out every couple hundred rounds...and cleaning the carbon out every 30 rounds or so...

So, what do you guys do? Do you completely strip all the copper out every time you clean it, or do you just do it periodically? If you wait a couple hundred rounds, is it a lot harder to get it clean? Thanks!

Eric

MIKE WISKEY

every 1000 rnds wether it needs it or not[;)], actualy whenever accuracy starts to degrade to the point of not being aceptable for what ever you're shooting (varmit guns > 1 moa, target guns > .5 moa, ect.). most accuracy 'nuts' over clean thier rifles, unless you're into benchrest 200/500 rds should be fine.

sandwarrior

Between 60 and 80 rounds usually. And I drypatch when I get home from the range which is about a ten minute jaunt. So maybe every other time I go to the range.

Rocky Raab

The slight coppery wash you may see in the barrel - particularly if only near the muzzle - doesn't ever need to be removed. It isn't actually a buildup of jacket material, but merely a sheen of color perhaps an atom or two thick.

gunprofit

Personally, I like to clean my guns just as much as I like to shoot them. So, I clean them after everytime I shoot.

JustC

benchrest shooters mostly clean between relays. So every 15 bullets or so. BUT thta is how they work their load as well,..so a sporting rifle may benefit from running them "fouled in" moreso than running a clean bore.

Tailgunner1954

Clean after every 20-30 rounds (just to knock out the heavy/loose stuff)
Strip the copper after the accuracy falls off (let the barrel tell you when it needs it).
I usually figure it takes 3-5 rounds for the barrel to settle in after stripping the copper.

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quote:Originally posted by sandwarrior
Between 60 and 80 rounds usually. And I drypatch when I get home from the range which is about a ten minute jaunt. So maybe every other time I go to the range.



What exactly do you mean by drypatch? Thanks!

chiefr

Same as you ECC, I use Hoppe #9 which displaces the Cu quite well. All my bore cleaning gear is made of material weaker than steel thus no fear of bore damage.

stevecrea

ECC:

I do not believe you indicated if you were target shooting or not. However, my experience has been, that unless you are striving for absolute perfection, that most people clean too much. Perhaps they just feel better about that, and I will not argue with them. While I have no interest in starting a squabble over this interesting topic, it seems to be a bit like 'how often should you bathe?'. Is four times a day enough?

After a good barrel is broken in, my practice is to not clean very often, but I am primarily varmint shooting, not target shooting. Of course, it depends on numerous factors, such as how hot the load is, how hot the temperature is, etc. With cartridges like the .223 I do not seem to have much trouble with copper after the barrel is broken in. On the other hand, hotter cartridges seem to leave more copper, in my experience.

With rimfires, such as .22 LR and .17 HMR, I have sometimes gone thousands of rounds without cleaning. I am not necessarily recommending this, but it just does not seems to make an enormous difference.

I had a friend some years back with a very nice custom .223 Remington. I do not think it was cleaned but rarely in shooting many hundreds of rounds at rockchucks, and it just did not seem to matter all that much in the real world.