How Often To Clean

AlanB.

Guys and Gals,

I've been target shooting only a couple of months but I'm a little confused as to how often I should clean out the barrel, I've been told by one source that once ever few months is fine, the reasoning behind this logic is that with the build-up of "stuff" down the barrel helps keep the groupings tighter and when you clean out the barrel because the build-up is gone your groups tend to get larger. Another source tells me every time I've been to the range to clean it out. Is there any paticular guidelines I should go by i.e. every 200 rounds?

Cheers.
Alan.

civdef

What calibre?

For a .22lr, I clean with a patch before and after each match.

AlanB.

Its a .22lr

Sparks

.22lr cleaning tends to be a religious thing Alan, in that there are multiple factions who all argue, often for decades and very stridently, over something that's not very well defined and doesn't really have any proof behind it

Two basic schools of thought: 1) Don't ever clean it unless the barrel is blocked; 2) Clean it very regularly and often.
The theory behind (1) is that the lead in .22lr rounds is softer than anything in fullbore, so things like copper fouling and wearing of the rifling isn't a concern, but the consistency of the crap lining the barrel is affected by cleaning (and a brass brush will do more damage to the barrel than any .22 round fired through it, so brushing should be minimised). There are some valid points there - muck up the crown on a match barrel through careless brushing/cleaning, and you're looking at a fair repair job.
The logic behind (2) is that the crap in the barrel is pretty much consistent from the third or fourth shot after cleaning, so clean the barrel, fire a few shots into the backstop before your sighters in a match and you'll get better performance because the barrel wasn't designed to shoot with a load of crud lining it.

Me, I've done both. Frankly, I was never good enough to tell the difference in accuracy (and I've put in some half-decent scores indoors and outdoors in smallbore). My advice, for all it's worth, would be to spend more time shooting

(And remember that this applies to the inside of the barrel - the outside is a whole other ballgame. Clean that every time to prevent rust from forming where your fingerprint oils are on the metal).

Dr Strange

I clean after every trip to the club. As soon as I am home I strip the rifles (they are .22), clean them and store them.

If a rifle stays at home and isn't used for a longer period I give it a good clean once a month.

Best,
Preusse

Sparks - maybe a poll????

Sparks

No o_p, definitely a rod. A pole wouldn't fit down the barrel.

Please god say that you're taking the piss..

Sparks

:d

AlanB.

Thanks for the advice lads, I agree with Sparks i.e. I've cleaned and not cleaned and couldnt see a difference.

Alan

Just out of interest,

What do people use for cleaning?

I use Bisley patches with 3&1 oil (have proper stuff on order)
Have been advised not to use Youngs and the 009 stuff is cack.

bullets

At the moment for my own setup, I am just using a bore snake and oil.
I have not used any copper solvent or anything else yet.
Have a cleaning kit (Rod and patch/brush) ordered from Duffys
about 2 weeks ago and still no sign of it.

When people are talking about damaging the crown with a brush
are they talking about scratches??? or something more severe?
Or is it wear built up over time ?

Heard loads of conflicting stories about the 17 and cleaning.
Lots of poeple saying ya dont need to clean it as its a rimfire
but I think they have it in their heads the rounds a lead on
the outside instead of copper.

Only Sunday I was told clean it every 20-30 Rounds as it would effect
accuracy a lot!! And some of the Americans clean after 5-10 rounds.

So far myself I only clean at the end of a days shoot. (150-175 Rounds)

~B

rrpc

I use the VFG cleaners, absolutely brilliant for cleaning and a lot less hassle than patches. Bronze brushing I've been told by the Anschutz people should be done every 5000 rounds or so, but don't go to hard on it. Once or twice through the bore should be enough.



That's the VFG system at work. You have to buy a special tip for your cleaning rod, and then you put two felts on the tip, the first one goes on the threads and the other one over the unthreaded tip. The cleaning method is simple, push the rod down the bore until it exits the other end, the end felt will fall off when you pull the rod back taking all the dirty stuff with it, and the felt on the threaded bit stays on as you pull back and polishes the bore.

You can put a bit of gun oil on the polishing felt as well, and that will apply a thin film to the bore as you draw it back.

Sparks

when you pull the rod back

Hmmm. That was the very first thing I got told was a no-no about cleaning rifles (well, other than the unload-the-bloody-thing-first-you-muppet bit, that is). What I was told (and it made sense then and now) was don't pull back on the rod with the cleaning tip attached because you'll rake all that crap in the barrel back into the chamber and possibly the mechanism. Instead push it to the far end, unscrew the tip, and withdraw the rod that way.

That said, have to agree about the VFG cleaners, they're a treat. None of that winding patches onto jags, much faster and convenient (and thus more likely to be done regularly).

phantom_lord

are we ever meant to clean air rifles?

rrpc

Sparks wrote:

Hmmm. That was the very first thing I got told was a no-no about cleaning rifles (well, other than the unload-the-bloody-thing-first-you-muppet bit, that is). What I was told (and it made sense then and now) was don't pull back on the rod with the cleaning tip attached because you'll rake all that crap in the barrel back into the chamber and possibly the mechanism. Instead push it to the far end, unscrew the tip, and withdraw the rod that way.

Have you ever seen the Anschutz boys cleaning a rifle? It'd make you go faint to see them scrubbing the bore backwards and forwards!

In any case the VFG system works a treat because all the crud drops out the end, and you're not dragging it back down the bore when you pull the rod back. Adding a drop of oil to the back felt also helps a lot.

What you were told is absolutely right if you're using patches, but the VFG tips are designed to be used the way I described.

Rew

I clean my .223 as soon as possible after shooting. I havent used any copper solvents (yet) just cleaning fluid then gun oil. Generally id run a dry patch though the barrel before shooting and take any extra oil off with a rag. If you get a load of smoke out on your first shots then there was oil in the barrel!

I fired a pistol that had too much oil on it and got hot oil in the face so be carefull and use eye protection!

When its stored for a long period I would take it out and give a clean to make sure its still oil'd and not coroading anywhere.

I have a cleaning rod and a bore guide for the rifles and use a bore snake for pistols. I have the spear tip jag and the type with the eye for holding a patch. I tend to use both as the form differnt shapes but thats probaly over kill. Bronze brush only after alot of rounds and the patches are coming out grey constantly.

I disagree RRPC,

I used to the use the VFG felts. However then I was shown how to thread a patch... and out came the rust that the felts didn't get at....

Sparks

OP, were you using solvent on the VFG felts every so often?

Sparks

phantom_lord wrote:

are we ever meant to clean air rifles?

Yes!
There's a vfg system for them as well, and a kind of abrasive/polishing paste. I'd clean mine every few months when training hard. You don't build up much crap in the barrel when you're not burning stuff in there

Sparks

Sparks wrote:

OP, were you using solvent on the VFG felts every so often?

Think so..

In IoM there was a very strong consensus that the VFG stuff is crap

Sparks

In IoM there was a very strong consensus that the VFG stuff is crap

I've heard that. I've heard the opposite from other places. Like I said, it's a religious thing.
And again, you get best results from spending more time training

rrpc

original_psycho wrote:

Think so..

In IoM there was a very strong consensus that the VFG stuff is crap

And the first time I saw them used was in the Anschutz tent in Bisley....

Immediately ran off to the NSRA shop to buy myself some.

If you're getting rust from your bore, you're not training enough

Vegeta

Rew wrote:

I clean my .223 as soon as possible after shooting. I havent used any copper solvents (yet) just cleaning fluid then gun oil. Generally id run a dry patch though the barrel before shooting and take any extra oil off with a rag. If you get a load of smoke out on your first shots then there was oil in the barrel!

I fired a pistol that had too much oil on it and got hot oil in the face so be carefull and use eye protection!

When its stored for a long period I would take it out and give a clean to make sure its still oil'd and not coroading anywhere.

I have a cleaning rod and a bore guide for the rifles and use a bore snake for pistols. I have the spear tip jag and the type with the eye for holding a patch. I tend to use both as the form differnt shapes but thats probaly over kill. Bronze brush only after alot of rounds and the patches are coming out grey constantly.

I was informed shooting any center fire firearm with oil down the barrell was a little dangerous due to the fact the oil gets compressed under the pressure of the round.

I was also told that if you had oil down the barrell for storage to put something like meths down to get rid of the oil before firing first round

rrpc

Vegeta wrote:

I was also told that if you had oil down the barrell for storage to put something like meths down to get rid of the oil before firing first round

And use a tracer round first to make sure it's all gone

jaycee

Vegeta wrote:

I was informed shooting any center fire firearm with oil down the barrell was a little dangerous due to the fact the oil gets compressed under the pressure of the round.

Possibly , depending on the type of oil and the amount of it. For sure it won't do the gun any good either. It's fairly common for it to create "Oil-Rings" in the bore as the pressure caused by the oil trapped between the bore and the rapidly advancing bullet is enough to leave marks .

I was also told that if you had oil down the barrel for storage to put something like meths down to get rid of the oil before firing first round

Probably refers more to the heavy oils and grease used for preservation in long term storage.That stuff requires a full and complete cleaning. The normal residue after cleaning will be ok after 2 or 3 dry patches.

The rule of thumb when oiling a firearm is this..
"A light coating of oil is what is left on the metal after you wipe it off" ,
If it looks wet,... theres too much oil on it.

Rew

Vegeta wrote:

I was informed shooting any center fire firearm with oil down the barrell was a little dangerous due to the fact the oil gets compressed under the pressure of the round.

I was also told that if you had oil down the barrell for storage to put something like meths down to get rid of the oil before firing first round

Too much oil and it burns in a great big puff of smoke, not recomended but I dont think its dangerous appart from potential splash back. Causes more fouling id say.

jaycee

Sorry ... I should have pointed out I'm mainly referring to long guns and especially higher velocity rifles.
Having said that , I don't think I'd like to shoot any type of gun with a wet barrel.