Cold & Clean BBL first shot flyer

[284allways]

All, I have a question about clean and cold barrels and first shot flyers. While developing a load I have become aware that the flyers everyone speaks about as the first shot form a clean and cold barrel are present.
In Your experience is it the clean barrel that is the issue or is it the cold barrel that causes the flyer? in my instance the first shot is about 2" high....?

 

[EastTNHunter]

Yes

 

[EastTNHunter]

This is the reason that I allow ample time to cool between shots, and only hunt with a fouled bore

 

[truck driver]

Some barrels need to have some fouling before they settle down and once they do it doesn't matter if they are warm or cold.
I also have one that will shoot to POI whether it is warm cold or clean every time and it wouldn't before I finally got it smoothed out about 500 rounds. I'm not saying this could be the same case for your rifle because each barrel has a mind of it's own and will preform differently.

 

[drakehammer]

I believe clean barrel is more often responsible for first shot fliers. Every barrel is different. I like a fouled barrel, and I find it plenty consistent over a three shot string (for hunting).

You could also clean between single shots to see how reproducible the cold-clean conditions really are. A 5 shot cold-clean group may surprise you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DrMike]

It is not unusual to observe what you discovered with your barrel. Many people, myself included, will deliberately foul the barrel with at least a shot or two at the start of the season. Each rifle is a story unto itself, however.

 

[69gto]

I agree that it's the clean barrel, from my experience any how.

 

[hunter24605]

I keep a stash of the cheap Spear bullets around just to use as foulers

 

[284allways]

Thanks Guys, Ive worked up loads for several rifles and not encountered this ! I appreciate your responses.

 

[Dwh7271]

It is not unusual to observe what you discovered with your barrel. Many people, myself included, will deliberately foul the barrel with at least a shot or two at the start of the season. Each rifle is a story unto itself, however.

I foul mine also prior to the seasons. I leave em dirty until it's done also. :grin:
I do wipe down the outside.

 

[ShadeTree]

Agree with what many others have posted, much more apt to be due to a clean barrel than a cold barrel in my experience. I have a gun or 2 that a first shot flyer from a clean barrel is so non descript it's hardly worth noting. Most I have are not the same gun with a clean barrel. Some just need 1 fouling shot, some several to be on track, then they're good until they need cleaning again.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Just like Shadetree and others here. When I check my rifle on the range before going hunting I do not clean it till the season is over.

 

[sask boy]

I always start my Big Game season with 2 or 3 down the tube the day before we start hunting !

Blessings,
Dan

 

[1Shot]

It is the clean bore most often. Then there is cleaning the bore and CLEANING THE BORE. I once got the idea that I needed to do a CLEANING of one of my bug hole shooting rifles. It had not lost it's accuracy much that a regular few patches of solvent would not cure but I had been reading, you know how it goes. I cleaned with coper remover until it was squeaky clean. Went to the range to shoot it and it shot ALL OVER THE PLACE. It took about 30 rounds to settle down and go back to bug holes. I always do my hunting on a fouled bore and for that matter I do not clean the bore of a rifle until accuracy starts to fall off. That could take 20 or 200 rounds depending on the barrel. Yes if I am out in rain and snow I will clean because of moisture but always foul the bore before hunting. I have seen more damage done to barrels by people cleaning them too much or improperly than shooting them.

 

[ShadeTree]

It is the clean bore most often. Then there is cleaning the bore and CLEANING THE BORE. I once got the idea that I needed to do a CLEANING of one of my bug hole shooting rifles. It had not lost it's accuracy much that a regular few patches of solvent would not cure but I had been reading, you know how it goes. I cleaned with coper remover until it was squeaky clean. Went to the range to shoot it and it shot ALL OVER THE PLACE. It took about 30 rounds to settle down and go back to bug holes. I always do my hunting on a fouled bore and for that matter I do not clean the bore of a rifle until accuracy starts to fall off. That could take 20 or 200 rounds depending on the barrel. Yes if I am out in rain and snow I will clean because of moisture but always foul the bore before hunting. I have seen more damage done to barrels by people cleaning them too much or improperly than shooting them.

Spot on with the cleaning routine in my opinion. I do the same, clean when a gun needs it and not before, unless putting them away for an unknown amount of time.

I doubt I ever really have a bore clean, I just want it back to where it's shooting like it did until it needs cleaned again.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I clean when groups open up. On my varmint rifles may be 400-500 rounds between cleanings then I don't clean until patches are white I clean until there's just a little bit of black on them. You can ruin a barrel just as fast by over cleaning them as under cleaning. Let the barrel tell you what to do.

 

[ShadeTree]

I clean when groups open up. On my varmint rifles may be 400-500 rounds between cleanings then I don't clean until patches are white I clean until there's just a little bit of black on them. You can ruin a barrel just as fast by over cleaning them as under cleaning. Let the barrel tell you what to do.

There's definitely a common sense balance, because there's also the other side of the coin. Every used gun I picked up save for that 35 Remington, had bores that could only be classified as very dirty. The worst was the 22-250 bull barreled mauser I got. Bore was so tight it took extreme effort to get a 22 caliber bore mop down the bore just to get it sopped up with solvent to get started on a very long cleaning job. About plugged tight with copper and carbon. Had I known it was that tight I would've just cut an undersize patch first to wet it down. Can't imagine the group that thing shot before, probably why it was cheap, the man selling it likely thought it was junk. :grin:

 

[AzDak42]

It's a data thing.

Track your cold bore. You'll find consistency. Just plan for it. Either make sure you start with a fouled barred in the field know what your adjustment.

 

[Buckskinner]

I long recall the advice given regarding this very subject that I first heard from the gunsmith that I bought my first 7mm Mag. from; "Always foul the bore with a fouling shot after cleaning, BEFORE you hunt or plan to fire an accurate shot".
I have followed this advice for many years with a variety of rifles and calibers and have never been disappointed! I have tested the advice and found that a fouled bore first shot is always where it should be and found that the clean bore shot was nearly always off.....
Like some of the other posters here, I do not clean my rifle barrels until I notice that accuracy is falling off. I do run a "dry brush" down the bore from time to time and always cover the muzzle, sealing the bore against the elements with electricians tape if going out with any chance of rain and will always seal the muzzle anytime that I go out to hunt in heavily wooded or snow conditions. Even in Sniper School, we were warned about the "clean bore" shot and I always kept a fouled bore on my sniper rifle (s).

 

[Bbear]

I did a 'test' on different cleaning products on one of my 25-06's that was telling me it was time to clean. This rifle, with the loads developed for it, was shooting .6" groups. After going through 6 different cleaning products I was down to bare metal.
It took 28 rounds to get the rifle back to where it was shooting.

As for 'breaking in' a barrel, my norm is to run a wet patch down the barrel followed by a brush for a couple of strokes followed by dry patching. Then head to the range. The first 5 shots are 'foulers', nothing more. I might run a patch down it, sometimes a wet one followed by dry patching. Then shoot until the rifle tells me it needs it.