Shoot rifles dirty!

[roysclockgun]

I have long been a proponent of checking zero the week before the hunt and then, not cleaning the bore for the entire hunting season. This practice appears to keep the zero right on the money, as introducing lubes and/or cleaners to the bore will throw off zero, at least until 4 or 5 "fouling" shots are run through the bore.
The other day, while getting a check-up at the local VA clinic, I picked up and read the July 2012 issue of "Outdoor Life". (There were also 1949 dated copies of "Reader's Digest" on hand!) In the Outdoor Life copy there was an article by US Air Force sniper Staff Sgt. George Reinas. He recommends not cleaning the bore for 200 to 300 rounds of firing. "Leave the rifle dirty for the whole season." Although I shoot year 'round, I do not shoot my deer rifle that much between hunts. So would this mean that should leave the bore dirty for three years?
What are your experiences regarding this theory of "shoot dirty"?

 

[SJB358]

I clean mine just before season, then put the required amount of shots through it till it's shooting as I want it too. Some of mine take quite a few rounds to settle down, some only take one.. After they are fouled, they stay that way till accuracy falls off again.

 

[DrMike]

Each rifle is an entity to itself. I have some rifles that thrive on being shot dirty. Others are unaffected by a clean bore. Still others won't tolerate too much fouling. Learning what allows each rifle to deliver the best accuracy is part of the task of the rifleman. In the main, modern rifles are amazingly tolerant of fouling. It is safe to say that most benefit from modest fouling.

 

[truck driver]

Funny thing this should come up and with the reference to accuracy with a dirty bore. When I was on the rifle team while in the military when it was inspection time we would sign out our target rifles and hide them so they could be inspected. Out of sight out of mind. :mrgreen:

 

[efw]

I hardly clean my rifles at all anymore. I started out as a rather obsessive cleaner but go hundreds of rounds without nowadays, cleaning only when accuracy is visibly degraded.

I may swab the bore with a WD40-soaked patch after hunting in extremely wet conditions (I keep tape over muzzle to block moisture) but other than that I've got no regimen.

I stepped off the bench a few years ago and started shooting more reactive targets from field positions which helped me see that I'd overthought the cleaning routine. That's proven the case but I've only been doing things (or not doing things??) this way for a few years so time will tell.

 

[NWBlacktail]

I read an article about long range shooting, and that was a major point. The bore needs a certain amount of carbon and copper loading to have consistent shot-to-shot accuracy. So this guy would also go hundreds of rounds before cleaning.

He also made the point that this isn't good for every application. Dirty or dusty environments, or moisture getting in the bore from a hard hunting season needs a good cleaning. But carbon and copper loading make for consistent shooting, at least to a point.

I'm from the old school, Marine Corps concept of you can never have a weapon too clean. So that's a bit hard to accept, but it does make sense for long range applications.

 

[preacher]

Military rifle cleaning has only two purposes, really; 1) clean a weapon enough times and it is second nature, keeps it running right for combat reliability and (2) gives the Lifers ( not Career guys, the sadistic ones with the napoleon complex! ) something to torment you about! lol I too clean a rifle before hunting season, then leave it alone unless it gets moisture in the bore, but even then I clean it sparingly. If I have to put any lube in or such, I will make a point of firing off a round. Normally, just running a dry boresnake through it does the trick and doesn't change zero. Love that electrician tape on the muzzle! I have used kiddy balloons over my rifles with muzzlebrakes. But electrician tape is more durable, especially sliding a rifle in/out of the case. Growing up it was a homemade pull through with WD40 or 3In1 oil, ha.

 

[sask boy]

I have always cleaned my rifles well before the start of hunting season and then foul them before going out. I leave them as is until after the season is over unless we are hunting in the rain or as it is most of the time up here snow :shock:!

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Vince]

I clean by putting my guns in the dishwasher every three or four years or when they need it.


Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[Anonymous]

I used to be obsessive about cleaning but not so much anymore. Usually one good scrubbing a year and that'll do.

Once I confirm zero and get a rifle shooting like I want for hunting season, I'm not going to do anything else to it except carry and shoot it.

I do, however, have a rifle that when fed TSX bullets will copper foul so badly within 20 shots to the point of groups opening to shotgun patterns. I don't use TSX in that one anymore. ABs and Speers can go a couple hundred without degraded accuracy and that would be a really busy year shooting.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Roysclockgun, any rifle I know I'm not going to be using for a while, gets a complete and through bore clean and some protective oil in and out, before being put away.
With my workin rifles, they get put away with a dirty barrel so they are ready for use at any time!
I have most of my rifles in a condition (Run-In, Bedded, Floated etc), so that they can be relied on to shoot close to POA, even with a clean barrel (minus the oil)!
The other thing I have is, beside my reloading bench I have a bullet trap.
So if I want to take a particular nice clean rifle for a walk, I put a few dry cotton patches thru the barrel, and then fire one or two shots into the bullet trap and I'm ready to go!

FYI, my bullet trap is made out of a piece of 10" diameter 3/8" wall thickness round steel pipe that's around 5 foot long, with a 1/2" thick steel plate welded to the bottom.
This has 2 feet of dry sand in the bottom, with 2 feet of granulated rubber on top of that, with a piece of thick chip board on the very top an exhaust port and place for the vacuum cleaner to attach.
You could use an full size Oxygen, Argon etc gas bottle, and cut the top/valve end off it, and have a usable Bullet trap also.

Hope that helps

Doh!
Homer
You could make one

 

[Horsethief]

I verify the 200 or 300 yard zero a few days before the season starts, just to be sure even though it may be a great rifle and a great scope. I leave the bore dirty for opening day. If I get by deer on that day, I clean the rifle later. Some years that has been the case. Other years it has been a journey to frustration, ect., and I leave it dirty until the season ends or I get a deer.

I have shot and missed (REALLY) but only once hunted in a light rain. I punched the bore with a dry patch just to get out any moisture sticking to whatever was in the bore.

In 2009 I would have had a huge 10 point Kansas White tail if I had verified my scope settings before going afield. Every so often I still think about that big buck looking at me as I pumped rounds into the dirt short of him and to his rear. He would have been one to put on the wall.

 

[tjen]

Mine are stored clean, then zeroed before useing them for hunting perposes. Left fowled untill I am done useing the paticular rifle. Done using them could be one or two weeks or two months in the case of my varmit rifles.

For storage I do a complete to the bore clean. If I am working up loads for a rifle and will be shooting for a few weeks, I may just run an oily patch down the bore to get the gunk out leaving most of the fowling. Thinking the bore is protected and one or two shots and I am back on for measuring group sizes.

 

[HTDUCK]

I scrub 'em clean about once a year but it isn't during hunting season.
Once I verify cold bore zero they go back in the safe until hunting season is over.
I'll dry patch them if they get wet but that's it.

I've got one rifle at the house that has about 10k rounds thru it and it's never been cleaned.
It's a cheap Romanian WASR AK47 that I use as a plinking gun.
Every once in a while it'll get balky about feeding.
Pop off the dust cover, hold the bolt open and hose the inside of the receiver down with whatever spray oil happens to be on hand and go back to shooting.