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so apparently there may be some truth to a dirty barrel being more accurate than a [perfectly] clean barrel...

in another thread some people said to leave the rifle barrels dirty and they shoot more accurately. Id never heard of that but was open to learn more so yesterday I spent time with my elk rifle and observed my group tighten up after the first few rounds. Maybe it was just me warming up, or maybe it was the barrel getting dirty... IDK, but thinking about things there are aspects to this that do make sense since you only get one shot with a perfectly clean barrel anyways its not a realistic expectation for accuracy and practical use. Anyways...

so as I experiment with this some more questions are...
1) should I just not clean the barrel at all if Im expecting to shoot in again soon? if not, what level of cleaning is appropriate to maintain accuracy and short term storage, maybe just run an oil cloth once?

2) my guess is its still very appropriate to perfectly clean a barrel for long term storage is that true? The assumption would be that when you finally shoot it again you would need to run 1 or 2 rounds thru it to regain the last point of impact (all other things being equal).
 
Up to you. You can clean after every range trip, its just may require a few rounds to get it back to where it was.

If I shoot corrosive, its cleaned after the range. Otherwise I just clean it whenever I get to it.
 
Clean it well if you are going to store it. Oil will have an adverse effect on accuracy until it gets burnt out after a round or two. When I go hunting I usually fire a round or two to verify point of impact and to "foul" the barrel, then on to my hunt and only clean the rifle when I am done hunting.

Same thing with a range trip, a couple of fouling shots before I start printing groups or checking my zero etc...

It sounds crazy but I have found it to be true in my experience.
 
I agree with greenbug. I would like to add it's also important to know if your rifle is a cold shooter or warm shooter. My blackout is very much a cold shooter (first shot is where it's at) so I don't get crazy with lube.
 
I read an article the other day KAC SR-15 Mod 2 They put well over 20000 rounds through a KAC SR15 carbine without cleaning it and had only one malfunction that was ammo caused. AND it maintained moa or better accuracy!
This is at over 7500 rounds without cleaning. they lubed it with Wilson Combat grease every 800-1200 rounds.

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Needless to say, I'm seeing why people become KAC fanboys so easily... If you can do that with a factory rifle, it's worth the $2300 MSRP.

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Many of my antique muzzle loaders shot better as the bore gets dirty.
I'm not saying that they are in-accurate to start with but , as the shoot goes on many of my rifles have groups that "tighten up".
( By dirty I mean shot but not "fouled" with debris ... a muzzle loader's bore will "cake" with powder debris and be hard to load and shoot then its "fouled" )

That said there are a few that really like a "clean" bore and those first few shots are always the best out of them.

Since I shoot mostly antiques ... I think that it is interesting that this question or issue may have been around for a long time...

I will clean any of my guns after shooting ... whether they shoot better "dirty" or not.
Andy
 
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I have some modern versions of Andy's smoke sticks from 1812, and I clean those religiously as well. BP and even BP substitute seem to burn more dirty and more corrosive than modern smokeless powder... leave your smoke pole uncleaned through hunting season and you get some nasty corrosion going on... if that sounds like the voice of experience, it's because it is :rolleyes:
 
The only rifle I "accuracy check" is the one I hunt with. If the bore is spotless, the first shot will not land where all of the others will.
If the gun has been shot at all since last being cleaned, the first shot goes right where it's supposed to. I double check my sight in before hunting season and won't scrub the bore until the season is over. Because it's so wet around here, I also cover the muzzle with a bit of electrical tape. (which I've tested to see that does not change point of impact.)
I've also run well over 100 rounds through the gun in one day and the accuracy didn't fall off from being dirty. It will open up the groups a bit when it gets hot, but this is a hunting gun and it's not likely to get more than two shots through it at a time.
 
I don't cook with a clean pan and I don't shoot with a clean barrel.

I cook with a seasoned pan and shoot with a seasoned barrel.
 

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