I see a lot of posts relating to accuracy and I am wondering how often do you clean the bore and does it help the accuracy of the rifle. Do we have any benchrest shooters on the THF and if so how often do they clean the bore of their gun during competition. Please chime in with your opinion and facts would be great.

I clean my rifles when the accuracy starts to fall off. Why clean them if your gun is still shooting the same?

I also clean my rifles when accuracy starts to fall off. TO that each gun is a case to itself. Some need it after 40 rounds others go over 100 easily.

Once you grouping dont clean it... Until your ready to sight it in again the next year. i personally havent cleaned mine in two years and I smoked a bobcat cat at 179yds Saturday night.

I clean mine after each hunt. It's just a habit that I was taught.

X2

if your car still runs, do you change the oil, or wait for the engine to seize first?

last time I checked, a rifle wasn't a car engine...

could you explain what cleaning your rifle every time you shoot it does?

ive never noticed my accuracy to really fall off at any point... not for shooting deer anyway.... i mean it wont change that much...

for me, cleaning my rifle isn't just about accuracy, but making sure its clean, safe, reliable, and just taking care of an investment so that it lasts as long as possible. Just my opinion, and you know what they say about those!

I dont clean it till accuracy starts falling off. For me accuracy falling off means a group over an inch. My 270 wll make it almost 2 years before cleaning. The 223 i usualy just break down and clean it every two years with the 270 because it never shows any sighn. My 300 I will clean ever 20 or so rounds the couper bullets foul it pretty quick and the groups open up.

matt

I never leave powder residue and copper fouling in any of my firearms because of the pitting it would otherwise create inside the barrel. And likewise, I never wait for engine oil to turn black before I decide to change it.

Man in my old pickup you would have beenunderneat the truck all the time.

I wipe residue off the gun, but as far as solvents in the barrel, I do that sparingly. I just don't think running a rod down the barrel everytime you shoot is a good idea.

My AR's shot better dirty than they did clean. I still clean them after every time out.

My 2 precision rifles get cleaned everytime there shot, yes I can watch groups open up. I don't do COMP's but while at the range I clean every 20, 20-25 I can see them start to open only gets worse I once ran 50rds through my .223 its normally a 3/4MOA rifle 45-50 measured over 1.5MOA.

When you clean it you have to foul it to make it shoot accurately anyway.

I dont clean it unless I know its going to be put up for the season, but only then. I dont know why people clean so much

I generally clean my rifles anytime I put 50+ rounds through them.

I clean mine every time after shooting. Do a detailed cleaning when exposed to rain or at end of hunting season.

I generally clean just before and after the end of the season.

Thats what I was going to say.

When your barrel is completely clean it has ton of imperfections in your grooves.
With that said, after a few rounds the copper fouling fills in these imperfections thus giving you an accurate barrel. When you clean the barrel it opens up these imperfections once again and the gun loses your accuracy for the next few rounds.
So yes clean your gun after every hunt but dont run anything down the barrel until your ready to resight it in..

I shoot some brake or carburetor cleaner in the action & bore, blow it out with canned air (never from a compressor... too much moisture), and follow with light oil film after every outing. The only time I run anything more than an oiled patch down the bore is at the end of a particularly busy season for everything but my .22s. Unless a bore is actually rusty and full of junk (which I won't let mine get), I never run a brush down a .22 bore. Haven't seen any drop in accuracy, but I've only been shooting for 50 years. I'll let you know if things change with a more extended test.

Maybe I am just ANAL or just OLD SCHOOL. First thing I did when I got home from hunting was CLEAN my guns that had been fired, the others were wipped down and lightly cared for. Point is you can affect a weapons performance due to pitting or reactions between the metal composites of the bullet jacket and the barrel. This is compounded by the environment the wweapon is kept in, ie, Humidity levels and such. Discharging a weapon causes it to heat up obviously and thus the oil properties of the metal will dry out so to speak, then your good buddy rust shows up.

I was taught to care for a weapon like a woman....treat her good, she'll treat you good. I have also shot long range 308 for several years. After 8-10 shots on the range I will run a bore snake through my barrel with scrubber on it and then swab it again and let the weapon cool completely. After my first shot or two they are usually very close but then my weapon is dialed in...whether it is 200, 500 or 1,000 yards. In my opinion, not caring for a weapon and maintaining it is just wrong. These are finely made instruments to be cared for in the same fashion they were made. Just sayin.