How often to clean your barrel??

[Tedward]

How frequently should you clean your barrel.

For a brand now barrel, break in?
After shooting at the range, back yard?
60 rounds?
Before storing till next weekend?

Some people say cleaning every time is worthless and some say just the barrel roded out with some mild cleaner. How extreme and how often?

[babaganoush]

Nowhere near as often as you might think.

Break-in procedures are different, as many manufacturers require you to clean on a specific cycle. Check with your barrel manufacturer for details.

As far as regular maintenance goes, I obsess about clean barrels, but I force myself to avoid rubbing the lands out with high brush cycles. I try to keep it to a minimum. i will run a few patches after shooting, clean the action and put the gun away. After about 250-500 rounds though, I will go ahead and perform the full cleaning, including about a dozen brush passes (nylon). I prefer Shooter's Choice. My groups are very consistent from session to session, as the barrels remain "seasoned".

When storing for any long periods of time, I'll conclude cleaning with an oil patch, followed by a dry patch, wipe everything down with an oil or silicon cloth and avoid handling any blued or stainless components as I put the weapons to bed.

Of course you realize that there as are many cleaning rituals as there are shooters.

[bwaites]

HooBoy! This should be fun!

[ricsmall]

HooBoy! This should be fun!

+1 Bill! This will get long. Lol

[Tedward]

HooBoy! This should be fun!

Well just the basics. After 60 rounds the gun seems to be clean so just rung a patch on a rod to get the top layer of burned powder? not talking about 500 rounds and deep cleaning.

I go out back and shoot a few boxes of ammo, Hornady A-MAX and SST is all I'll be using from now on, no Wulf Ammo, so just want to know if running the cleaning patches is needed or just run the thing for a few hundred rounds then clean with patches. How soon do I use a cleaning brush???

As for the bolt carrier, since it's all oily, i just pull that and wipe down the surface and re-oil and put it back in, that is all surface slime so really just wondering whats going on inside the barrel...

Sorry for asking but there should be some sort of reasoning of what your process... This will let me see if I'm anywhere near the correct area or overboard on the process.


Thanks and yup, here we go......

[Tedward]

Nowhere near as often as you might think.

Break-in procedures are different, as many manufacturers require you to clean on a specific cycle. Check with your barrel manufacturer for details.

As far as regular maintenance goes, I obsess about clean barrels, but I force myself to avoid rubbing the lands out with high brush cycles. I try to keep it to a minimum. i will run a few patches after shooting, clean the action and put the gun away. After about 250-500 rounds though, I will go ahead and perform the full cleaning, including about a dozen brush passes (nylon). I prefer Shooter's Choice. My groups are very consistent from session to session, as the barrels remain "seasoned".

When storing for any long periods of time, I'll conclude cleaning with an oil patch, followed by a dry patch, wipe everything down with an oil or silicon cloth and avoid handling any blued or stainless components as I put the weapons to bed.

Of course you realize that there as are many cleaning rituals as there are shooters.

Thanks, this will be one opinion and reference ot use. Appreciate the feedback...

[bwaites]

I was being a little facetious, but its a question that gets everybody going.

I clean AR barrels when the accuracy starts to drop off. For me, that means when groups at 100 yards get bigger than 1/2 MOA, or 1 MOA at 400. For my Grendels, that typically is somewhere between 500 and 1000 rounds. I did a "run to failure" test on my Grendel several years ago, not cleaning ANYTHING until I had a failure, and at somewhere over 800 rounds I had a failure to extract or a failure to feed, I can't remember. Now I typically clean the BCG and oil it about every 500 rounds, depending on how often I plan on shooting it. If I'm not going to shoot it for a while I may do it after a single outing.

My 2 Grendels are cut barreled.

My 5.56 uppers probably get cleaned less often. One is a Black Hole barrel that I'm still evaluating. They supposedly need less cleaning because they are Polygonal rifled, so we'll see. I did clean it after about 300 rounds and couldn't find any copper at all.

My 7mm WSM generally gets cleaned before competitions, and every 2-300 rounds, and it is a button rifled barrel.

[Whelenon]

Last week, after 365 rounds I ran a patch with solvent through the barrel. Let it sit for twenty minutes and ran a dry patches though(no brushes), third patch was clean. Only did this because I'm starting load development with a different bullet. Wanted to start fresh. After deer hunting I'll run solvent, then brush and finally oil before putting them in the safe for the winter. I only like to run a brush through the barrel once a year, unless I see something abnormal going on.

[bwaites]

Last week, after 365 rounds I ran a patch with solvent through the barrel. Let it sit for twenty minutes and ran a dry patches though(no brushes), third patch was clean. Only did this because I'm starting load development with a different bullet. Wanted to start fresh. After deer hunting I'll run solvent, then brush and finally oil before putting them in the safe for the winter. I only like to run a brush through the barrel once a year, unless I see something abnormal going on.

I've tried this, and had the same results. I then decided to run a brush through it, and can't believe how much gunk I get out. So if I'm going to patch it, I clean it thoroughly with the full cleaning treatment.

I HATE CLEANING GUNS, so I avoid it as much as possible. But if you are going to do it, I feel like you should go all the way.

That said, more barrels are ruined by over cleaning than are ruined by over shooting!

[Tedward]

I've tried this, and had the same results. I then decided to run a brush through it, and can't believe how much gunk I get out. So if I'm going to patch it, I clean it thoroughly with the full cleaning treatment.

I HATE CLEANING GUNS, so I avoid it as much as possible. But if you are going to do it, I feel like you should go all the way.

That said, more barrels are ruined by over cleaning than are ruined by over shooting!

Ok, I think i got he point I was looking for. Last Friday I ran 60 rounds then it got dark out so i stopped. I didn't clean it and going back out this afternoon for another 40 to 60 rounds. Trying to get use to the new monopod, Accu-Shot, on the front. i had a bipod pece of crap and am thinking this small one will be better for going mobile and able to use it if needed. Less Bulky.

The cleaning doesn't sound like its needed when you stop shooting for the day but more by rounds shot and if let sitting for the season or months, give it a quick cleaning with a pad. If 50 rounds or accuracy diminishes, do the major cleaning....

I think the theory is it depends on the amount and frequency of use or the deterioration of accuracy or reliability.

And yes, cleaning the gun is the suck ass part but it needs done.

Oh ya, one more thing, do you clean it while it's still a little hot from shooting so the residue is sort of melted and fresh, or let it cool and settle???

thanks guy

[rushmc]

HooBoy! This should be fun!

[mongoosesnipe]

a clean gun only shoots like a clean gun once the only guns i use brushes on are Black powder and i us a brush to clean up the chamber of 22LRs when cases stop ejecting ither than the its patches and after the break in i usually just run a patch with one of the oil bore cleaners and let it sit until the next time i shoot then a few dry patches and good to go the oil is more just to protect the bore from corrosion than concern about being dirty

[ricsmall]

Tedward,

I was just being a little funny too. Anywho, I usually clean thouroghly if I see a drop in accuracy. Some guns sooner than others. Although, after shooting any at all, I'll usually run a patch with clp through just to inhibit any rust. When I do clean thouroghly, I only use a brush if I'm having trouble getting the carbon out. There are extensive threads on here from basic all the way to using jb to get the carbon ring out ahead of your throat. It will all depend on the barrel and how much it fouls. Hope this helps.

Richard

[bwaites]

Ok, I think i got he point I was looking for. Last Friday I ran 60 rounds then it got dark out so i stopped. I didn't clean it and going back out this afternoon for another 40 to 60 rounds. Trying to get use to the new monopod, Accu-Shot, on the front. i had a bipod pece of crap and am thinking this small one will be better for going mobile and able to use it if needed. Less Bulky.

The cleaning doesn't sound like its needed when you stop shooting for the day but more by rounds shot and if let sitting for the season or months, give it a quick cleaning with a pad. If 50 rounds or accuracy diminishes, do the major cleaning....

I think the theory is it depends on the amount and frequency of use or the deterioration of accuracy or reliability.

And yes, cleaning the gun is the suck ass part but it needs done.

Oh ya, one more thing, do you clean it while it's still a little hot from shooting so the residue is sort of melted and fresh, or let it cool and settle???

thanks guy

I don't clean at the range except as a last resort when something goes very wrong, so my barrels are always cold when I clean. I think some benchrest shooters usually try to clean while the barrel is still cooling down.

[COTNTOP]

Had the pleasure of shooting with Greg Young of Southern Precision Rifles. He has a diff view of barrel cleaning than the method i was taught years ago. Greg runs rod through barrel and inserts patch and cleaner (cut from t-shirt) at muzzel, this allows you to jag patch back and forth giving a cleaning action as you pull rod through barrel. Greg does not like to use a brush. Do not know if this method is best but it is a cheap way and i get more miles out of a patch. He custom cuts each patch more rectangle than the conventional square patch. I was taught as a kid to clean firearms after use or get privileges taken away.