Does a clean bore affect impact and accuracy?

[Sandbagger123]

i have noticed in the past that when i clean a bore really clean with a brush, the first few shots impact differently than as sighted in. So is this just my imagination, or do handgun bores need a few fouling shots before they settle down?

[Dirty Rod]

I have rifles rifles that shoot more consistently with a dirty bore but Ive never experienced any measurable differences with handguns or at handgun distances. Admittedly Ive never tried it in a rest.

[Forgetful]

I notice I get a higher velocity, I'm such a terrible shot though I don't notice impact difference.

[Wilson]

I'll shoot 20 rounds for a CF pistol and 30 in my Marvel. I don't want to make 50 yard shots with a clean bore. Probably don't need that many for CF, just want to make sure it works when the match starts. I have seen POI changes with a clean bore.

My Marvel needs a little fouling to work reliably. After that, I clean it at 300 rounds.

[Reshoot]

I always put "fouling shots" through any gun. I feel it has just as much to do with confirming the gun runs correctly, as it does fouling the bore.

Having said that, I can tell no difference in point of impact, on my handguns. That is not the case on my high powered rifles though. There, 100 yard groups seem to tighten up after a few shots. But then, maybe that has just as much to do with me "settling in'

[Bob DuBois]

You can cut the life of a pistol barrel by over cleaning. While I like a clean and well oiled 1911/2011 I only use a pass through with a nylon brush and kerosene then dry patch. Other parts are cleaned in kerosene then blown dry oiled with Mobil 1 5w30.

[Reshoot]

You can cut the life of a pistol barrel by over cleaning. While I like a clean and well oiled 1911/2011 I only use a pass through with a nylon brush and kerosene then dry patch. Other parts are cleaned in kerosene then blown dry oiled with Mobil 1 5w30.

You "cut the life" of a pistol barrel every time you send a copper, or brass, jacketed bullet through it, at 900+ feet per second.

I wonder how many passes, with a nylon brush and solvent, it would take to equal the wear of just one pass of a jacketed bullet?

[bountyhunter]

i have noticed in the past that when i clean a bore really clean with a brush, the first few shots impact differently than as sighted in. So is this just my imagination, or do handgun bores need a few fouling shots before they settle down?

Not your imagination. On my 686, first few hit maybe an inch high at 25 yards due to slower muzzle velocity of clean barrel.

[bountyhunter]

You can cut the life of a pistol barrel by over cleaning. While I like a clean and well oiled 1911/2011 I only use a pass through with a nylon brush and kerosene then dry patch. Other parts are cleaned in kerosene then blown dry oiled with Mobil 1 5w30.

You "cut the life" of a pistol barrel every time you send a copper, or brass, jacketed bullet through it, at 900+ feet per second.

I wonder how many passes, with a nylon brush and solvent, it would take to equal the wear of just one pass of a jacketed bullet?

Nylon brushes probably no worries, but most people are using metal bristles and the barrel "experts" I have read do say most bore wear is from cleaning, not shooting.

[BEC]

I use only cloth patches and oil to clean my pistol barrel.

[benos]

I never cleaned anything in a handgun barrel but its chamber.

[frankie]

never checked poa with a clean barrel

[Chris_C]

No reason to clean the bore, chamber and outside of the barrel only. .

[toothguy]

My Personal Practice

has become to never clean the bore of my barrels. I do use a brass rod

to scrape the deposits out of the chamber. But, I've learned to leave the bore alone and it very

slowly becomes shinier and cleaner all by itself. Years ago I occasionally scrubbed the bore with

a brass bore brush. But, doing so always seemed to cause the bore to revert to a dirtier look with

more shooting, so I eventually stopped ever putting anything down the bore except bullets...

Schueman Barrels.

Edited August 20, 2013 by toothguy

[match308]

The only time I clean is after a rare session with lead bullets, then I usually go a year or so and forget what a pain bore cleaning can be.

I never cleaned anything in a handgun barrel but its chamber.

[blaster113]

for our game at the distances and targets we shoot at if there's any difference in group size with a clean vs. dirty barrel it will be minimal and inconsequential.

was issued a 1/2 moa bolt gun that had a slightly different point of impact with the cold bore shot vs. any follow up shots. with handguns it shouldnt matter.

[Jman]

I never cleaned anything in a handgun barrel but its chamber.

This...

[Tom Brannon]

......after all those years in the Army cleaning my weapon to the point of surgical clean.

[Reshoot]

......after all those years in the Army cleaning my weapon to the point of surgical clean.

Roger that, Tom!

Even before I received my draft notice, I was taught the importance of cleaning and maintaining a firearm, to EXTEND the life of that bore. They started me out with an M-14 that was . . . gawd, who knows how old. And, all those recruits before me that cleaned that barrel as thoroughly as I did. I'll bet that rifle will still shoot true, wherever it is.

Then came the M-16, which I cleaned thoroughly as well. Let's see, that was 1968 and I doubt the rifle has been re-barreled yet! Of course, the military issue 1911's were cleaned just as thoroughly. The claim excessive cleaning will shorten the life of a barrel I can only describe as . . . well . . . hog wash!

I am 65, my father left me firearms that belonged to his father and they still drive tacks. Oh, and the bore on every one of them gets a thorough cleaning after every shooting session. Long gun, handgun or shotgun . . . they all get a thorough scrubbing. Shorten the life of a barrel . . .

[match308]

And cleaning has ruined more weapons than their intended use

[Reshoot]

And cleaning has ruined more weapons than their intended use

If it isn't too much trouble would you, please, reference the study that supports this conclusion.

[match308]

No fancy study.It's based purely on my own experience of 13 years in Combat Arms. I've been issued M-16s that were over cleaned to the point of etching the barrels chrome plating after less than a year of peacetime use. 1911s that were less than 6 months use after refurb with dinged up crowns.

All this due to making them "inspection ready".

[GuildSF4]

For most of the distances and targets we shoot at no real effect on accuracy (this is not bullseye), however a heavily leaded bore can drasticly affect the accuracy.

That said, after I clean a gun I shoot the gun to verify reliability, because when ever you disassemble and reassemble a machine you take a chance on breaking it. (I fix machines for a living and have seen them broken/disabled too many times to count during routine maintenance.)

[bountyhunter]

And cleaning has ruined more weapons than their intended use

If it isn't too much trouble would you, please, reference the study that supports this conclusion.

""... doing inspections of a number of rifle barrels

with a very high quality borescope over the past two years has shown that a number of shooters are doing significant damage to their very expensive Stainless Steel barrels..."

"illustrate the impact that improper use of some cleaning materials and methods can have on barrel steel. The barrel in the picture had somewhere between 150 and 350 rounds through it when it was retired - it

quit shooting well and was very difficult to pass a patch through. Note the gross pitting and cracking evident on the surface of the barrel..."

"...to provide some basic information on stainless steel and some of the materials and conditions that adversely affect the corrosion rate of 416SS..."

Most of the chemicals Jim Borden listed, many of which are used in commercial barrel cleaning compounds, etched the surface away at rates between 0.020 and 0.050 inches per year. We at Schuemann Barrels regard a barrel to have been substantially worn out when the bore radius is enlarged by 0.0005 inches (a bore diameter increase of 0.001 inch). Therefore, exposure to some of these bore cleaner chemicals for about 4 days would eat away the bore as much as would have resulted from wearing out the bore by firing tens of thousands of rounds through the barrel"

Certainly DO NOT ever use a stainless steel brush to clean out a barrel. The stainless bristles are much harder than the steel bore and the result will be to create deep scratches in the bore surface. When we use our IPSC pistols like sub-guns, as we often do, we apparently can raise the bore surface temperature up to the annealing range, based on the color I have seen on some

barrel bore surfaces. Therefore, the bore surface of our barrels likely has been preferentially annealed, and could be quite a bit softer than the barrel outer surface would test. Even the brass/bronze brushes, which have bristles which are as hard as mild steel, or the lead removers, which use a hard brass mesh to scape the lead from the bore, may well be able to scratch the bore surface of a stainless steel barrel.

http://www.schuemann.com/Portals/0/Documentation/Webfile_Barrel_Cleaning.pdf

Edited August 21, 2013 by bountyhunter

[benos]

And cleaning has ruined more weapons than their intended use

If it isn't too much trouble would you, please, reference the study that supports this conclusion.

You can easily ruin the acuracy of any barrel by scratching its crown with the cleaning rod.