Cleaning during load development?

[06shooter]

I'll be shooting my handloads real soon with my 3006.
I have Imr 4350 and w760 to try using nosler bts with both powders.
My question is , should I clean the carbon fouling when I switch to the different powder or will it even matter ?

Thanks !

[Clark]

Carbon fouling takes just seconds to get out with any solvent and a patch.

Copper fouling screws up accuracy. The guys I hunt with put in Hoppe's #9 and let it soak over night every 5 rounds.

I try to clean out the Copper every 10 rounds and go on shooting:
1) Wet patch with Carbon Solvent [I use KG1, but anything works]
2) Dry patch
3) We patch with Copper solvent [I use KG12, but anything works]
4) Wait 10 minutes.
5) Put Kroil and Flitz in the bore and start bronze brushing with a brush that is at least .005 bigger than the groove diameter, and the brush gets smaller all the time [I use Holland's Witch's brew witch contains both]
6) Wait 10 minutes
7) Go back to brushing with Kroil and Flitz.
8) Flush with patches with Alcohol.
9) Dry patches
10) Check for Copper streaks visible in the last 1/2" of muzzle with magnification and a flashlight. Repeat if necessary.

[bacardisteve]

If testing loads i clean the barrell if changing powder. After that i wont clean the bore again untill accuracy degrades. My rem 700 308 usually goes a couple hundred rounds before groups slowly start to open.

[603Country]

Depends on the rifle. For max accuracy in the 220 Swift, if I'm shooting groups, I clean the bore of carbon fouling every 15 rounds. With the 260 and the 223, both of which have new and very smooth barrels, neither carbon fouling or copper fouling is excessive. I'll clean when the groups open up a bit and I can be sure it isn't my fault.

[hartcreek]

Good grief what are you guys doing wrong...... I can put 120 rounds of my hard cast lead through my 721 and all I need to do for cleaning is one pass through with a bore snake.

[06shooter]

If testing loads i clean the barrell if changing powder. After that i wont clean the bore again untill accuracy degrades. My rem 700 308 usually goes a couple hundred rounds before groups slowly start to open.


What do you suggest ? Solvent or bore snake ?
Thanks , 06
__________________

[Clark]

For years I have used Dewey nylon coated steel cleaning rods:
http://www.amazon.com/Dewey-Rods-30C...dp/B000GH1DUS/

For the past week I have been using Carbon fiber cleaning rods.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NJ81C8

I like the Carbon better. It is lighter and stiffer.

I like to have one rod jag and one rod brush.... to speed things up and to keep my hands cleaner.

[Metal god]

Changing powders has been known to effect accuracy but only for a few rounds . After 5 rounds or so of the new powder . All the old powder fouling and it's effects are gone . For me that works out great because I've never found the first minimum load as being the perfect load so I use those to wash my pains away .

Now that's all with in reason . If you just put 100rds down range testing loads and plan to run another 50+ . I'd clean the rifle but if I've only shot 25rds from a clean bore . I'd just shoot my next powder knowing the first test loads will clear out any powder fouling left behind from the last load .

There was a point in time that I tried the copper equilibrium theory . Which is (all rifles are different) At some point in the round count you are removing just as much fouling from the bore as you are leaving behind . Most rifle need a few fouling shots to settle in ( some more then others ) . Then you hit a point where the rifle is pretty much GTG for the next X amount of rounds before accuracy drops . I would go 300rds before cleaning with out any real noticeable change .

The theory is you don't clean the rifle so the next shot shoots to the same POI as it did 2 weeks ago when you put the rifle up after the last time out . Think about it , You're at the range and you get your rifle shooting dead nuts . Then go home and clean it . How do you think those first few shots next time out are going to shoot . Not the same as that last group you shot two weeks earlier .

Now this is not the way to go for competition but if your in a situation where you need your rifle to shoot a dead nuts cold bore shot . Which would you want , a rifle that's sparkly clean that you're not really sure where exactly the POI will be or a rifle you just finished shooting a few days ago that was shooting great .

Now I did find this to work , After 150rds and the rifle put up for a month . The next time out my cold bore shot was almost always dead center of what I was aiming for .

OK now all that said , DON'T DO THAT . You can get a lot of build up in the throat area and It takes for ever to clean the rifle after 300+ rounds . I was getting so much fouling in the throat it actually effected my COAL . That's when I realized it's not worth the effort for the type of shooting I do . how ever IMHO the theory has some truth to it and in the right situation it's valid .

[06shooter]

Thank you for the help everyone !

[1100 tac]

Depending on round count (10 or less) some folks just run a few dry patches through the bore between powders.

There ain't no "one size fits all" solution.

[Metal god]

There ain't no "one size fits all" solution.

I agree

If the rifle in question is a truck/brush gun the rarely gets cleaned and that's the likely condition the gun will be used . Do the load development in the same condition .

If you're a bench rest guy that cleans every 10 rounds in competition . Then clean the gun every ten rounds or even after each load .

[T. O'Heir]

You should be cleaning your rifle regularly. And the cases before reloading 'em. Has nothing to do with changing powders though. Carbon is an element.