• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Are 3 foulers enough?

I think it depends, but....

I shoot at least 5 (usually more) sighters before going for record at 1k; I force myself to do it, even in dead calm/zero wind/zero mirage conditions. I have been burned way too many times trying to hurry into record fire on relay one with a clean rifle.
 
With a clean, cold barrel, my 6.5x47L takes 2 shots to start to group. Velocity settles down after about 5 shots. My .223 bolt gun is about the same. The 6.5 has a Criterion barrel with almost 2000 rounds through it. The .223 has a Hart barrel with 2100 rounds through it.
I just got some Lock-Eze, so next range session, I'll give it a try.

PopCharlie
 
I am sorry but 3 shots is not nearly enough. You need 10 to 15 rounds to fully foul your rifle, specially during a match. Shooting 3 shots will guarantee you some fliers and several 9s during a match. Put in the work and take a fully seasoned rifle.

Forum Boss: Not necessarily true. After 3 sighters (on steel to confirm elevation and two had touching splatters), my 6mmBR set a range record at 600 yards in our steel match.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have several rifles for which 3 sighters is sufficient, both in terms of velocity and precision. I have a couple others that require more like 6 or 7 shots. Depending on how you cleaned the barrel and stored it, velocity make come up to the expected value after 3 shots, but the best precision may require a few more even after velocity has stabilized. The bottom line is that very rifle/barrel is different, some may require less, some more. In other words, there is no set minimum number. As Shooter13 stated, let the rifle tell you when it is ready.
 
The only way to know for your gun and ammo is to test it yourself.

One year I shot ten shot groups off the bench when I first arrived at the range. I plotted the shots to see if I could see a pattern. I did did this on five separate days and could see no trend in the data. So I do not concern myself with this question anymore, for my gun and ammo. Your results may be different.
 
Bartlein barrel 6.5x47, 1 shot and it's good to go.

Factory Browning Safari Grade, 5-8 shots before it settles down.

Both bores cleaned with wipeout.

Every rifle is different.
 
It truly depends on the barrel. Most of my 6 BRAs are good after one shot. I usually shoot two before load development. In a match I'll shoot one fouler and then 4 sighters before shooting for group and score. Usually, my first group is the smallest. Thinking about it, most of my hunting rifles are similar.
 
If it's a clean bore my F-TR rifles usually take two to three to stable out. At long range the first shot is usually low, and for some reason right. I've never had a 308 that needed more than three. I may need more than that but that's a whole other issue.
 
It wasn't a comp gun, but a groundhog gun... my 220 wouldn't shoot a group till it had about 12 thru it, when it would go to a 1/4 inch rifle... and then it quit at 25-27, so I had to sorta clean it...not really clean, just sorta, and after one or two it was good for another twelve or so, then repeat. When I finally rebarreled, I bore scoped the old barrel. I learned it didn't have rifling till four inches up. and it had a missing land for two full inches about 12 inches up due to a huge pit that made a long brass deposit. But the last four inches of barrel were good! So I made 600 yard kills with a four inch 220 Swift! Not many guys can honestly claim that!! ;)

My point is, the barrel tells you.
 
After I clean run two or three clean patches. Then lockeze a patch and
run back and forth 3 or 4 times. NO more patches.
 
How are you using this. Just some on a patch then patch out with a clean one?
I use 2 - 3 drops, no more, on a patch and run it through a totally dry bore, twice. Then let the carrier evaporate and it's good to shoot. I don't patch again, I just let it dry.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
167,019
Messages
2,226,575
Members
80,095
Latest member
Raqhmanov
Back
Top