New Shooter Here - Cleaning Frequency Question

[AuthenticShooter]

I have been all over the internet and there are as many answers to this as their are political opinions or religious questions. Still the knowledge base here at Accurate Shooter is amazing, so I wanted to ask. I searched the main website. It is a basic question, but would like to see what folks would recommend.

I know the answer varies depending on shooting goals, type gun, frequency etc. My main goal is to become an "adequate shooter", so in a hunting or self defense situation, I can take down a target. I own a handgun, an AR-15 ( .223/5.56) , a Remington 700 in 6.5 Creedmoor, and A Mossberg 500 12 ga. I have shot maybe 200 rounds through the .380, right at 500 rounds in my AR, and about 200 rounds in my Creedmoor. Just a handful in my shotgun.

I "broke in" both the AR-15 and the Creedmoor, shooting 20 rounds in each initially and then cleaning, and then again after 50 rounds. Since then I have cleaned my Creedmoor once and my AR-Twice. The shotgun only after shooting it. and The handgun same. I won't be shooting any crazy loads or anything that pushes the limits, but I do plan on doing load develop for the AR-15 and Creedmoor just for consistency's sake and cost.

So how often should I clean these guns? What do you folks do?

 

[Dub]

I clean every gun except rimfire after every range session.

 

[CharlieNC]

There are many who say don't clean until you experience a loss in accuracy. You heard of Murphy, yes it happens at the worst time. And after that many shots you better hope you find good advice on how to remove baked, hard carbon plus copper; and it ain't quick! As Dub advised clean after every range session, or two if not too many shots were fired. Yes it may take a few fouling shots to stabilize, so incorporate that into how you plan to use that rifle.

 

[WSnyder]

It's a heck of a lot easier to answer that question these days. Bore scopes are good enough and cheap enough that you should own one and take a look for yourself on how often you need to clean each rifle. It'll take the guesswork out of it and you'll know or you'll learn to be able to know because you can actually see what's going on. Once you can see and experiment with cleaning options you'll know what works or not for each rifle.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Your AR is the dirtiest runner, most useful self-defense arm. Keep it clean/lubed. Handgun the same. Keep the rest from rusting.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

I cant think of a reason not to clean after every shoot.

 

[jepp2]

I "broke in" both the AR-15 and the Creedmoor, shooting 20 rounds in each initially and then cleaning, and then again after 50 rounds.

I do my break-in differently, but that is another story.

Generally I clean the bores on my rifle after each range trip. Might shoot between 12 and 25 rounds. But I don't try an remove all the copper every cleaning, just the carbon.

For an AR, I follow the same on barrel cleaning but generally shoot more rounds per range visit. I also use them in the field shooting prairie dogs. I'm very disciplined about cleaning my bore every 50 shots in the field. Every 50 shots. Generally every night I do a though cleaning of the BCG and upper. I mean back to like new on the BCG with all carbon removed. And I use my specific lubes on it (3 different types). A few times I either didn't think it needed it, or I got lazy and wound up cleaning the BCG after maybe 400 rounds. Much harder to get it clean, and even though I added lube in the bolt ports by the rings during my shooting, things go dried.

 

[Forum Boss]

Every barrel has its own preferences. Powder type, firing rate, even land/groove configuration can all make a difference.

We generally recommend to clean conservatively and learn what your barrel needs.

With high-quality, hand-lapped custom barrels we have had good luck using multiple wet patches followed by two applications of Wipe-out bore foam (3 hours dwell time after second app).

For a range session with 60-70 rounds fired this patch/foam procedure has significantly reduced the amount of brushing needed. So long as the patching/foaming is done very soon after shooting, before the carbon has hardened.

Of course you should always use a good-fitting bore guide and be gentle with the crown of your barrel.

Certainly there is plenty of evidence that some really good shooters brush and clean aggressively. That cannot be denied. However we generally recommend to start conservatively, with minimal brushing.

Of course, round count (since prior cleaning) will dictate what is necessary, and how aggressively you must clean. But you may be surprised at what some modern barrels can do. Jay Christopherson won the F-Open Class Title at the Berger SW Nationals without cleaning his barrel over multiple DAYS.

The inventor of Wipe-out foam believes that multiple applications can, over time, reduce the propensity of the barrel to foul. All we can say is that after starting to use Wipe-out very consistently the amount of brushing needed has been decreased dramatically.

 

[JSH]

I clean after every session, may even clean during depending on what I am doing.

22RF, sorry can’t help it I clean them every time as well. As mentioned groups can go to crap at the worst time.
I at least know how many it likes before doing its best.

 

[AuthenticShooter]

I clean every gun except rimfire after every range session.

No matter the number of rounds fired?

 

[AuthenticShooter]

K....thanks for the replies, you folks haven't disappointed! Here's my takeaways. Talking AR, frequency consensus is after every shoot, not matter the number of rounds, And get some of that wipe out! Thinking it through, why would I not want to have a gun that is absolute ready to roll? Makes sense now but hearing from ya'll definitely helped.

 

[BoydAllen]

There are a couple of variables here that need to be pointed out.

In chromoly barrels, fouling can attract moisture and over time, this can lead to significant corrosion. This can also happen when moly coated bullets are used in those barrels. For that reason, if you are not cleaning after a range session you may want to run an oil patch down the bore, and then a dry one or two at the beginning of your next session. This is particularly important for factory barrels that may not shoot their best until they have been fouled quite a bit.

The other variable is hard carbon. This stuff can be built up to the point where no regular solvent can touch it, and is will show a white patch, fooling into thinking that your barrel is clean. The best way to keep up on what in happening inside your barrel is to own a bore scope, which used to be too expensive for most shooters. Luckily this is no longer the case. I suggest that you search this site for discussions of Teslong bore scopes.

Pretty much all of the competition shooters that I know of shoot stainless barrels and you should therefore consider that what can happen to their barrels may be different from what can happen to yours, if they are not all stainless.

There are several different ways to clean a barrel. The main thing is to get the barrel clean, within the available time, with the least risk of damage, which can come from many sources. You might want to study up on what they are.

 

[Dub]

No matter the number of rounds fired?

Yes. Easy to forget things....

 

[jelenko]

And, once the carbon sets up, it's a lot tougher to get out.