Ammunition Testing

[Dr.J]

When testing .22 rimfire ammunition for accuracy is it:
1. Best to completely clean the barrel before shooting a different brand?
2. Acceptable to dry patch the barrel before changing brands?
3. Acceptable to shoot, let’s say, 10 rounds of the different ammunition?

What if not changing brands, I.e., shooting different grades of Ely or Lapua? Thanks, Tom

 

[60723]

If shooting Eley 10X or match, do nothing because they both use the same lube. If swapping brands I would run 1 patch with
C-4 and then couple of dry patches

 

[TRSR8]

If shooting Eley 10X or match, do nothing because they both use the same lube. If swapping brands I would run 1 patch with
C-4 and then couple of dry patches

C4 is not a solvent. Rarely carbon down the bbl, you want a proper solvent to remove all prior lube.
That said, zero downside to cleaning between although you can shoot most over ELEY, NOT the other way around.

 

[1813benny]

At $2k a case, why take any shortcut? If you change brands, clean the rifle.

 

[William Vogel]

I find that cleaning the barrel requires me to shoot at least 15 rounds to get the rifle to settle in. I find that about 10 rounds of different brand/lube settles the rifle to the new type. Your rifle is your rifle and you’ll just have to find out. I prefer to clean only when it shows opening groups or unintentional fliers. Mine goes 200+ before I clean and I’m still checking because I haven’t had a calm day in weeks to really test the cleaning schedule.