barrel cleaning ?

[pcmacd]

In a 223 rifle how often to you guys clean your barrel down to bare steel ?

Every 50 to 100 rounds for my Armalite target rifle with Wylde chamber.

I use moly coated bullets, and it usually cleans up with 10 short stroked passes with 1/2 Corbin bore cleaner and 1/2 Kroil on a patch wrapped old brush. 1st Kroil, a few passes on wire brush. Brake cleaner on patch. Corbin/Kroil, then brake cleaner again.

I use a Teslong USB bore camera for inspection. The rigid one. Worth every penny.

 

[AlNyhus]

where do I get abrasive bullets ?

Make sure and do your research before jumping to that "fix'.

Good shootin' - Al

 

[X Count]

Clean after every shooting session. Ideally while the barrel is still warm. I use pro shot copper solvent on a bronze brush back and forth 6x. Patch out and repete. Usually after 2x applications both carbon and copper are gone. Patch out chamber and bore with brake / contact cleaner and it's done. Thing I like about it is the total time is only about 10min, pro shot is water soluble and it works.

Depending on cal, load, humidity and type of powder I will JB periodically. Roughly every 300 rounds depending on how the barrel is looking.

I shoot f class and hunting stuff so BR guys might take a different approach.

 

[dnellans]

We in Short Range Benchrest clean after every group.

jackie - do you foul at all or straight back to another group? what is your final solvent to make sure barrel is bone dry?

 

[urbanrifleman]

jackie - do you foul at all or straight back to another group? what is your final solvent to make sure barrel is bone dry?

Try Birchwood Casey gun cleaner on your final patches it dries on its own.

 

[rebs]

when you clean all the carbon and copper out of your barrel down to bare steel have you had any problems. How many shots does it take to season the barrel ?

 

[Clancy]

when you clean all the carbon and copper out of your barrel down to bare steel have you had any problems. How many shots does it take to season the barrel ?

For me, NO problems whatsoever. Usually one in a custom barrel, for short range. It takes 2 shots to get back to target velocity though, which is worth noting in a hunting or LR rifle.

I dry my barrel and then run one patch of lock ease and let it dry. Before I used the lock ease, the answer was the same. Usually one shot and I can shoot a group as small as usual at 100, 2 foulers to get back to my usual speed.

When a guy tells me it takes 5, 10, 20 shots to “season” his barrel, he’s either leaving it wet one way or another (either oiled patch or chemical building up in fouling he thought he got out) or shooting a very rough factory gun.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Savage barrels, no matter hunting barrels or varmint barrels. They are rougher than a corncob and look similar to one. They USUALLY take several to a half dozen shots to foul from a dry, clean barrel.
This is my experience and yours may be different.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Savage barrels, no matter hunting barrels or varmint barrels. They are rougher than a corncob and look similar to one. They USUALLY take several to a half dozen shots to foul from a dry, clean barrel.
This is my experience and yours may be different.

I had a 223 Savage barrel that looked like a washboard. Replaced all by barrels and no complaints now.
Got some Corbin yesterday. Felt very abrasive (has aluminum oxide in it). Put some on my finger and worked it on the outside of a 10mm brass case. It scuffed it up.

 

[LHSmith]

In a 223 rifle how often to you guys clean your barrel down to bare steel ?

In a BR rifle every relay (10 -15 rounds) for .224 caliber. For hunting, plinking at the end of season before putting away. I clean just enough to maintain accuracy and monitor with a borescope.
Things I will never put through any rifle bores -
* Kroil- takes too many fouling shots to return to accuracy, turns gummy
*RemOil or any oil with teflon- ^^ ditto ^^
*Lockease- ^^ ditto^^
*alcohol- strips oils out of pores and crevices
*Abrasive coated bullets- If the bore is that bad I'd rather put that money into a new barrel
*Dry bronze brush, and if you do don't attempt to reverse direction while in the bore
*Cheap bronze brushes that loose their bristles
* Steel bristled brushes i.e Hoppes Tornado brushes
I always leave a light coating of oil , Marvel Mystery or Butches in the bore before firing the first round.

 

[pcmacd]

Make sure and do your research before jumping to that "fix'.

Good shootin' - Al

I have fired abrasive bullets from coarse to fine using NECOs system in my 30 m1 carbines. Man, did it make those bores pretty and they hardly foul with moly bullets. It takes an afternoon..... Shoot, clean, slug, repeat at nauseum if you want to do a good job.

 

[DR_2297]

For my Palma rifle in 223… as little as possible and NEVER during a match or a series of matches. I learned that lesson last year. Rifle went from shooting 1000yd cleans to 180s immediately after a thorough cleaning. Took half a day of shooting to get it stabilized. Doesn’t copper much at all so I don’t get too carried away. Maybe 2 or 3 times all season (every 500 rounds or so).

Probably going to switch to moly for ‘24 to see if it will behave better.

 

[Carl S]

My 223 is set up for night vision exclusively.i remove the powder residue after every shot.cold nights then coming into a warm house,it never goes to bed dirty.stainless barrels will rust and chrome moly will rust over night.i clean with solvents after 15-20 rounds.i like to keep all barrels clean that's where the borescope helps.ive seen lots of foxing and stalking rifles with knackered barrels through neglect not shooting.it opens the customers eyes when they look down the borescope..keep em clean.personally I wouldn't use any sort of fire lapping bullet in my barrels.i haven't seen one yet that does any good.