COLD BORE OR COLD SHOOTER

[mauser284]

I am old enough to remember Bob Milek's articles for Peterson Publishing 30+ years ago. I was just into hunting back then. His method to make sure the first cold fouled bore shot from his hunting rifle went where he wanted it to was to fire one shot and the next day one more. He would repeat this until he was satisfied. I guess if you are into long range hunting with a pencil barrel this would still work.

Most of my hunting rifles have fairly light weight barrels. I am 48 years old and have had 3 ankle surgeries and a knee surgery all on my right leg. By the time you add in the weight of the animal your packing out I do not want a heavy rifle. I have to stalk anything I use a rifle for. All of the area's I can hunt that are not area's one needs to stalk are shotgun only area's.

That said I have never shot at a non-varmint game animal prob. further than 500m or 600m and seldom am I taking shots at a further than 350m because I do not often carry a magnum with me unless I am going after Elk, Mouse, or Caribou which has been a long time for me. For me deer and rabbits make up most of the game I hunt to eat the last 10 years. When you have multiple kids in college it cuts into ones out of state hunting budget and SARS-CoV-2 has also restricted things! Might be looking at a new transmission for one kids car!

I do not think it is ethical to hunt large game animals beyond 600m unless you are starving to death and the only option you have to feed yourself is to take a shot beyond that or risk starving to death! I

Lucky opinions are still allowed as long as it is not on some current "science" effecting and affecting most of the world! LOL

Lucky for me my F-Class rifles do not need to be carried far. LOL If I had to hunt with 18+lbs. rifle I would not hunt much! LOL

Remeber this guy! Light weight hunting rifle at it's ultimate!

 

[INTJ]

There is no rule as to what big hunting rifles should weigh, except that my state says they can't weigh over 16 lbs.

In general, the heavier the rifle the shorter distance it is carried. A guy that drives to a place within 1/4 mile of his shooting spot can easily take a 15 lb rig, one with a big heavy barrel that will make clean hits past 1000 yds. Some guys do this all the time.

Then there is the other extreme, 6 lb rifles that are packed deep into the mountains.

Many of us are kind of in between with 7.5 to 10 lb rifles capable of varying levels of accuracy.

Most of my rifles put a cold fouled shot in the same place as a warm shot. In most cases clean bore shots have a different POI, but I do have one LR BR HG barrel that puts clean bore shots to the same POI as fouled bore shots at 1000 yds. Other barrels that I have had would shoot very low from a clean bore at 1000 yds.

I leave my bore fouled for storage. I clean before I need to shoot, if I have reached the round count where a given barrel needs to be cleaned.

 

[mikecr]

It's clear to me that carbon takes a set with time.
So I couldn't put a gun away dirty for any real length of time. Like 2wks or more. No way.
Before a bore goes back in the safe, I take it to white metal clean and dry pre-foul with a burnishing of tungsten.

Probably seems obsessive.
My father let me take any gun from the cabinet, anytime, to go hunting.
But his rule was: "put em away cleaner than you pull em"

 

[INTJ]

LOL! I have not seen any difference in the ability to clean out carbon regardless of the time a barrel sits fouled.

 

[Snozzberries]

I'm curious about some definitions here.

How do you describe a "clean" barrel? Scrubbed out to the raw steal, all the carbon and copper removed, so a borescope show's it's perfect/brand new?

How do you describe a "fouled" barrel? Shot it a bunch and then just put it away?

I've taken to "cleaning" my rifles with a PatchWorm and BreakFree CLP. Is this considered "Clean"? "Fouled"?
How about leaving out the CLP, and just pulling through a dry patch, so there isn't visible residue? Similar to sweeping the floor of your house/garage, but not busting out the mop or pressure washer.

 

[mikecr]

How do you describe a "clean" barrel? Scrubbed out to the raw steal, all the carbon and copper removed, so a borescope show's it's perfect/brand new?

Yes

How do you describe a "fouled" barrel? Shot it a bunch and then just put it away?

Sure

Then there is cleaned -and oiled. This is neither clean nor fouled.
And there is fouling type, fresh, old, this powder or another powder, dry film.

 

[butchlambert]

Yes

Sure

Then there is cleaned -and oiled. This is neither clean nor fouled.
And there is fouling type, fresh, old, this powder or another powder, dry film.

Ain't no oil going in mine!

 

[adam]

My buddy had a 7mm with an extremely consistent cold bore shift, I think it was 1/2moa right, 3/4 moa high. I had a very similar 7mm with no cold bore shift whatsoever. One day we are at the range and I suggest he warm up on my rifle first. He hops down and just like magic, my gun had a cold bore shift of 1/2moa right, 3/4moa high. He then he switches to his rifle, and just like magic, no cold bore shift.

 

[AICS308]

Ain't no oil going in mine!

What do you use instead of oil?

 

[butchlambert]

What do you use instead of oil?

My home made barrel cleaner is GM Tec, white ammonia, and Kroil. When clean I use one swipe of a clean dry patch down the bore and put it up. I have no problems with rust in my CM barrels.

 

[DocBII]

Good day,

I've had CB shift on some rifles, not on others. I usually shoot three or four different rifles in a match, it's not a problem with good notes.

I've had several very experienced shooters with great equipment and skill tell me they never had a rifle with a cold bore problem until they had a rifle which had the problem. At this point good notes overcame the problem.

HTH,
DocBII

 

[JFrank]

Was wondering how many here have or do experience cold bore shots or is it in fact a cold shooter issue ? Please elaborate.

Hey Bill' Ill be the one to admit that sometimes it takes me a couple shots to warm up.
I have a pile of Crappy targets that prove it too.

 

[Bill Norris]

Hey Bill' Ill be the one to admit that sometimes it takes me a couple shots to warm up.
I have a pile of Crappy targets that prove it too.

I have my days too Bro.

 

[DangerRanger]

I think it’s cold shooter on a fouled bore

I have no doubt if you’re competing in lr benchrest or f class a totally clean bore could matter, I would believe any experienced shooter that told me so.

if you’re looking for hunting accuracy within ~500 yards and you have a well put together rifle with good parts even a clean bore isn’t going to matter IME.

random load @ 100 yds with under 100 rounds and no load dev. totally clean bore inspected with a bore snake


This morning, cold shooter, totally clean bore @400 with little load workup, middle target did not hold for 4mph wind

 

[mikecr]

Guess it depends on your definition of clean bore, and hunting accuracy.
And most of us need to develop our loads. That's just reality