I had a gunsmith friend swear to me that when working up loads that it was mandatory to clean out the barrel before going to different loads that contain different powders... something about the powder residue not mixing well together. What do you guys think?
Do you clean barrel between different powders during load workup???
- Thread starter daniel brothers
- Start date
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
On My varmint rifles that are small cases that shoot very small groups, I do not clean in between powders. However, some powders burn very dirty, and on overbore cases, cleaning every 25 or so rounds would surely help. I load at the rifle range. I clean after every outing which is 20-50 rounds max. depending on the cartridge.
I think that it is hard to make a general statement that cleaning after a powder change would help, but my frame of reference is only 15-20 shots fired on a given powder. When you shoot 60 or more shots,I would clean period, but there are exceptions. Of course, your shooting discipline is a consideration.
I think that Gunsmiths make the statement to clean in between powders to get people to clean their guns because they deal with so many filthy guns!
Not long ago, I shot these groups in a 22/250 AI barrel on a Savage single shot, IMR 4320, varget, wind was horrible. I had previously shot Win 760 with the 55's and they shot small groups also.
I am a firm believer in "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", I just have not seen how changing a powder at the rifle range when loading has destroyed the barrel's ability to shoot bug holes. When shooting my 7 Mags, I will change from IMR 4350 to R#22 then to IMR 7828, and then may go to Retumbo trying a 1.5g spread with each powder to see what that particular barrel may like. I will usually get some small groups with all powders where the bullets are all touching or much better.
A lot of these types of statements of cleaning in between powders is all about what makes you feel "lucky" or gives you confidence. Perhaps the wind is bad one day, you quit at the end of a string on a particular powder. The next time you come back to the range, the wind is more consistent or you are less stressed that day.
On medium size cases and small cases that are on benchrest quality rifles, I just have not seen a tremendous change in accuracy going from one powder to another while shooting 20-30 rounds of one powder, then changing powders. In fact, just the opposite is usually true. When I change powders, I usually find the next powder will shoot bug holes.
Some people do not walk under ladders because it is bad luck. Some people will not pick up a penny if tails is showing because it is bad luck. Bad luck to hand a pocket knife back to someone other than the way they handed it to you, etc.
If your gut feeling says to clean, then by all means you should clean.
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I think that it is hard to make a general statement that cleaning after a powder change would help, but my frame of reference is only 15-20 shots fired on a given powder. When you shoot 60 or more shots,I would clean period, but there are exceptions. Of course, your shooting discipline is a consideration.
I think that Gunsmiths make the statement to clean in between powders to get people to clean their guns because they deal with so many filthy guns!
Not long ago, I shot these groups in a 22/250 AI barrel on a Savage single shot, IMR 4320, varget, wind was horrible. I had previously shot Win 760 with the 55's and they shot small groups also.
I am a firm believer in "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", I just have not seen how changing a powder at the rifle range when loading has destroyed the barrel's ability to shoot bug holes. When shooting my 7 Mags, I will change from IMR 4350 to R#22 then to IMR 7828, and then may go to Retumbo trying a 1.5g spread with each powder to see what that particular barrel may like. I will usually get some small groups with all powders where the bullets are all touching or much better.
A lot of these types of statements of cleaning in between powders is all about what makes you feel "lucky" or gives you confidence. Perhaps the wind is bad one day, you quit at the end of a string on a particular powder. The next time you come back to the range, the wind is more consistent or you are less stressed that day.
On medium size cases and small cases that are on benchrest quality rifles, I just have not seen a tremendous change in accuracy going from one powder to another while shooting 20-30 rounds of one powder, then changing powders. In fact, just the opposite is usually true. When I change powders, I usually find the next powder will shoot bug holes.
Some people do not walk under ladders because it is bad luck. Some people will not pick up a penny if tails is showing because it is bad luck. Bad luck to hand a pocket knife back to someone other than the way they handed it to you, etc.
If your gut feeling says to clean, then by all means you should clean.
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I have seen this stated as an opinion by several folks but I have never seen anyone present data from a meaningful test. It would be good to see someone design a test, get pier review on the test design and then run the test and then have another person run the test and compare the two results.
Damfino
Gold $$ Contributor
Maybe, like the above says, if empirical evidence established a meaningful benefit I might, but it seems pretty labor intensive and I never have. Guess I'm just too lazy. I've not done it many, many times with H4350, H4831SC and RL-17, or Varget and RL-15, or IMR4064, Varget and H4895. Although when I am switching powders I might shoot a fouler or 2, but rarely more than that. And it's probably getting worse as I'm not as an enthusiastic and energetic a barrel cleaner as I once was, now often going well over a 125-130 shots between cleanings with no perceptible loss of accuracy, or the last relay of a match being as good or better than the first. But, as someone trained in the military and former short range BR shooter it takes a great deal of determination and self-discipline not cleaning more frequently.
I do not clean in between powders, but I firmly believe that you should shoot a round with the same powder you are going to switch to.
Interesting to read these responses. While testing powders I have learned that for my rifle (.338LM Alexander Ulfberht) groups opened up when I changed to a different load/powder after firing ~20 rounds in the first group with different powder. Second powder groups pulled in after about 5 or 6 shots. These groups burned about 90 gr. of Retumbo following some H-1000, all with the same SMK bullet loaded to .010 off lands. Both are stick powders, but I found the same result with RS-Magnum ball powder. My testing is at 300 yds.
I also found that a clean barrel with any powder demands 4-5 fouling shots before groups become consistent so I have changed my procedure to evaluate only one powder/load combination before cleaning properly. Practically, this means one trip to the range to evaluate each load, because cleaning the ULF is rather inconvenient at the range. Fortunately the drive is only 12 miles for me.
I also found that a clean barrel with any powder demands 4-5 fouling shots before groups become consistent so I have changed my procedure to evaluate only one powder/load combination before cleaning properly. Practically, this means one trip to the range to evaluate each load, because cleaning the ULF is rather inconvenient at the range. Fortunately the drive is only 12 miles for me.
Shynloco
You can lead a horse to water, but ........
+1. Without cleaning, you do not get an accurate read on the powder you've gone to.
Alex
That gunsmith told me that he worked up a load on a AR rifle that became a tack driver... then he tried a different powder/load for kicks... it shot horrible.... so he went back to his original load, which now shot horrible. He decided to start all over with a clean barrel and then his first loads became tack drivers once again. Ever since then, he always cleaned between powders... makes sense to me.
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