Load development/barrel cleaning?
- Thread starter Barrys
- Start date
All barrels are different. Some will shoot the same dirty and clean and some take 4 or 5 rounds down the tube before they will settle down and group. My guns must shoot good dirty or I`ll move them down the road, and I have put over 50 round down the tube during load development without cleaning with a few guns. Don`t get to hung up on keeping keeping your barrel to clean.
Factory barrel? Custom hand lapped barrel? As stated shooting and testing will show you what the barrel wants. I have a 6BR Krieger barrel it takes 5 to 7 shots after cleaning it to settle in. I've read on here some guys can clean and POI never changes from a perfectly clean barrel....lucky dog. Shoot it until accuracy degrades slightly keeping a watch on how many rounds fired. Or maybe clean the hell out of it and fire a few clean again to see if its a copper mine....I'm rambling its late. Have a great one White Feather.....One of the Greatest Marine Combat Warriors that has ever walked this planet....he was born in a bomb crater....when his mothers water broke it was Napalm...out of that Napalm popped out this baby carrying a Winchester Model 70 30-06 in full Dress Blues....no kidding when Carlos was born he was standing at the position of attention... look it up....maybe modified slightly but position of attention none the less. The Doctor delivering Carlos popped to and saluted Baby Carlos and reported in...1'st Platoon all present. Baby Carlos said at ease Doc and while your at it get me a baby bottle with a Budweiser in it and a cleaning kit for my rifle.....Moral of the story is White Feather your barrel will like what it likes
Very Respectfully
Very Respectfully
No....unless you change powder type - different powders lay down different fouling characteristics. If you switch to another powder, clean with one wet patch, patch dry, lightly lube the bore ( non-teflon oil or a damp patch with solvent) so as to avoid sending bullets down a dry bore, then fire at least one fouler shot before continuing with load development. You will have to determine how many foulers it takes your barrel to settle in.White Feather said:
Use wind flags to validate testing results.
Thanks for that reply LHSmith Sir. Very informative as always. I now have a new way of testing with different powders I truly did not know it was that easy to prep the barrel for a different type of powder. I was cleaning the crap out of it. This will save a bunch of range time....LHSmith thank you Sir
Very Respectfully
Very Respectfully
When I do my first initial load test usng 3 shots I'll shoot (4) 3 shot strings and then clean. I'll run a few patches down the barrel to remove any excess carbon and copper buildup and then dry it out. I'll then shoot how ever many foulers my barrel needs then I'll go to my test loads again. On four shot groups I'll shoot just two groups and clean same way previously mentioned and then the same for five shot groups.
I don't want to test my barrel to see how many shots it takes before it strings the rounds. I'm there to test which round is going to be the most accurate and to do this you need relativity fresh bores. A dirty barrel could cause you to miss an accurate load by throwing a shot that you'll overlook later. When I'm done for the day then I'll bring out the bore polish and scrub the barrel squeaky clean.
I don't want to test my barrel to see how many shots it takes before it strings the rounds. I'm there to test which round is going to be the most accurate and to do this you need relativity fresh bores. A dirty barrel could cause you to miss an accurate load by throwing a shot that you'll overlook later. When I'm done for the day then I'll bring out the bore polish and scrub the barrel squeaky clean.
I would check it the way it is going to be used. If it is going to be used where you clean every 10 shots or less then do it that way. All my barrels don't change much after 2 shots to 40. Larry
I have loaded 12 different loads with 12 different case head stamps in groups of 10 rounds each. I have fired all 120 rounds before cleaning the barrel, I use a system that resembles a bore snake, all the cleaning supplies I use is white, white helps to determine when the barrel is clean.
F. Guffey
F. Guffey
I take 2 targets to the range. One is a test target for fouling rounds. The other is my test target for the load(s) I will be testing. I begin my range session by shooting fouling rounds on the test target until the bullet strikes are no longer rising but clustering on the target. Then I go to my load test target(s). I do not clean the rifle through the whole session. Now this is with .223 and up cartridges. .17 and .20 caliber MAY have to be cleaned and re-fouled during the load test session due to their small bore diameter. Every rifle is its own law as to how many rounds it takes to be adequately fouled. Just like they are for how many rounds they take to break in and what seating depth and load they like.
I clean when changing powder type, bullet brand, and when accuracy degrades noticeably without changing any of the former. If I am changing them, I do a thorough cleaning with Gunslick Bore Cleaning Foam. It really gets the fouling out in a manner that is easiest (IMHO) on the bore.
I clean as infrequently as accuracy allows. Cleaning is a chore, a bore, and more than the barrel tells me is necessary is likely unnecessary.
Load development requires a good statistical sample when narrowing down to the final load candidate. IMHO, that means 4 groups of five of this candidate and the preceding and following load increments to confirm a good choice.
Coincidentally, this regimen is very similar (2x10rd) to the COF I generally shoot in comp. It may help to imitate the firing cadence under which the load will be used.
My shooting challenges are seldom as challenging as BR comp.
Greg
I clean as infrequently as accuracy allows. Cleaning is a chore, a bore, and more than the barrel tells me is necessary is likely unnecessary.
Load development requires a good statistical sample when narrowing down to the final load candidate. IMHO, that means 4 groups of five of this candidate and the preceding and following load increments to confirm a good choice.
Coincidentally, this regimen is very similar (2x10rd) to the COF I generally shoot in comp. It may help to imitate the firing cadence under which the load will be used.
My shooting challenges are seldom as challenging as BR comp.
Greg
Generally not a good idea. As you have seen, most barrels takes more than a couple of rounds to settle down after cleaning before it will shoot consistently. So if you clean with the regiment you suggested, you will likely be close to doubling the number of rounds you put through your barrel with this regiment compared to normal testing. With most calibers, this will greatly decrease the life of your barrel and double the cost of your load development. I have seen no evidence that this is necessary.
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