Number of fouling shots needed.

[370bc]

I cleaned my BAR Safari 270 win and it took about 15 shots to settle down and started grouping again with a proven load. Is it the barrel that needed fouling or is it that the operator that needed that many to get his bench technique right? I have not shot anything for about 4 months.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Mozella]

I usually shoot because I'm at a match where sighters serve as fouling rounds, or at a range testing ammo where I don't want to use a test round as a fouler. So in that case I normally fire some high quality factory ammo. Nearly always I make a minor scope adjustments, but if the first two rounds look good, I go right to the test rounds. I never fire more than 5 foulers and I reckon the average would be 3 with a minimum of two and a maximum of 5 unless something is seriously wrong. I'm quite sure I've never had to use 15 rounds before getting good groups. On the other hand, I don't have 4 month gaps in my shooting schedule.

 

[Big Mc]

I cleaned my BAR Safari 270 win and it took about 15 shots to settle down and started grouping again with a proven load. Is it the barrel that needed fouling or is it that the operator that needed that many to get his bench technique right? I have not shot anything for about 4 months.
Thanks in advance.

I shoot foulers until the gun starts to group. Don,t care how many. 15 sounds a bit mutch. Layoff my be the cause. Just my two cents Tommy Mc..

 

[dkhunt14]

It seems barrels that are rough inside and then cleaned thoroughly need more foulers. Maybe it is because it needs to fill in the little imperfections. Most of my custom barrels foul within 3 to 4 shots. Matt

 

[Jose_Luis_G]

I use moly bullets and my last cleaning stroke is with Ballistol Kleber oil and slightly removing the traces of it.
First competition shot is without cleaning the residual, and it goes to the same place as the last one of the previous session.
I consider that first shot as fouling and from that one and on, all go to the same spot.

 

[mikegaiz]

I agree with Matt, In my match barrels I have found that 2 to 3 works for me. But all barrels are different.

 

[AndyTaber]

I tend to consider the first shots through a cold bore as more of warming up the barrel, rather than getting it fouled. When shooting 100 yard Benchrest Score matches, my first 3-4 rounds tend to be a half inch high. Once the barrel is warmed up all is good, even after a thourough cleaning between targets. I find the same with two other guns shooting 300 and 600 yard matches from a bench. I again clean the barrel after each twenty round match. I find that on subsequent matches, once the barrel is warmed up and conditions remain relatively the same, i dont even bother with more sighters.

 

[zolt]

SOME factory barrels need to be "seasoned" before they will shoot; therefore you can over clean one and it will need many more shots before it is shooting great again.

 

[4xforfun]

Consider this.... First off, I am talking about high quality, aftermarket tubes. All of my earlier bbls cirtanly cleaned up faster and fouled less than anything the factory's were putting out. It also should be noted that I am a CLEAN FREAK when it comes to cleaning my bores....especially when I started 1000 comp shooting. It always took 1 or two shots for my sighters to come together, including those fired from a clean bore. That was it....anything out of the x ring at 1K after that was either gun handling or weather related. These bbls, though better than factory, still were copper mines and took lots of cleaning to get back to my idea of CLEAN.

Now....the last 6 or 8 comp tubes that I have used , for the first 300 - 500 rounds anyway, clean up with a couple of wet patches. This confirmed by a soaking in Sweets and/or being bore scoped. UNBELIEVABLE!! Well, it took me a while to piece this together with my pea brain and all, but I noticed something strange and concerning to me during sighter periods at 1000 yard matches. It took almoast the ENTIRE sighter period for the gun to settle down. I would almost go into panic mode....and then...POOF......X...X....X. Good to go and the record target would conferm as much. Later in these tubes lives they would get harder and harder to clean, but at the same time settle down faster and faster!!

My thoughts...again, comming from a pea brain.....is that the smoother/easier to clean means it takes longer for them to "properly" foul and thus settle down. Once they fire crack and start to fowl more and quicker, they settle in quicker.

Just my .02,

Tod

 

[Eric Leonard]

in my 6PPC I shoot in UBR score matches I have started cleaning between ever target which will average 15-18 rounds depending on how much wind,,from testing with a chrono and on paper I have started putting the first 3 shots in the berm as fast as possible and then go to the sighter target and can have total faith that I can trust that 4th shot ,,

those 3 shots is a good time to fireform brass

 

[mikecr]

There is both barrel temperature stabilization, and stable fouling to achieve.
Cold bore load development should take care of temperature for hunting applications.
Fouling is never stable until every bit of what you left in the bore(from last cleaning) is burned/blown out.

I'm one of those who believe a gun should be put away cleaner than pulled. So I clean my bores after every use, and put them away dry pre-fouled -ready for next use(whenever that may be).
You can finish your cleaning with a good bore flushing with the highest % alcohol available, and then a dry burnishing of pre-fouling.

I use Tungsten Disulfide(WS2) for this, and given cut rifled barrels and my load development, I need zero fouling shots.
A chance attribute of WS2 is that it so closely matches powder fouling that grouping does not shift as I continue shooting. So shot #1 is right with shot #5, etc.
I know this doesn't make sense, as I've see first hand in the past that different powders produce different fouling that is not result matching with each other. Yet WS2 seems universal somehow.

 

[dickn52]

Mine is three to the side of the target into the dirt. Warm the barrel and foul and then go for sighters.

 

[Martin52]

.....
A chance attribute of WS2 is that it so closely matches powder fouling that grouping does not shift as I continue shooting. So shot #1 is right with shot #5, etc.
I know this doesn't make sense, as I've see first hand in the past that different powders produce different fouling that is not result matching with each other. Yet WS2 seems universal somehow.

Are you coating the bore with WS2 after cleaning and using naked projectiles ?

 

[/VH]

I shoot foulers until the gun starts to group. Don,t care how many. 15 sounds a bit mutch. Layoff my be the cause. Just my two cents Tommy Mc..

Last Saturday, club match @ 1k...guess I should have have shot 1 more fouler...and had a couple more clicks up....

 

[mikecr]

Are you coating the bore with WS2 after cleaning and using naked projectiles ?

Yes, after cleaning.
My bullets are usually WS2 dry coated as well.

 

[Shynloco]

Over the years, I've found there is no set number of "foulers" and it's really up to the individual rifle/barrel. My 6mmbr takes a minimum of 6 rds (after cleaning) when it's cooler outside where as it only takes three or four when when it's warm (anything over 80). But my Anschutz .22 used to take right at 20 rds before she'd start to "sing." So I've found, knowing your rifle/barrel for the conditions is the best route. Knowing when she's ready to perform is something each shooter needs to learn if they want to be serious about accuracy and grouping. Just my .02 worth.

Alex

 

[dickn52]

Are you coating the bore with WS2 after cleaning and using naked projectiles ?

Powders to me means almost nothing as long as every shot is the same load. But a cold barrel to me is a nightmare shot always.

 

[Martin52]

Been thinking about using WS2, had not thought about coating the bore, interesting. Thanks.

 

[370bc]

Last Saturday, club match @ 1k...guess I should have have shot 1 more fouler...and had a couple more clicks up....

View attachment 991218

Yikes!!! What a group!

 

[LHSmith]

The number of foulers required is also dependent on what the last bore treatment you put in the bore since the last shot. IME using Kroil requires more foulers than a generous coat of good bore oil which is then patched out with a loose patch. Using this method, I normally only require one fouler. Using Rem Oil or any oil with teflon in the bore may be the worst offender of this problem.