That has not been my observation, most tend to fire sighters. So the actual group being measured may not contain the clean bore shot.

was testin some handloads through a chrono the other day, first shot off a clean bore went 3200fps everyone after that went 2900fps or so

My bore snake is designed to oil first, then remove fowling, finally to remove fouling and oil, all in one pull thru. Then I shoot a fouling shot (explained in the original post). I will leave the bore fouled for the upcoming season and for any further mods to my reloads.
I believe that a load 143 grains of H4350 would result in a compressed load (depending on bullet weight and seating depth) something I am not about to try.
I make no attempt to say that the load used in this thread is the "ultimate" load and lay no claim to owning a minute-of-angle shooter. What I illustrated is part of a tune-up procedure to get the most out of my particular rifle.
I do offer an observation...if cleaning a barrel is bad, why do bench rest shooters clean their barrels every 5 rounds or so??

?really?

Is your rifle a bench rest rifle? If so, go for it. Do what works for you. I'm simply passing on my experience with what works and what other hunters (not bench rest shooters) have had issues with, and to solve these issues. And you certainly won't see shooters cleaning and using oil and then shooting.

Clearly your procedure is flawed. The rifle is shooting poorly. That, or you are.

I think it's time to bump this thread since shooters are getting ready for deer season!!!

I clean my deer rifle once a year regardless of how much I shoot it. I clean it about a month before gun season then go fire some shots to reconfirm zero then I just kill stuff all year long. I may wipe down the outside or knock the dust off with a brush but other then that it get cleaned one time a year and it shoots great.

This topic is one of the common questions I get asked often.

Clean at end of season. Prior to new season shoot 3 or 4 times to confirm zero. Seems to work for me.

Sapper, that is exactly what I do as well. One cleaning a year in October. Go shoot a few through it and call it good. Its been working well for me. I do however really enjoy reading the reasoning here. The more you know.... Thanks for the tips!

Keep doing that.

Only reason not to, is if you shoot hundreds of rounds per year, and it begins to shoot poorly somewhere in the mix.

Thank you Chad. This is a good read.

You have to clean your rifle??????

2 more this week alone! Stop over cleaning the inside of your rifles, folks!!! Just shoot da thang!

Usually clean once a year. But do shoot it before hunting with it

Reminder! Another shooter with over cleaning and oiling today!!!

Up.

Super funny, I argued this with my buddy today at lunch. I drag my bore snake about every 20 rounds (which these days is every 3 years), never oil the firing pin, oil the outside with Rem Oil in the garage every time I walk in the house. Watched my dad with this routine and it works for me.

After I get my rifle and load set. I'll leave the bore alone till after hunting season.

I clean my stuff too much, but i'm trying to slow down on it.

I learned my lesson when shooting in the sporting clay match with Tim, and 2beez and Ramsey. I knew it was going to rain bad all day, so I sprayed the crap out of it with ballistol the night before.

The gun got rain soaked, all the oil turned to a slippery mess, I could barely hold on to the dang thing.

2 phone calls about it this week. So, it's time to bump this thread again! NO OIL in the barrel when sighted in!!!

Only put two rounds through mine last year, one dead deer and one dead hog both dropped where they stood. I am going to wipe the outside down, make sure there are no obstructions and then hunt with it Saturday. Thanks for the reminder!

I learned a lot on this thread after I first joined this forum. Glad to see it every year.

I followed the recommended steps to break in all my rifle barrels and always store them with a clean bore not so they will shoot well the next time I use them, but so they'll be shooting well 50 or even 100 years from now.

First deer rifle...

Kentucky 45...

So when they handed me, a M-16, 203, & later M-60 ...
Twas well prepared, never had problems...

cool thread...

Keep your head held high & your powder dry...