Alright this thread is getting interesting. If a barrel is fouled and shooting great. Any harm in running a dry patch or dry bore snake down the barrel just to get the powder debris out? I always hate putting away a rifle completely dirty but I don't want any POI shift when I take it hunting.

Can if you want, but it would only be for your emotional reasons.

I posted, in November of 2016 my 7 Rem Mag that had sat in the safe, fouled for ten months. I brought it to the range, affixed a scope to the pic rail, bore sighted, then fired one shot. POI was 1.3 Mil left, and .3 Mil low, I dialed those corrections. Shot #2 was tight enough to hit a pencil eraser at 100 yards.

Then I dialed for 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 yards. Center hit on all. Remember, the rifle had been stored fouled for 10 months.

I recommend you keep track of round cound before a barrel starts to shoot poorly, on all you own. Then you will KNOW when to clean, and when to leave it alone.

I’ve saw bore snakes mentioned a couple of times. The last one I saw had copper brushes built in. Isn’t that kinda hard on a barrel?

LOL. I will just leave it fouled and go to counseling.

Here you go Scott.

The bore snake I use has an 8" section, up front. That's where I put the Kroil. Next is a 5" section with copper bore brushes. That's used to scrub the bore. Last comes a 2' section that takes out the crud and wipes the bore dry. A couple of fouling shots and it's ready for hunting.
The reason that benchrest shooters clean their bores often is because of time?? Exactly how much time does a deer hunter have before launching a shot downrange at his 10 pointer?
Amazing how bore cleaning affects one discipline but not another??

Could be wrong... but benchrest needs higher level of accuracy. So to reduce variations if they always clean and foul before a string they are removing a variable


Hunters and comp shooters generally don’t need that level of accuracy. So they can clean when the barrel gets to a point that it is unacceptable. I generally do this. The only time I clean before the barrel tells me is if I have a big trip/event planned. Then I clean, foul and re confirm zero and FPS with batch of ammo for trip

Not exactly.

Last month was the Lone Survivor Foundation PRS Benefit Match. Thursday I cleaned, then fouled until it returned to normal zero, then double checked DOPE out to 800. Friday evening, 250 miles from home, I checked zero. Needed a slight correction. Saturday, off we go, 300 to 1025 yards in 15 to 30 mph winds. 130 rounds fired. Rifle and ammo did fine, my misses were my fault. Sunday we had similar stages, and on one of them, there was a 2.5" plate at 500 yards, and I hit it. By then the rifle had over 200 rounds down it, and we were just starting the morning. But I knew the round count the rifle would hold up before needing a cleaning, so all was well. And no matter what discipline one is shooting, 1/2 MOA is quite precise.

The reason some benchresters clean so frequently is because of some very old ways of thinking that persist to this day. I think some are rethinking it, but you'll still see the guys who are convinced that cleaning constantly is the way to go. Here's an old thread I dug up on benchrest central, it's an interesting read.

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?65528-A-clean-barrel

Each rifle can be a beast unto itself on required cleaning frequency. Have some that will go 300 shots or more between cleaning fine while another at 20 rounds it would start spreading them out but I have shot my best groups ever with that rifle from a clean barrel, .125 inch center to center for the best group and several more under .2 at 100 yards. Tiny little groups when you consider that is a 17 Remington running 25gr bullets at 4250fps, it does copper foul quite fast being a factory barrel at those speeds but as long as it shoots that way I am happy with it. That 17 Remington gets loads with CFE223 now and have gone 50+ rounds with good accuracy so powder choice can make a difference.

I'm having flashbacks.

This thread has been informative.

Exactly why should a deer hunter not try to attain the same level of accuracy as a benchrest shooter?

Money, weight, and time

I would say the majority of texas deer are killed inside 150 yards. As long as you can put a bullet in a 2-3inch group you should be able to kill a deer.

It’s opportunity cost for accuracy. As fireman said earlier benchrest action and stock may get 1/8 Moa more accuracy. In a bench rest competition I would spend the money. But for deer hunting I don’t need. A 400$ 30-30 lever is just fine.


To me hunting in Texas you need 2-3 moa and you can be successful
For general weekend competition 1 Moa
For prs level competition 1/2 moa
For bench it depends on which level and comp you are shooting but could need better then 1/2 to be competitve


Each one may prioritize different needs. For example I don’t think I have ever heard of a prs shooter not having a detachable mag. For hunting you can roll single shot and be fine. The type of scope for one may purpose not be well suited for another purpose.

My only point is you don’t HAVE to have a 1/2 moa gun to hunt. You can certainly use one, but it’s not needed. If I had a lever action gun shooting 1.5 Moa and some money to spend I would Not spend it on a better gun. I would get a good pair of boots or clothes or something else

You can be satisfied with 2-3 MOA all you want to. Matters not to me. I'm not a BR guy, hunting guns only for me, but if my rifles don't shoot MOA or better, they go down the road. I don't blame a guy in the least for wanting/demanding excellent accuracy in his hunting guns.
Also, if a guy wants to clean his barrel every1-10 rounds, who gives a ratsazzz. He only has himself to please.