I read about someone doing this or using a finger cot in a book and have seen it on a couple of hunting shows. Anybody on here doing this? If you do this to keep trash out of your barrel, are you shooting through the tape or removing it before the shot? Does it mess with a soft tip bullet?

Never tried it but I've read it's good practice when shooting in very wet conditions. Remember, expanding gases will exit the barrel and blow away the tape far ahead of the bullet.

I started doing it a couple years ago and it works well for keeping moisture and debris out of the muzzle, I just shoot through the tape and have never noticed a point of impact shift

Living in Alaska, I do it a ton. Keeps snow out, debris out, rain out, etc. Cheap and effective. And you can shoot right through it.

To answer this same question I went to the range first to see if it messed with bullet performance (in terms of accuracy), and it did not whatsoever. I have since killed numerous big game (1 mountain goat, 3 moose, 2 caribou), and bullets always perform as expected. **Caveat: I use copper barnes ttsx bullets, not soft nosed lead based bullets for large game**

but, I have done the same for my .223 and .22, and never had a problem either with performance out of those with lead based rounds.

Same here when it is raining

Had a Steyr Scout in .308 once. Nice rifle. It came with a rubber piece that fit over the barrel. Think they should have made it a different color. Forgot about it being there. Didn't mess up the accuracy at all.

Back in the 90's, when we were outfitting muzzleloader elk hunts, we recommended our hunters do it when it was raining or snowing. It seemed the first in-line muzzleloaders using the small caps would find any reason NOT to fire...…
Adios,
Gary

i've used the thin plastic like they put over your dry cleaned clothes on
the muzzle, and wrapped the breech/lock area on muzzleloaders before
when it was nasty weather. you can fire through it or [censored] your hammer
and fire with it in place no problem.

I do it, electrical tape over the muzzle to keep the crud out. Not really needed if your hunting in a blind, but if working through the woods or going up and down a climbing stand it's the best way I know of to keep debris out of the barrel. It's never stopped me from downing an animal, but if I was pushing a shot 200+ yards I might remove it just in case.

Finger cots work

Yup, have used tape many times with lead tipped bullets, plastic tipped bullets, hollow point bullets and copper bullets, works well with all the above

Hah, made me think of an event several years ago. I don't normally tape over my muzzle because I mostly hunt from a blind or stand.

One summer evening my older brother and I were sharing an elevated 2 man ladder stand. Waiting on a group of hogs to show up. I had my rifle (458 SOCOM) and he had his (6.8).

The plan was to count to 3 and then shoot when the hogs showed up. We've done this many times before.

Anyway, it was going to be some time still until the pigs would be moving. My brother had his rifle laid across his lap. I had mine propped up on the floor of the stand (muzzle up) with the barrel resting against the safety bar of the stand. We were both being quiet....just watching and waiting.

Then I heard my Brother trying to stifle a 'snicker'. I looked over at him and he pointed to the muzzle of my rifle. There was big, fat June Bug trying to back it's way out of the barrel. My brother said "you know you're shooting a big-bore when a June Bug can get down your barrel".

Guess I should have taped it.

I did it the last two times I hunted in Alaska but I didn't shoot anything to verify POI. My son has shot animals in Alaska with the muzzle taped and he told me his POI didn't move.

From my recent Alaskan Moose Hunt I can tell you all 6 guides and the 3 packers working for the outfitter all had their barrels taped with electrical tape. They all had been doing it for years. There is simply nothing better. The finger/barrel confirms easily tear or fall off in dense cover. The electrical tape is the only thing that is easily secured, not easily removed and won’t leave a sticky residue on your barrel. And no, it has zero effect on your POi.

I will confess however, I did not use electrical tape (but had some in my pack) because I had a muzzle break on my rifle that is quite large in size. I opted to go with the solo hunter gun cover.

Been doing it for years to keep out water and dirt. When I was first told to do it on a bear hunt I thought the guide was crazy. But he assured me he does it all the time. I tried it out at the range and he was correct.

I remember going squirrel hunting with my grandfather as a kid when he got me my single shot .410. He told me all kinds of horror stories to stress gun safety. One of which was to make absolutely sure you don’t ever plug your barrel in the mud because it caused his friends barrel to explode one time and almost killed him. I’ve never put tape over mine, but can totally see the benefit of doing so.

Thanks for clearing this up for me. Seems like a good practice when walking around. I had a sling pop off of an AR I was carrying one time and yep straight into the mud barrel down, hunt over until I could be sure I had the mud cleaned out. Think I will give it a shot. Good luck to everyone this weekend!!

Great explanation. Makes sense.

Been doing it for 20 years. Column of air pops the tape before the bullet gets there. Never had an issue with accuracy and it keeps junk out of the bore. Plane jane black works for me but you can use any color ya like.

Safety first.

Been using electrical tape for many years. The air column ahead of the bullet ruptures the tape, not the bullet. Checked POI at the range, no change.

Never heard of a finger cot but it looks like it will be a great conversation started for my son and I. He will need to know how to do that at some point in his life, not just on his rifle but also on his gun.

I use 1.5 inch blue painters tape. I'm a contractor and I always have rolls of it in my truck.

As an Alaskan, I have done it for 20+ years on all rifles and all types of hunts and never had a problem, as many others on here have attested. It is cheap, effective, and doesn't cause any issues with shooting. And instead of having an entire roll with you, just wrap some around your barrel to take with you. After shooting, just remove the old piece, tear off a section from what is wrapped around your barrel, and replace.

-TJ