Cleaning your long range weapon

[Pappabear]

I decided to go out on a limb and clean my hunting rifles, I mean what the hell, its 114 outside and we said F$#K shooting. They don't get heavy round count and its been 3 or 4 years and 3 Elk since I cleaned my main gun. I just don't shoot them that much. That said, I used "Shooters Choice" and jags and a quality cleaning rod. Usually 5 patches and its pretty clean and in 10 clean enough. Not so much with AR's. Krieger barrel clean fast IMHO.

My 338WM that we used some reloader powder in seemed to be extremely dirty. Is that powder kinda filthy? I know it gets bashed for temp sensitivity...

Tomorrow Im cleaning 5 other precision rigs that we shoot the piss out of. Im not a huge believer in one cleaner or one lube being the end all, but Im all ears since this isn't an area of heavy experience.

What juice do you use, and whats your protocol. i.e., I never get mine so clean that I can't get a tiny black streak on the patch if I work it real hard, but I feel its clean enough.

WHAT YOU SAY??

PB

[grizzman]

I use Reloder 22 and 10x for the 6.8 AR, and don't consider it any more difficult to clean than other rifle powders.

For standard cleaning, I still use Hoppe's Bench Rest 9, like I've done for many years. I'll run patches through, with hours between them including overnight soaks, until all I'm removing is copper.

If I want to more thoroughly de-copper a barrel, I'll use Shooter's Choice Copper Remover. I used to use Sweet's 7.62, and it worked pretty well, but didn't like the smell.

[17K]

Shooters Choice is pretty potent. I use it some, but don't let it sit in the bore for more than 3 or 4 minutes before running another soaked patch through it and make sure you flush it out real good with WD-40, Kroil, or anything that rinse it real good. That stuff will etch a bore and copper like nothing you've ever seen.

I prefer to use Holland's Witches Brew or Remington 40X. It's like JB Bore paste but it's oil instead of paste. Much easier to deal with.

I don't clean much. Only when accuracy drops off, which may be the better part of 1K rounds or for me as I really don't chase groups all that often.

[Pappabear]

I didn't know better , but I never let the Shooters choice sit, and at the end I ran 2 or 3 Frog Lube patches and dry patches between.


PB

[BigBuckeye]

I use Clenzoil

[gunnerblue]

I don't clean on any regular schedule, just when I notice accuracy dropping off or when I want to do some load development (clean bore with only one or two fouling shots to remove the dirty barrel variable). For solvents I've been using Fireclean for the last year or so and am impressed.

[Pappabear]

On average how many patches do you guys run before your satisfied? On nicer barrels, I feel
Like it's 95% clean on 5 or so patches. On average how many patches do you run. I guess I'm different than most because I don't let them sit. I clean a Gun in around 15 minutes.

I'm sure I could do a better job if I was patient enough to let them sit a while.

[grizzman]

I don't know how many patches, but many more than 5 for a basic cleaning.

I'm at the range now to zero an optic and irons. I can get a more solid number later today. It's chrome lined, so it won't be directly comparable to a precision rifle. A friend and I put about 50 rounds of various ammo through it.

I ran 6 patches soaked with Hoppe's Bench Rest through the barrel, and the last one wasn't what anybody would consider clean. I then let it sit for a couple hours. The next patch was mostly blue, with some black streaks, and I ran three more wet patches, the last of which only had a bit of fouling on it.

I'll let it soak while I fix/eat dinner, then I'll run a few more wet patches through it and call it clean enough. I'm certain a few thin streaks of black will still be on the wet patches, but it will be good enough.

[Pappabear]

I just cleaned 2 of my 300 WM KREIGERS , I was going back and forth and at 12 patches I couldn't get a dirty patch. My 338WM yesterday took somewhere in the 20's by itself. Not sure why.

PB

[PattonWasRight]

I don't fuss any if there's some thin dark lines on a patch, I call that clean. There's a 90 degree angle from land to groove, so getting that crease 100% clean is a bit elusive. I clean and oil after every time I shoot one of mine, so I'm not concerned about rust forming.