7MM 08 I like to know about a fouling shot?

[lonewolf5348]

I like to ask because I always clean my guns after a range session.I am lucky that all my gun do not need a fouling shot to print excellent groups but I do have a 7MM-08 that will cut holes when the barrel has a few fouling shots threw it.
My Question the last rage session or a day or two before hunting season if I fire a few shots and NOT CLEAN it will I cause any problems as far as rust???

[quickdtoo]

I've never had a problem, I check zero before the season starts and don't clean it for the next two months unless it gets wet. 

Tim

[lonewolf5348]

Tim: thank you

[canon6]

What Tim said,         Doug

[mitchell]

you'll trash a barrel faster by cleaning it then you would leavin it be.


i keeo mine wiped down always but i dont clean until i have too much copper in the barrel for it to shoot good

[trotterlg]

And you know it doesn't shoot good when you miss the deer?  Sight it in for a first shot zero, then you can keep it clean and hit what you aim at on the first shot.  If you have a rife that shoots very differently from a clean barrel to a slightly fouled one you have some other problem with it you just haven't figured out.  Larry

[mitchell]

larry i shoot a lot more at the range then hunting by far. its takes a long time for copper to build up to the point the rifle starts shooting bad . your not going to have a bad groups one day and not be able to hit a deer then next.

[zoner]

trotter has a good point,if your barrel shoots a LOT different clean than it does fouled you probably have a gun problem, and tim is right too..most people don't fire enough rounds during hunting season to REQUIRE cleaning the gun...for me it's about consistency. If my hunting rifles shoot better from a fouled bore than a clean bore it means clean the gun,fire it ,if it goes where i want it to from a clean barrel so be it.Clean the gun,put it away,you're ready to hunt.If it fires better when it's fouled ok too,clean the gun,fire a round,fire another to check zero,if it's good so be it,use it like that. The point is when you figure out what your gun likes,clean or fouled,stay with it...you will always start from the same barrel condition. I believe accuracy and consistency go hand in hand.....

[rickt300]

While not cleaning a barrel is probably ok if where you hunt or store the rifle isn't real humid.  I usually clean by running a tight patch that has transmission fluid on it thru the barrel, let it set then wipe it out with a dry patch and then do another patch with transmission fluid thru leaving it that way.  When I get ready for a hunt I run a couple of dry patches down the tube to get the oil out and none of my hunting rifles shoot to a different POI from it's sight in.  I have some rifles that I put a lot of rounds thru in a year and I generally use Hoppe's Benchrest on them every 50-100 rounds.  I have had zero problems with smooth well broken in barrels, and have had some odd happenings with brand new barrels during the first 200 rounds.

[LaOtto222]

This subject always gets lots of opinions. Larry and zoner are pretty close to what I have found. There are exceptions to every rule. My most accurate guns do not shift much from a clean barrel to a fouled one - but that is not always the case. I had a 700 Remington in 222 that would not shoot worth a hoot until it had a couple of hundred rounds down the tube; with out cleaning. Then it would shoot lights out. Clean it and again, it would not shoot good for a long time afterward. I never did find out how long I had to go before the accuracy would go South - because after a year or so, I would feel guilty about not cleaning it. The point is everyone comes up with different scenarios because they have had different experiences. You just have to shoot your gun enough to find out what it likes and then stick to it. Some guns, I have not found the exact formula for - the ones that are not accurate right off the bat. I have a 17 HMR that does not like a clean barrel, but does not like one that is fouled real bad either. I just have not shot it enough to find out how many shots it takes to foul it enough to shoot well and how many shots it takes before it needs cleaned again. Some where around 20 - 25 shots to foul it so it shoots .5 MOA and some where around 200 when it goes South again, but it is just a feeling, not real sure on that. It can be a moving target, as the barrel wears, it can change. Here is a picture of a target that was shot recently out of a cold clean barrel at 100 yards out of a stubbed Handi. You can not tell any POI change from the first shot to the fifth.



You just have to shoot your particular gun enough to know what it likes. When there is little impact change from a clean barrel to a dirty one, it makes it real easy. When it needs to be dirty - trying to figure out how dirty can be challenging - but once you find out then do not fight it. Clean it and get it to the point of top accuracy, zero your scope and leave it that way. Fight the urge to clean it. If you feel you must clean it, then do not do it during season, wait until it is over, clean it and put it away until the next season. Put enough fouling shots down the tube to bring it back to zero and leave it again. Yes you are always going to have a dirty barrel during season, so what?

[petemi]

I rarely clean a rifle, but when I do, I always chuck a few rounds through it cause all of mine are sighted in fouled, and I don't care to find out if clean is different.   Besides, I'm a lazy old man.

Pete

[lonewolf5348]

The barrel cold and clean with still shoot o.k. maybe a 1 1/2" groupe at the 100 from the bench 5 shots.
The next end you can put the same bullets into 3/4" at the 100 yd target

[LaOtto222]

Then by golly I would make sure I have a few down the barrel before I go on a hunt; unless you are not going to shoot over 200 yards, then it would not matter.