[dirkdigler]

i sighted in my 20 gauge the other day dead on at 50. it was already pretty close since i used it last year, and i shot about 9-10 times. it was clean before i shot it since i cleaned it after the hunting season last year. the barrel doesn't look that bad but i don't want to take any chances on accuracy. I am going to clean it before the season starts on saturday anyway but for future reference how often should It be cleaned?
the gun i'm using is a remington 870 express with a 20" fully rifled slug barrel. I"m using remington copper solid 2 3/4 inch slugs.

 

[Gordonstoun]

After every deer.

One shot, one deer, one session of gun-cleaning.

 

[583]

u should clean it as much as you would clean any other gun, i used to clean my guns after every outing but now it's more like every other outing but i still wipe it down and put grease on it when needed. Just remember to let the gun get to room temperature before you clean it it usually takes me 2 days but that is because i have the coldest room in the house and i live in North Dakota.

 

[jlptexashunter]

For a rifled barrel I would treat it just like a rifle.
Clean it about every 10 or so shots. Then after cleaning shoot a fouling shot and leave it alone, it's ready for hunting.

BTW I'd sight that gun in for 2" high at 50 yards. That will put you dead on at 100.

Good luck.

 

[TJC]

You're suppose to clean them :?:

 

[dalecracing]

You're suppose to clean them :?:

haha you sound like my dad, not one of his guns was ever cleaned until I got ahold of them now he buys the shells and I clean his guns as well as mine. Pretty good deal when we shoot about 100 rounds of skeet on the weekend, not so much when we go out hunting for a weekend.

 

[salber01]

Then after cleaning shoot a fouling shot and leave it alone, it's ready for hunting.

DO WHAT??
OK, I must have missed this one. Doesn't this defeat the point, I mean remove all the harsh deposits that will pit the metal and put something in there to prevent rust and then, blow it out and leave some new deposits.

I am not saying this is wrong but somebody help me understand, it doesn't seem logical.

 

[jlptexashunter]

Salber,

Clean cold barrel with generally shoot differently in ANY rifled barrel. Residual lubricant in the barrel will generally keep the bullet or sabot from properly grabbing the rifling.

The fouling shot is to burn this stuff out.

 

[salber01]

Makes sense ,thanks

 

[BobK]

The answer depends whether you are shooting slugs or sabots.

My old scope sighted Model 12 Winchester would consistently shoot rifled slugs of one particular brand into 3 inches at 100 yards (for 5 shot groups!)

BUT... I would go through my sighting session every year, then leave the barrel fouled for the whole season. (If it rained, I would CAREFULLY clean and dry it with dry patches only. No solvents.) At the end of the season, I would carefully clean it to remove all of the barrel leading.

But if I was just doing target shooting, (and I did a lot of that because of the accuracy of the gun) I would give it a full cleaning every 25 rounds. At that point (25 rounds), barrel leading buildup would start to affect accuracy.

For sabots (of normal design), you are not concerned with leading, but worried about plastic fouling. For my sabot gun, I used the above experience to guide me. Every 25 shots (or at the end of the season) I go through a thorough cleaning. But before shooting, I thoroughly dry out the barrel of solvents.

This is what I found to give me the best accuracy.

BobK

 

[mgrace]

Then after cleaning shoot a fouling shot and leave it alone, it's ready for hunting.

DO WHAT??
OK, I must have missed this one. Doesn't this defeat the point, I mean remove all the harsh deposits that will pit the metal and put something in there to prevent rust and then, blow it out and leave some new deposits.

I am not saying this is wrong but somebody help me understand, it doesn't seem logical.

I would wait to shoot that fouling shot till the day of hunting or maybe the day before.

Michael Grace

 

[1gsplover]

Yeah, Mike, that's what I thought, too.
///olde 8) pharte///

 

[OneInchGroup]

Like somebody else said, depends on what you are shooting and to some extent what the firearm is. Using plastic sabots primarily, I've found most will fill in the rifling with shaved plastic within 20-25 rounds, and you start losing accuracy. Time to clean and start over. Some sabots seem to use a tougher, better grade of plastic, and I've tended to gravitate to them as a result, seeing range results showing no fouling after 100 rounds fired, and what feels like IMPROVED accuracy. That's likely just a touchy-feely kind of result of not needing to do the 25 shots and then clean routine, probably not a true improvement so much as just liking the stuff better.

A CLEAN BORE IS A HAPPY BORE, BUT CLEANING ALL THE TIME IS REALLY A BORE!!! :lol:

 

[soonerpgh]

A CLEAN BORE IS A HAPPY BORE, BUT CLEANING ALL THE TIME IS REALLY A BORE!!! :lol:

I'd rather clean my guns than the bathroom any day! :wink: