How often to clean my bloop tube?

[lyoke]

Like the question says. Cleaned out my tube the other day for the first time. It was extremely dirty. How often should I clean it? Does it really matter?

[catbro]

If I remembered right (maybe not, bad memory), from Starik carbon tube website, they suggested that you clean your bloop tube after every 1000 shot with a plastic brush

[patriot]

Clean mine before every match. A 12 GA wire brush works well on metal, but I use a 12 GA mop on carbon fiber with Hoppes then dry it with paper towels.

Mark

[KennyB]

The deposits are quite tough to remove once they have hardened - I had a tube where I had to ream out the crud with a bit of copper pipe and a hammer...
Now I push a bit of cloth (several bits actually) through once I've finished shooting, you still get some build up but it's not as heavy.

More important is to wipe the debris from the muzzle of the rifle - if you allow that to build up it can destroy any hope of accuracy.
Many years ago I witnessed the muzzle of a rifle that had NEVER had the tube removed - you couldn't see the crown due to the mound of carbon attached to the end of the barrel.

K.

[Modena]

I clean it straight after use before it hardens. The diameter change from muzzle causes condensation to form, so it comes out quite wet actually. I use 16G VFG felts, this is with the aluminium lined Starik. It takes 3-4 felts, and its clean. If I leave it after a match and then clean after the final, its gone hard and is much harder to remove the deposits.

[Tim S]

Another vote for cleaning after shooting here; I use a strip of j cloth or folded toilet roll on a 1bore rod. If I'm cleaning the day after shooting I'll spray some wd40 down the tube first (mine is metal). The muzzle always gets a wipe.

[Hemmers]

As per Tim and Kenny.

Clean after shooting, 1gauge rod or a bit of wooden dowel with cloth wrapped around to the appropriate diameter, and be sure to wipe the muzzle!

[redschietti]

My daughters carbon tube shines if you pass two dry cloths on a 12g mope before shooting (after it sits and is dry). Much harder to clean after shooting with this type. Maybe with time that will change.

[MarkTrew]

Mr. Starik wrote, in an email, that he was not recommending any solvent with his tubes. It is my memory there was concern of the bonding agent being harmed.

MarkTrew

[Bob Smalser]

As stated above, the real problem with bloop tubes is they deter wiping off the crown after each session. This can lead to rifling groove corners encrusted with baked-on carbon that open up your groups. It's sometimes so bad it's easier to touch up the crown with a crown cutter than it is to get remove the carbon.





As you can see, it's easier to wipe the carbon off while it's fresh than after it's baked on.